Government Walking the Talk to Sustainability

#1
Govt3 promotes a 'learning by sharing' approach, and enables agencies to achieve:

• maximum energy efficiency
• minimize greenhouse gas emissions, use of materials, the amount of waste sent to landfills
• incorporate sustainability into procurement arrangements
• improvements in value for money in buying practices
• credibility

#2
The Protocol is supported by detailed schedules outlining the information to be collected for each environmental indicator (the council's role) and how it will be reported (the Ministry's role).

State of the Environment Reporting

#1
NZ has relatively good air quality due to low population density, close proximity to the sea and remoteness from other continents and sources of pollution. However, some areas, mostly urban, have high concentrations of air pollution especially during low wind conditions with high traffic density, and where homes are heated mainly by open fires or wood burners. Contaminants indicators of air quality include particles (PM10 and PM2.5), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone. The Ministry's Clean Air Program promotes the sustainable management of air in NZ by developing the best national policies and tools to maintain and improve air quality. These include guidelines, national environmental standards and regulations, education programs, and research and reporting. Until recently, the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has focused on developing guidance and guidelines for councils, industries and communities to use for air quality management, but we are now looking more closely at other policy options, such as national environmental standards and economic instruments. The direction of the programme and projects within it are revised every year to include new projects and to meet the needs of the MfeE.

#2
NZ's coastal and inland fresh waters are widely used for contact recreational activities such as swimming, sailing, surfing, water skiing and underwater diving. However, the quality of recreational waters in NZ is variable. Human health can be compromised by contaminants from sewage and storm water outfalls, septic tanks, sanitation discharges from boats, and effluent run-off from agricultural areas. Therefore, maintaining and protecting the quality of this recreational water is an important public health and resource management issue. Regional and district councils monitor water quality during the summer at coastal, river, and lake sites. Councils and health authorities protect the public by testing samples for concentrations of specific micro-organisms that are indicators of human disease risk associated with contact and reporting the information on their websites, by signs, and in annual reports.

#3
New Zealanders are proud of their clean green image and committed to living in this environment in a way that continues to meet their needs, now and in the future. Sustainability integrates this concern for social, economic and environmental issues, and involves thinking broadly about objectives, considering long-term as well as short-term effects, assessing indirect as well as direct effects, and taking extra care when changes brought about by development might be irreversible.

Tools and Guidelines for Monitoring

#1
Environmental indicators simplify, quantify and communicate complex environmental data and in doing so tell us about the state or quality of the environment. They allow monitoring of environmental trends and track progress towards stated objectives and policy goals. Indicators are used to see if environmental quality is improving or getting worse, assess whether policies, laws and other actions are having the desired effect, identify emerging issues, and inform the development of environmental policies. A number of possible environmental indicators have been identified to monitor issues such as air quality, biodiversity, climate change, contaminated sites, marine environments, water, transport and waste.

#2
Classification systems define and describe environments, allowing like environments to be compared. Existing classifications are generally based on physical geography and use manual classification techniques to draw visible ecological boundaries onto maps. Newer classifications are numerically based using computer programs to sort climate, landform and soils data to group areas containing ecosystems of similar type. Both approaches provide a wealth of information for conservation and resource management. The Ministry of the Environment has worked in partnership to develop three classification systems in NZ. Land Environments of NZ (LENZ), NZ River Environment Classification (REC), and the Marine Environment Classification (MEC). For more information on monitoring and classification

#3
As part of their coordinating role, the Ministry for the Environment develops tools and guidelines for other agencies to use in the collection and management of their environmental information. The purpose of these tools and guidelines is to facilitate consistent collection and provide values and targets for environmental agencies to use in their management strategies. Guidance is included in the areas of air quality, transport, water quality, and kaimoana (seafood).

Public Participation
Examples of successful public participation include the NZ Packaging Accord of 2004, where the government set voluntary waste minimization targets for the sustainable use of packaging. End-of-life wastes that are especially hard to manage such as used oil, tires, and electronic waste have been successfully managed through the development of industry-led programs. The Reduce Your Rubbish campaign by the Ministry for the Environment employs a range of advertising tools such as television, print, radio and the internet to provide householders with simple actions they can take to reduce their rubbish. The carboNZero program encourages and supports individuals and organizations, to minimize their impacts on climate change by providing them with tools to measure, manage, and mitigate their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. CO2 emissions are a major contributor to climate change. CarboNZero certification is available for organizations, products, and services that can demonstrate through a third-party audit that they meet criteria set by the carboNZero program.

Science On Tap Rather than On Top

These differences highlight some of the challenges for environmental policy and decision makers in dealing with divergent approaches and conceptual paradigms relating to the resources, ecosystems or landscapes under consideration. Many aspects of matauranga and other knowledge will be unfamiliar and difficult to pin down. Evaluations, judgements, or concepts of relevance may be governed by different kinds of criteria and measurement from the empirical systems of science. Dimensions that are not easy to quantify may include:

• assessments of regional, local and community well-being
• regional, local and community identity and character
• aesthetics and amenity
• environmental ideals such as the range of values attributed to unmodified nature that underpins much conservation management and the establishment of wilderness areas
• ethics and morality
• the rights of future generations.

* Table developed from : Berkes, F. 1999 ibid. p. 10

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