Panorama
 
 
 
 
 

NAVY LEAGUE OF NEW ZEALAND OCEANS POLICY CONFERENCE

Environmental Panorama
International
May of 2012


Amy Adams - 24 May, 2012 - Good morning and thank you for inviting me to speak to you today.
It is a great privilege to be in the company of such distinguished mariners and lovers of the sea.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the work of Captain Bob McKillop and the Navy League in fostering maritime activities for young people through the support of the Sea Cadets.

Today, I would like to outline the Government’s vision for unlocking the economic potential of our vast ocean resources.

I wish to make it clear from the outset, though, that we are committed to doing this in a way that is both environmentally responsible and respectful.

But it would be irresponsible if we ignored the considerable opportunities for New Zealand to gain much greater value from its marine resources.

As you will know, the maritime area for which New Zealand is responsible is enormous. Our Exclusive Economic Zone is one of the largest in the world.

Combined with the continental shelf area for which we also have rights and responsibilities, we are talking about an area of about 570 million hectares – that’s about 20 times the size of New Zealand’s entire land area.

So it is no surprise that New Zealanders have a special affinity with the sea.

For centuries the sea has been our food basket, our playground, and the source of much of our wealth.

Our oceans support our $1.53 billion a year fishing industry, and our small but burgeoning aquaculture industry which, thanks to recent reforms, is on track to being worth $1 billion a year by 2025.

The oceans are our link to the rest of the world, with more than 99 per cent of our exports and imports carried by sea freight.

Our oceans and the aquatic life that depends on them are a major attraction for our $5.8 billion tourism industry.

Our seas are a treasure for the New Zealanders who harvest them, and enjoy them for diving, swimming, and boating. Their scenic and spiritual value is priceless.

For all our sakes, and for future generations, they must be protected. But we also cannot ignore the vast untapped potential that lies beneath them.

Managing the interaction between the economy and the environment is hugely important to New Zealanders.

We all understand the need to create a more competitive and productive economy.

If our natural resources are to be the source of greater wealth and a better standard of living for New Zealanders, we all have a personal investment in making sure they are used responsibly. Any increase in the use of our natural resources needs to be permanently sustainable.

I would like to outline to you some of my thinking around the kind of policy improvements we need to capitalise on this economic potential, at the same time as maintaining our international reputation as an environmentally responsible maritime nation.

Right now we have the opportunity to get the right policies and frameworks in place before the pressures or competition for space become more difficult to resolve.

It is vital that we commit the time, resources and genuine willingness to develop a collaborative approach to decision-making and management of our oceans.

It is only through transparent and inclusive decision-making that we will be able to effectively address entrenched views, distrust and perceptions that might currently be hindering marine resource development.

In particular, we recognise the need to engage and consult with iwi on how we manage and develop our marine environment, including our mineral and petroleum resources.

And of course, we need the best possible information in order to make good decisions. New Zealand needs more co-ordinated and better sharing of information to support decision-making on marine and mineral resources.

The good news is that we are starting to make progress on this front.

I’m thinking of the aquaculture reforms, which have increased the level of data available to decision-makers for better planning for aquaculture development.

The Government’s economic growth agenda is focussing on finding ways of generating economic growth through making the most of our natural resources, based on good science, innovation, and better regulation.

As well as pursuing opportunities to develop the marine resources to which we have rights, New Zealand is committed to meeting its responsibilities in the marine world.

New Zealand is one of the top ranked countries in the world for responsible fisheries management. Our law requires catch limits for every fish stock to be set at levels that will ensure their long-term sustainability.

The fisheries arm of the Ministry for Primary Industries monitors the amount of fish caught against these limits, and financial penalties are enforced for transgressions.

New Zealand can also be proud of its record for environmentally-responsible activity in the oceans beyond our EEZ, in particular the Ross Sea region.

Antarctica is our backyard. We have a history of ground-breaking exploration and scientific discovery there. The Ross Dependency is the heart of New Zealand’s activities in Antarctica.

New Zealand has developed a draft proposal for a Marine Protected Area in the Ross Sea region which, if successful, will be the largest Marine Protected Area anywhere in the world. It will be nine times the size of New Zealand’s landmass.

The New Zealand proposal protects a full range of marine habitats - from the ice edge to the deep oceanic basins.

It protects ecologically important features and the habitats and foraging grounds of species such as the Antarctic silverfish and toothfish, as well as top predators that compete directly with fishing, such as penguins, seals and whales.

The New Zealand proposal is based on quality science, and would provide even greater opportunities for science, including valuable climate change and marine ecosystem research.

New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone is an important part of our environment and needs protecting. That's why the Government is introducing new laws to manage the environmental effects of offshore activities such as petroleum exploration and mining.

In my view, it is unacceptable that New Zealand is one of the few jurisdictions without such protections in place.

As you will be aware, under the United Nations Law of the Sea, New Zealand has the right to explore and exploit marine resources in our EEZ and continental shelf. But we also have the obligation to preserve and protect this environment.

In this regard, we have a gap in terms of the rules and tools available to us. For something so important to us, it is puzzling that our EEZ has for so long lacked a comprehensive environmental management regime.

This gap exposes us to a risk of harm to the marine environment, a reputational risk for New Zealand, and a lack of certainty for industry on the rules and regulations that may affect their investment in some of the activities that occur at sea.

The Resource Management Act manages environmental risks in the territorial sea out to 12 nautical miles offshore.

Other laws independently regulate activities like the fishing industry, maritime transport, the allocation of petroleum resources, and our response to oil spills.

This multitude of laws is effective in doing the job they were designed for, but gaps remain for other activities which are essentially unregulated.

The EEZ legislation my Government has introduced will allow us to manage and mitigate adverse environmental effects of activities such as seabed mining, seismic surveying, cable laying, and the construction of structures for oil and gas exploration.

It is important to reiterate that oil spills are already effectively regulated and managed under the Maritime Transport Act, and are not regulated by the proposed new law.

The EEZ legislation will provide a framework for classifying certain activities as:
•Permitted, subject to conditions,
•Discretionary, which requires a marine consent, or
•Prohibited.

Classification will depend on the potential environmental risks and impacts of the activity involved, and marine consent applications will be considered by the Environmental Protection Authority.

The Government has already suggested – and industry has accepted - voluntary measures that are providing environmental protections in the interim.

The purpose of the EEZ Bill is to balance economic development with environmental protection. It requires decision-makers to favour caution and environmental protection where there are unknowns or uncertainties.

When read as a whole, the Bill is clearly environmental legislation and requires far more than a cost-benefit analysis.

The balancing approach in the purpose of the Bill is entirely consistent with our international obligations under the law of the sea.

Some people have asked why we don’t just extend the Resource Management Act to include the EEZ and continental shelf.

I would like to stress that the EEZ Bill is not, nor is it intended to be, an RMA of the seas.

The Government’s view is that the complexity and planning framework of the RMA would be overkill in our relatively un-crowded offshore marine environment.

Furthermore, under international law of the sea New Zealand does not enjoy the full sovereign rights that we have on land.

It would be very difficult to apply the RMA in light of the rights, duties and responsibilities other countries also have in our EEZ and continental shelf.

On Tuesday, I released a discussion document on the detail of the proposed regulations. Consultation will take place over the next four weeks and I hope you will give us your views.

The document - Managing our Oceans - is available on the Ministry for the Environment’s website.

I’m interested in hearing your views on how we propose to classify activities.

The Government’s thinking is that activities with more than minor environmental effects should require a marine consent. This means activities with less than minor effects, such as seismic surveying, will be classified as permitted, subject to conditions.

Activities with more than minor environmental effects and requiring a marine consent will include exploration drilling for oil and gas and seabed mining.

At present, we are not proposing to classify any activities as prohibited. This is because there are no activities likely in the next five years that we know will have unacceptable environmental effects. That doesn’t mean particular activities can’t be banned in future if necessary.

In my view, the policy proposals for the regulations reflect the Government’s balanced approach to environmental management. They will ensure that processes are in place to:
•Assess and manage adverse environmental effects
•Provide greater certainty to investors and existing interests
•Meet our international obligations, and
•Ensure the costs are proportionate to the likely environmental effects.

I have released this discussion document while the Bill is still progressing through the Parliamentary process so that industry and others interested in managing the environmental effects of activities in the oceans can see the detail of what is being proposed.

The document assesses the effects of activities that currently occur in the EEZ, or are likely to in the next five years.

The regulations provide an important opportunity to improve New Zealand’s environmental system and our reputation for environmentally-sound business practices.

It is important to all of us that our EEZ is well-managed, and it is my view that this legislation will set the framework to do just that. It will give us world-best environmental practice.

Thank you.
+ More

Government welcomes new fresh water report

David Carter, Amy Adams - 18 May, 2012 - Primary Industries Minister David Carter and Environment Minister Amy Adams are welcoming further progress in New Zealand’s fresh water management with the release today of the Land and Water Forum’s second report.

The report on fresh water governance and setting limits continues the work on water reform initiated by the Government in 2009 and builds on the Forum’s first report released in 2010.

“This second report will help establish clearer national direction on how councils set objectives and limits for fresh water quality and quantity, in line with the National Policy Statement introduced by the Government last year,” Mr Carter says.

“The Forum’s report also considers how communities can have more say on setting those objectives through the greater use of collaborative processes.”

Ms Adams says the Forum has made excellent progress in finding agreement on some of the complex issues around fresh water management.

“We thank the Forum for its work so far. We are impressed with the way the members, who represent very diverse interests, have worked together to tackle often highly contentious issues,” she says.

“There is plenty to consider in this report, including how the recommendations could be progressed within the wider work the Government is doing to reform the resource management system.”

Mr Carter and Ms Adams say they will now carefully consider the report, and also look forward to receiving the Land and Water Forum’s third report later in the year.

“The Government will then be in a position to develop durable policies on fresh water management, based on the complete package of recommendations,” the Ministers say.

The Land and Water Forum Report can be viewed at www.landandwater.org.nz

 
 

Source: New Zealand - Ministry for the Environment
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