The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has made a submission on the investigation into planning provisions in the Hamilton City Operative District Plan. The submission focuses solely on the deep soil and canopy cover requirements introduced through Hamilton’s Plan Change 12 (PC 12).

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has written to Housing and Planning Minister, Chris Bishop, urging the Government to consider how its new planning system can support climate-resilient urban development

Published annually by the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, NZJEL is New Zealand’s leading academic journal dedicated to environmental and resource management law, featuring in-depth legal scholarship, commentary, and analysis from leading academics, judges, practitioners, and policy experts.

The Government has taken an important first step towards preparing New Zealand for climate change by introducing the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill, but the Environmental Defence Society says the new adaptation framework risks becoming just a planning exercise unless ministers address the unresolved question of who will pay for implementation.

New research by Earth Sciences New Zealand, commissioned by Te Waihanga, explores how flood damage to infrastructure could change under different climate scenarios. It shows that, across the scenarios modelled, flood damage is expected to increase over the coming decades, with the impacts felt unevenly across the country.

The Government has introduced a Bill to amend New Zealand’s climate change law.

The Climate Change Commission is inviting evidence and insights to inform an update of its 2024 advice on emissions budgets.