Our Seas Our Future welcomes New Zealand’s first Wellbeing Budget 2019 for addressing the well-being of people, and our environment.

OSOF is encouraged by the $229 million for the Sustainable Land Use Package to protect and restore at-risk waterways and wetlands and provide support for farmers and growers to use their land more sustainably.

“Nutrient pollution is a major problem in New Zealand’s agriculture focused economy that needs to be addressed, and this funding is a step in the right direction to improve the health of our waterways and wetlands, and our coastal environments.”

The Wellbeing Budget provides $107 million to ensure the economic transition required for emission reductions to deliver on new greenhouse gas reduction targets to meet the Paris Agreement goal of keeping temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees. In addition, a further $8.5 million in 2019/20 in the Global Research Alliance (GRA) on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, $25 million over four years into the Agricultural Climate Change Research Platform, $27 million to set up the National New Energy Development Centre in Taranaki, alongside a further $20 million over four years to establish a new science research fund for cutting edge energy technology, is allocated.

“This commitment to addressing climate change is a positive step to help New Zealand meet our global obligations and to meet the Government’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Climate change is already having significant and costly effects on our communities and our health, and we need urgent climate action now. ”

The Wellbeing Budget provides only $4 million over four years to help the Ministry for the Environment work on improving recycling and resource recovery and shifting New Zealand to a more efficient zero waste economy.

“Unfortunately this budget has failed to provide adequate support for improving recycling and resource recovery, and this will impact on how New Zealand will be able to handle our growing problem of waste. The allocated funding does not go nearly far enough to address a shift to a more efficient zero waste economy.”

“The under-funding of MfE to improve waste management shows a lack of urgency placed on dealing with our growing addiction to filling up landfills at an alarming rate.”

References

1. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean.

2. Plastic Free New Zealand.

3. Climate Action Now.

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