Environmental Reporting Amendment Bill
This bill changes how the government reports on New Zealand's environment. Currently, big overview reports come out every 3 years and shorter topic reports every 6 months. Under this bill, the big reports would come out every 6 years, and shorter topic reports at least once a year. It also creates a new independent expert group to give advice on environmental data, and introduces a new type of report setting priorities for improving how we collect environmental information.
What this affects
Tap a topic to see how this bill touches it, and the parts of the text that show it.
The bill changes how often and in what way the government publishes official reports on the health of New Zealand's environment.
A state of the environment report must be published once every 6 years.
A commentary report must be published at least once every 12 months.
Each state of the environment report must describe… the drivers that influence pressures on New Zealand's environment… and outlooks based on identified data and trends.
The purpose of this Act is to require regular reports on the state of New Zealand's environment that inform New Zealanders about the state of the environment, and support evidence-based decisions that lead to effective and enduring environmental stewardship.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Environment Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 19 August 2026.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.