Simon Upton urges cross-party consensus on New Zealand environmental goals
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton is calling for cross-party consensus on the country's overarching environmental goals.
The Land and Water Forum (LWF) today outlined new consensus recommendations needed to improve management of fresh water.
It is also calling on the Government to urgently adopt all of its recommendations from earlier reports.
The 60 new consensus recommendations for how New Zealand should improve its management of fresh water are contained in LWF's fourth report.
The Forum, which brings together over 60 organisations including business, energy generators, environmental and recreational NGOs, iwi and scientists, has focused its latest report on finding ways to meet water quality and quantity limits while maximising economic benefits.
"Improving the management of fresh water is a critical economic and environmental issue for New Zealand. Now is a once in a generation chance to address it in full," says Forum chair Alastair Bisley.
"The recommendations from our four reports collectively outline a workable and balanced system that will facilitate growth and innovation within environmental limits. It is now up to the Government to put these systems in place."
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