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New Zealand’s government is seeking to abolish its dedicated environment ministry to cut down on bureaucracy, a move critics say could dilute environmental protections.
Under the plan, the department would be folded into a new “mega-ministry” that will cover housing, urban development, transport, local government and the environment.
The environment ministry was created by statute in 1986 to be the country’s lead adviser over the environment and climate. On 19 February, the coalition government introduced a bill to parliament to disestablish the ministry. The government aims to have the new ministry running by 1 July.
Chris Bishop, the minister for resource management reform, said when announcing the proposal in December: “The system is too fragmented and too uncoordinated.”
Bishop said public servants were “often as frustrated, as ministers are by the duplication, overlapping responsibilities and lack of coordination” between the existing ministries. The new ministry would “combine the key levers that shape growth and productivity”, he said.
New Zealand promotes itself to the world as “100% pure” and “clean, green”, while for many living in the country, a deep connection to nature is regularly cited as being an important part of personal and collective identities.
However, its species are in worrying decline, with a high proportion threatened, or at risk of extinction – one of the highest amid the global biodiversity crisis – and many of the country’s fresh waterways are in a dire state, because of nutrient pollution and sewage overflows.
Experts and opposition parties say scrapping the dedicated environment ministry is another blow to protections.
Dr Bronwyn Hayward, a political science professor at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, and a specialist in climate and democracy, said she was “very concerned” about the changes.
“There is a real risk that in the merger we simply lose the threads of accountability, the skill, and cohesive delivery of effective policy, of which delivers a better environment for all, and one that supports our economy and wellbeing,” she said.
Since taking office in 2023, the rightwing coalition government has faced widespread criticism for its environment and climate policy agenda. It has promised to restart offshore oil and has set aside $200m of its budget to invest in gas exploration. It plans to boost mineral exports to $3bn by 2035, at the same time it has slashed funding to conservation and climate initiatives.
A new fast-track law that is pushing through major infrastructure projects, including mining, has been described as “egregiously damaging” for the environment and risks destabilising a path towards a greener future. In 2025, a group of environment lawyers sued the government over its “dangerously inadequate” emissions reduction scheme.
Rachel Brooking, the opposition Labour’s spokesperson for the environment, said the plan to axe the environment ministry was “emblematic of this government’s approach to the environment and nature, which is to enable more pollution and cut programs that were there to improve nature and the environment.”
“We’re concerned that all of the monitoring and environmental protection work that the ministry has been involved in … will go by the wayside.”
The Green party’s environment spokesperson, Lan Pham, said the move sent a “clear signal that the environment comes last for this government”.
The ministry exists because in 1986 New Zealanders decided the natural world needed “a dedicated voice at the heart of government”, Pham said.
“At a time when climate change is flooding our communities week after week, costing billions of dollars, lives, and livelihoods, this government’s response is to dismantle the ministry responsible for environmental protection.”
In a statement to the Guardian, Bishop and environment minister, Penny Simmonds, said the ministry’s responsibilities would be retained and the changes would “strengthen accountability”.
“We want to be clear: there are no substantive changes to the functions under the Environment Act 1986, and no reduction in environmental protections,” the ministers said.
“These reforms are about structure and effectiveness, not about stepping back from our responsibility to protect New Zealand’s environment.”
