15 June 2000
Green accounting counts the environment
Until government and business start counting environmental costs in their bottom line, the environment will continue to
bear the brunt of development, Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said today.
Ms Fitzsimons announced the Green Party has negotiated $730,000 from the Green Budget Package to pilot work on green
national and business accounts. The impact of this work will be far reaching and is central to Green economic thinking,
she said.
The money will pay for the development of a social and environmental audit programme in partnership with business and
community groups, as well as supporting work with Statistics New Zealand on alternative national accounts.
“Accounting can seem a bit dry at times, but the profit and loss figures at the bottom affect every decision that
businesses and government make,” said Ms Fitzsimons. “I am delighted that Environment Minister Marian Hobbs has had the
foresight to agree to an investigation into how we can better measure economic activity.”
“GDP currently includes many negative costs such as pollution and biosecurity invasions in its measure of economic
activity, and excludes constructive voluntary activities such as parenting and skill-learning.”
“Modified national accounts would measure progress in a more sensible way, by including positive activities such as
voluntary work and unpaid childcare, and deducting negatives such as pollution and biosecurity clean-ups.”
Ms Fitzsimons said New Zealand businesses were lagging behind Europe and other trading partners by keeping silent on the
environmental impacts of their business.
“Ignoring the trend towards environmental reporting will damage New Zealand’s clean green image and close doors on
markets in the long run,” she said. “This programme is a crucial first step towards measuring genuine progress and
ensuring that economic activity is sustainable rather than destructive.”
Ends
Jeanette Fitzsimons MP: 04 470 6661, 025 586 068
Gina Dempster (press secretary): 04 470 6724, 021 126 5289