This is the beginning of the 2005 'Vote For The Environment' website but there's more to come so watch this space!

ECO, Forest and Bird and Greenpeace have identified twelve major environmental issues that must be addressed by whichever parties form the government after the election.

Each issue has a series of actions we have asked politicians to commit to doing. These actions will make a difference for our environment.

Scroll down or use the menu on the left to choose the issue or issues that you are most concerned about.

Political parties should make the following commitments:

Biosecurity      

• Increase the capacity of the New Zealand Biosecurity Authority to protect New Zealand from pests and diseases by $50m / year in new funding ramped up over 3-5 years with greater capacity for marine biosecurity.

• Establish a national programme by June 2006 to control and eradicate the marine pest Undaria including measures to control the movement of spat and marine farming equipment from infested areas.  ...(top)

Climate and Energy

• Acknowledge the threat to the planet and its inhabitants from climate change and the continued burning of fossil fuels and other greenhouse gases and to this end:

• Support the full implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and New Zealand taking a proactive role in developing and strengthening future commitments on climate change for 2012 and beyond to achieve cuts of greenhouse gas emissions by 60 - 80% of 1990 levels by 2050 (which is the cuts that climate scientists say are needed to avoid dangerous levels of climate change).

• Implement a meaningful carbon charge as part of New Zealand ’s Kyoto obligations (and recycle the revenue back into the economy) and ensure any cap is no less than $40 /tonne.

• Preventing the construction of new coal-fired power stations in New Zealand and phase-out existing coal-fired power stations as part of the transition to a renewable electricity strategy.

• Prevent the adoption of nuclear energy for electricity generation in New Zealand.

• Finalise the development of a sustainable energy strategy that includes an increase over 5 years in annual funding for sustainable energy and efficiency programmes to $100m per year.

• Implement changes to Building Standards to promote energy efficiency including double glazing, insulation, passive solar and solar hot water heating.

• Ensure the sustainable energy strategy provides for building community capacity for both education/understanding and infrastructure to deliver energy efficiency at community level.

• Require emission testing of vehicles.  ...(top)

Education for Sustainability

• Maintain funding for National Coordination and Environmental Education Advisors and provide additional funding to support Enviroschools Programme and Awards.

• Include “Education for a Sustainable Future” as a core aspect of the new curriculum framework document currently being produced by the Ministry of Education.

• Provide Education for a Sustainable Future training to all pre-service teachers. ...(top)

Environmental Management

• End mining on public conservation land and under waters and other public land and under waters with high conservation value.

• Under the Resource Management Act facilitate the development of effective rules for councils to maintain or restore indigenous biodiversity in their areas.

• Withdraw the Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 and instead uphold public participation and sound environmental management.

• Establish appeals to the Environment Court on non-notification of resource consents and require accreditation of local authority decision makers

• Remove the barriers to public participation by properly funding environmental legal aid under the RMA and other environmental statutes and best practice support for councils, community groups and iwi ($5million in extra money).

• Retain the Department of Conservation’s separate advocacy role and require individual Government departments to make submissions separately, instead of ‘whole of government’ submissions.

• Review the performance of the Ministry for the Environment to ensure that it becomes an effective agency for ecologically sustainable management, that it fully implements the Environment Act 1986, and that it engages with the community and environmental organisations.   ...(top)

Freshwater

• Ensure the Sustainable Development Water Programme of Action has robust targets and timetables to protect and restore the water quality, biodiversity, and natural character.

• Establish water conservation orders on all rivers identified as nationally important for recreation and the environment and retain rivers in conservation lands in their natural state.   ...(top)

Genetic engineering

• Preventing the release beyond laboratory containment, of genetically modified organisms or viable GE material in the New Zealand environment

• Keeping the conservation estate free of genetically modified organisms or viable GE material and set in place systems designed to prevent genetic manipulation of New Zealand ’s indigenous flora and fauna.

• Introduce compulsory and comprehensive labelling of human or animal foods containing GE material, or derivatives of GE.

• Amend the Patent Act to prevent patents on life being awarded by the New Zealand Patent Office, with particular reference to indigenous flora and fauna and oppose any other countries patenting life.

• Require those who cause harm through the use of GMOs to be liable for any environmental and economic damage or harm to human health.   ...(top)

High Country Parks

• Create six new high country conservation parks by the end of 2006 based on the following areas: Kaikoura Ranges ; St James/Spencer Mountains; Upper Rangitata/Mt. Arrowsmith Range/Ashburton lakes; Hawkdun/Oteake; Remarkables; Pisa Range .

• Significantly increase funding for the Nature Heritage Fund with a special allocation of $30 million annually for whole property purchases in the high country.

• Support the priorities for high country tenure review of sustainability, landscape, biodiversity and access.  ...(top)

NZ in the World

• Promote a permanent World Park or permanent Antarctic Treaty Park status for Antarctica and the marine area south of 60oS.  Promote a prohibition of fishing in the Ross Sea and limit New Zealand fishing effort elsewhere in the Southern Ocean.

• Promote the establishment of substantial marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean starting with the Ross Sea and the establishment of mechanisms under the Antarctic Treaty System to support and manage these.

• Maintain New Zealand 's nuclear-free status and actively work towards a nuclear free Southern Hemisphere.

• Ensure that global trade and investment regimes enhance and do not undermine New Zealand ’s capacity to protect the New Zealand environment or to take action to protect the environment outside New Zealand .
• Strengthen the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s environmental protection advocacy and require annual reporting on New Zealand ’s implementation of international agreements.
• Ensure that all timber and wood products imported to New Zealand have been certified as legally felled and exported, and within two years allow only the import of wood products that are from credibly certified sources along with a package of bilateral and multilateral producer country support.   ...(top)

Oceans in Crisis 

• Establish an Oceans Agency with integrated legislation, policy and processes which takes an ecosystem based management and precautionary approach.  These must include robust public participation, protection of natural capital and the interests of future generations, requires adverse effects to be avoided, remedied or mitigated, protects ecosystems and marine biodiversity.  The Agency has authority to set the parameters within which fisheries and other resource management takes place.

• Support and actively promote a global moratorium on bottom trawling on the high seas.

• Reduce seabird and marine mammal deaths in fisheries to negligible levels by 2007 and reduce other bycatch and incidental mortality of marine life.

• Pass the Marine Reserves Bill by the end of 2005 and ensure it extends the purposes of marine reserves to include education, recreation and protection of natural heritage and biodiversity values; extends coverage to the EEZ and Continental Shelf; removes the concurrence requirements of other ministers; bans mineral activity and dumping in reserves and sensitive marine environments.

• Protect New Zealand’s marine life and enhance fisheries by protecting 10% of mainland New Zealand’s marine area, including seamounts, cold water vents, sandy sediment, continental shelf and seabird areas, as representative no-take marine reserves by 2010 and 20% by 2020.

• Establish and extend marine mammal sanctuaries to protect threatened marine mammal populations. Give priority to: Hector's dolphin: South Catlins Coast and Te Waewae Bay; Maui dolphin: West Coast of the North Island; extend the Banks Peninsula Sanctuary;  New Zealand Sea lion and Southern right whale - Auckland Islands and Campbell Island out to 100 km offshore.

• Ensure the Marine Protected Areas Policy does not debase the definition of marine protected areas (MPAs) and that it prevents mining, dumping, dredging and bottom trawling, and other damaging activity in MPAs.

• Require the Ministry of Fisheries to implement the Fisheries Act 1996 with a particular focus on the environmental and sustainability provisions of the Act.

• Amend the Fisheries Act to:

• Reverse the burden of proof so that only environmentally safe fishing is allowed;

• Manage for non-harvest values of fish;

• Ensure fisheries management plans are prepared and managed by the Ministry of Fisheries.

• End the devolution of fisheries planning, management, research and research commissioning to commercial fishing interests and their representatives.   ...(top)

Protecting Nature on Land 

• Maintain the Department of Conservation as an integrated public conservation agency that protects and advocates for New Zealand’s native biodiversity, natural features and processes aid for public enjoyment of the conservation estate.

• Increase baseline Department of Conservation funding by $210 million over 3 years to enable it adequately protect New Zealand’s native plants and animals and natural features and foster recreation.

• Protect New Zealand’s native plants and animals and ecosystems by progressively increasing the control and eradication of animal and plant pests on the mainland by $60 million/year new funding.

• Progressively increase the number of pest-free islands ($2 million/year new funding).
  ...(top)

Public Access

• Support the creation of a land access agency to:

• Develop and publicise a code of conduct for users to enable pedestrian access through private land to public lands and rivers to ensure the public know their responsibilities and appropriate conduct.

• Facilitate negotiated solutions to pedestrian access problems.

• Ensure that areas and routes providing practical pedestrian legal access are mapped and that maps and information are readily available to the public.

• Maintain and enhance responsible free public foot access to and over the public conservation land, coast and waterways, including riparian margins, esplanade reserves, and access strip (collectively known as the Queen’s chain) and legal roads.
  ...(top)

Toxic Planet

• Prioritise the re-writing of national soil quality standards to bring them into line with Ministry of Health safety guidelines for dioxins (1 picgram/kg of bodyweight/day) through an open, fair, democratic and public process.

• Establish, by the end of 2006, new, legally binding guidelines and a national strategy for the clean-up of contaminated sites which are in line with the Ministry of Health’s safety guidelines for dioxins and includes funding commitments to deliver the Ministry’s plan to clean up all “high risk” sites by 2014.

• Amend the Resource Management Act to establish extended liability regime for cleanup and restoration of contaminated sites to those responsible for the contamination prior to 1991 rather than current landowners.

• Set up an industry-wide levy for chemical contamination designed to contribute to cleanup activities.

• Establish a public national register of all contaminated sites in New Zealand by mid-2006.

• Establish comprehensive water quality standards based on the “reduction of harm,” precautionary principle, which includes the sources of water contamination.  This should cover land management issues and the phase out of chlorine in chemicals, including pesticides and herbicides.  ...(top)