RMLA was saddened to learn of the death of Jim Hopkins on 27 July 2026. Within RMLA, Jim was a long-standing and valued member who made a distinctive contribution to the Association and to the Resource Management Journal. Over many years, his writing brought something unusual and important to its pages: an ability to look at the complexities, conventions and occasional absurdities of resource management through a sharply observed and warmly humorous lens.

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.

Parliament’s Environment Select Committee has today released its report on the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill. Together, the Bills will replace the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) was appointed as an independent adviser to the Environment Committee on 18 December 2025 to assist with its consideration of the Planning and Natural Environment Bills.

The Environment Select Committee have released their Reports on the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill.

The Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai (the Authority) is taking steps to improve clarity for drinking water suppliers by releasing a policy position on when a downstream supply exists and clarifying what responsibilities apply. This work follows engagement with the sector last year.

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 Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has today filed its submission on the Conservation Amendment Bill, welcoming the Government’s decision to abandon the controversial conservation land exchange and disposal provisions, while warning that several significant issues remain unresolved.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has submitted on the Conservation Amendment Bill, focusing on how proposed reforms could shape the future management of New Zealand’s conservation estate.

For RMLA members working across environmental law, policy, planning, governance, biodiversity, natural-resource management and ecological restoration, these opportunities may be of particular professional and academic interest.