Have Your Say On The Environmental Reporting Amendment Bill

The Environment Committee is calling for submissions on
the Environmental Reporting Amendment Bill. The closing date
for submissions is 11.59pm on Thursday, 20 August
2026.

This bill would amend the Environmental
Reporting Act 2015 by:

• expanding the purpose of
  the Act to include informing New Zealanders about the state
  of the country’s environment and supporting evidence-based
  decisions
• reducing the frequency of synthesis
  reports from every 3 years to every 6 years, and renaming
  them to “state of the environment
  reports”
• setting data collection
  standards
• requiring reports on data and evidence
  priorities every 6 years
• requiring drivers
  (socio-economic, cultural, political, or natural forces) and
  outlooks (how the environment may change in the future) as
  components of environmental reports
• enabling
  reporting on progress towards government priorities in
  related legislation
• changing reporting roles and
  responsibilities for the Secretary of the Environment and
  the Government Statistician
• setting up a new
  Strategic Evidence Panel to provide independent advice to
  the Secretary of the Environment.

Tell the
Environment Committee what you think

Make
a submission on the bill by 11.59pm on 20 August
2026.

For more details about the bill:

© Scoop Media