Sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

is being increasingly recognised as being good practice and the government has made some moves toward this goal.

History

Over the relatively short human occupation of New Zealand, huge changes had been made to the

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, living and non-living things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not Artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. Th ...

. Although efforts were made by a small number of individuals and organisations in highlighting

environmental issue Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on th ...

s, only ad-hoc measures were made by the government at central and local level. Sustainability became a concept that emerged from the

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

which become a social and political movement of its own right in the 1960s. In 1972 the

Values Party The Values Party was a New Zealand political party. It is considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party, pre-dating the use of "Green" as a political label. It was established in May 1972 at Victoria University of Wellingto ...

formed, being the first national-level

Green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

. The

New Zealand government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

has enacted legislation to enshrine sustainability principles in law, notably the

Resource Management Act 1991 The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zea ...

. It was a landmark piece of legislation, being the first to adopt the principle of sustainability. In 2003 the government announced the Sustainable Development Programme of Action. The Govt³ programme was also announced that year, but was cancelled in March 2009. As in many other countries, there were demand for sustainable products and services and some companies began filling this demand. In March 2007

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it ...

became the "first New Zealand bank to offer a 'green' home loan." There was also increasing calls for

green growth Green growth is a term to describe a hypothetical path of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable. It is based on the understanding that as long as economic growth remains a predominant goal, a decoupling of economic growth from reso ...

, a path of economic growth that uses natural resources in a sustainable manner. The Ministry of Economic Development set up the Green Growth Advisory Group. The lobby group Pure Advantage formed in July 2011 to promote green growth and in 2012 released a report stating that New Zealand should improve its environmental performance and improve its image. Some of the environmental rankings, including Yale University's

Environmental Performance Index A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

, showed that New Zealand was not improving its overall sustainability. New Zealand is a green country although it is small it still continues to be an eco friendly country.

Strengths

The international business adviser, author and speaker Paul Gilding believes New Zealand dairy farmers have a significant advantage over other countries because they run pasture-fed systems, rather than grain-fed as in the US. Another advantage is New Zealand's reputation as a clean and green country, at least compared with most other countries. "As the demand rises for clean and green food, the better off New Zealand dairy is," Gilding said.Fonterra bringing in Greenpeace ex-boss
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References

External links

sustainability.govt.nz
;Organisations
Sustainable Business CouncilSustainability Council of New ZealandSustainable Living Education TrustSustainable Otautahi ChristchurchTransition Towns New Zealand AotearoaPure Advantage350.org Aotearoa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sustainability In New Zealand

History

Strengths

See also

References

Further reading

External links