Pollution in our water, land, and air are all coming under the microscope in a major report from the Ministry for the Environment.
Our environment 2025 is a three-yearly report highlighting the effects of our land use on the rest of New Zealand’s ecosystem.
The Science Media Centre asked experts to comment.
Dr Roger Young, Freshwater Ecosystems Group, Cawthron Institute, comments:
“This report represents another large effort to summarise the state of our environment. It is useful to have an updated picture for all parts of our environment as they are intricately linked. However, the key messages are much the same as in previous reports – land use, pollution, invasive species, habitat loss, diseases and climate change are all threatening our environment. Many parts of our environment are under pressure. Many of our native species are threatened with extinction. In many cases things are getting worse, rather than better.
“I was pleased to see a focus beyond just water quality in the freshwater section of the report. Changes to river flows, physical habitats and species are equally important.
“I really appreciated the section of the report on people, society and the economy. The environment isn’t something separate from our daily lives – changes in our environment will increasingly affect us all. Changes in our climate are particularly worrying. For example, the exposure of our infrastructure and buildings to extreme flooding and sea level rise is eye-watering from a financial perspective alone.
“The report highlights some knowledge gaps, but our response to the environmental challenges is what’s really important and is largely missing from the report. The accompanying stories document outlines some examples of efforts underway, but action at many scales is urgently needed.”
Conflict of interest statement: “My colleagues and I are involved with the collation, analysis and interpretation of some of the data presented in the report. I am also a member of the steering group for the Land, Air, Water Aotearoa initiative that aims to make environmental information more easily available to the public.”
Dr Troy Baisden, co-President New Zealand Association of Scientists; Motu Affiliate; Principal Investigator Te Pūnaha Matatini CoRE; and Adjunct academic VUW Climate Change Science and Policy, comments:
“Every three years the Environmental Reporting Act requires the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) to publish a summary report on all six environmental domains, summarising a cycle of reports published under same act on each domain.
“MfE does a great job with compilation, putting a number of sad trends and a occasional pieces of good news into a tidy package. The myriad of information only runs to a little over 120 pages in the main report, although you can look deeper into technical appendices and the StatsNZ website. Every three years it provides the best summary possible with existing, highly fragmented data.
“A deeper dive reveals significant limitations. The biggest story is that MfE continues to do a great job with the flawed Environmental Reporting Act, six years after the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment recommended changes.
“Among the deepest problems is that the report harvests available data, rather than systematically collecting data for the purpose of reporting. From this perspective, good contributions continue to appear and the MfE/Stats framework continues to make good data more visible and as uniform as reasonably possible. These include, for example, new data on the pathogens, pesticides and forever chemicals (PFAS) in groundwater.
“But some data is worryingly dated – for example, trends in fertiliser use matter for both land and water, but are reported only to 2019 – that’s five years ago or almost two reporting cycles of three years each. Similarly, trends in estuaries, among our most sensitive yet important water bodies, are reported only to 2020. Even greenhouse gas emissions feel dated, with reporting good news on the reductions through the 2022 calendar year, with the official number for 2023 due out any day now.
“Does this matter? The cost of a few air pollutants, including PM2.5, was estimated to be 15 billion dollars in 2019, but PM2.5 is only reported for about 30 sites nationally, and over half have levels above international guidelines for at least a month out every year.
“It is therefore reasonable to believe greater investment in environmental monitoring would have payoffs for health. But it might also matter to markets that increasingly consider the environmental impacts caused within supply chains, where the international Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures is cited as an example.
“One of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s 2019 conclusions was not just that data be systematically collected, but that reporting be refocused from the oddly rapid 3-year interval to focus on the full international Drivers, Pressure, State, Impacts, Responses (DPSIR) Framework required to convert reporting into change. Doing so would ensure that the depressing trends in pressure, state and impacts would have at least some hope in being converted to policy responses that address the drivers of trends that need to be reversed to preserve our health and environment. Despite some efforts to get changes to the act underway, MFE continues to exclude responses from the work they include in the reports.
“Alas, the report makes an effort to follow data gaps but it hardly feels like great progress is being made in getting them filled. Despite thematic information suggesting that aspects of the environment matter in the quality of our food and how life feels in Aotearoa New Zealand, it is difficult to see that the quality of the reporting will help us retain and improve the quality of the world around us. Some areas that I was hopeful to see included in the last cycle, such as the protection of dark skies and considering the pressure artificial light causes on the ecology around our settlements, have become less visible than they were three years ago.
“Worst of all, with the cuts to research funding, the strategy of harvesting data that is available, rather than investing in the data we need to understand the trends in our environment looks set to go backward before the long awaited improvements needed to Environmental Reporting are implemented.”
Conflict of interest: I have been on advisory groups and panels and served as a reviewer for MfE, including some reports in the Environmental Reporting series.
Professor Cate Macinnis-Ng, School of Biological Sciences, Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland, comments:
“Our environment 2025 is an important synthesis report that brings together information on land, air, atmosphere and climate, freshwater and marine domains. My research focus is atmosphere-biosphere interactions and the impacts of climate change on biodiversity (particularly plants). While many rare and threatened bird species are well-known, plants tend to receive less attention.
“This report highlights that almost 50% of terrestrial vascular plants are already threatened or at risk of becoming threatened with extinction. Since around 80% of these species are found nowhere else in the world, this list includes many iconic species such as kauri. These plants have their own conservation value but they also provide food and habitat for the rich diversity of invertebrates, birds and other species in our ngahere (forests) and other ecosystems. However, extinction is not the only threat to plants as climate change, habitat fragmentation, invasive species impacts and other human activities are causing declines in plant productivity and health.
“Without healthy plants, our ecosystems will not survive. Invasive plants (weeds) are also expanding in diversity and area of land covered. Exotic species now make up 44% of our vascular plant species.
“Addressing environmental challenges across the motu requires a long-term understanding and forward-thinking approaches. Our environment 2025 highlights the place of Mātauranga Māori and place-based knowledge alongside non-Indigenous knowledge and research in finding solutions and making long-term plans for monitoring and improvement of environmental health. The companion document Our environment, our lives: The stories behind the numbers provides some inspirational examples of iwi-led initiatives that improve environmental health and enhance social-ecological outcomes.”
Conflict of interest statement: Cate served as Senior Science Advisor on the MfE Our Atmosphere and Climate 2023 Report.
Dr Mike Joy, Senior Research Fellow in Freshwater Ecology and Environmental Science, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, comments:
“After a quick read of of the Our environment 2025 Tō tātou taiao report, particularly the freshwater and marine sections, I was pleasantly surprised to find little attempt to downplay the dire state of our aquatic environments. I had been expecting this given past experience where I have been critical about attempts to understate the state of the environment in these reports. This one is a great improvement.
“I do have a few quibbles but in general it is an honest and up to date report. While it is extremely troubling that the freshwater and marine statistics both ecologically and in relation to human health are dire and reveal ongoing declines, at least MfE is being honest about it.
“I was pleased to see the use of the complete time record for trend analysis on water quality data, rather than the short time periods used in the past that obscured reality due to type-II statistical errors.
“I was pleased to see no mention of the inapplicable ‘nitrate toxicity’ which despite going against the advice of the freshwater Science Technical Advisory Group, now underlies our current nitrogen limits. Instead, the real issue of aquatic ecosystem health – that is, the way excess nutrients lead to eutrophication and hypoxia at much lower levels than toxic levels – was highlighted accurately. There are however a few instances where there is an implication that nitrate in drinking water can be mitigated by ‘treatment’. It is important to point out that this is possible but incredibly expensive and beyond the economic capability of local councils and water suppliers.
“I was again disappointed to see no mention of the link between nitrate in drinking water and bowel cancer. Despite efforts from the agriculture industry to downplay this issue, more research confirming the link between nitrate in water and cancer is being published every year. The concentration of nitrates associated with bowel cancer has been found to be significantly lower (ten times lower) than Aotearoa’s maximum acceptable value, and yet the Our environment 2025 report reveals that 12% of monitored groundwater sites exceed this maximum acceptable value. In the 2022 version of this Our environment report it was obvious that that a section on the nitrate drinking water cancer link had been removed from the report at the last minute because the report contained at least 4 “ghost references” referring to the nitrate drinking water cancer link (ghost references are those in the bibliography not mentioned in the report). The only way they would end up in the reference list could be that the section that cited them had been removed. This 2025 report contains no mention of cancer and no ghost references to suggest there ever had been one.
“One important missing component from the report was any international comparison of levels of pollution, for example in this peer reviewed article we revealed that the nitrogen flux in New Zealand rivers is among the worst globally. This is an important omission because for New Zealanders to see how we rank globally is key to getting the political pressure to halt declines.
“In conclusion, the report reveals the ongoing and, in most cases, worsening decline of our environment i.e. the life supporting capacity of the planet. While good to see more honesty in reporting, the report reveals starkly the fallacy of the label ‘clean green New Zealand’ and the urgent need for this to be taken seriously by government.”
Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts of interest.
Shaun Awatere (Ngāti Porou), Kaihautū Research Impact Leader, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, comments:
“In today’s world, social media echo chambers often shape how we interact with the environment and each other, and facts can sometimes be twisted to fit different agendas. That is why the Ministry for the Environment’s environmental monitoring series is so important. It provides a peer-reviewed, fact-based look at Aotearoa’s environmental wellbeing. The dedicated team at the Ministry has been hard at work sharing the latest insights and trends about the health of our taiao, which includes our freshwater, biodiversity, whenua, and moana, all highlighted in the Environment Aotearoa 2025 report.
“The news is concerning—the health of our precious taonga is declining, and climate change is making these challenges even tougher. However, there is hope! We can turn things around by collectively making choices for our long-term benefit. This collaborative spirit needs strong partnerships between the government and hapū/iwi, a renewed connection between society and te taiao, and initiatives that build local skills. It is crucial to recognise hapū/iwi/community rights and ensure that industries work hand in hand with those impacted. Together, we can begin to address the decline and improve te taiao for future generations.”
Conflict of interest statement: “I was on the working group that provided advice on the report.”
Dr Nick Cradock-Henry, Principal Social Scientist, GNS Science, comments:
“Our environment 2025 presents a sobering picture of the state and trends for underpinning, interconnected and critical components of the natural world in Aotearoa New Zealand. Across soils and landscapes, freshwater resources, ocean and marine environments, air, atmosphere and climate change, the data shows increasing pressures across all domains, and the potential implications for security, prosperity and welfare.
“The report comes at a critical time, with established trading relationships in flux, increasing global mean temperatures, and accelerating impacts from damaging extreme events. The natural world, however, remains a vital to us as ever: socially and culturally, as the report notes, but also economically. Productive primary industries and tourism continue to make significant contributions to GDP, underpinning rural- and resource-based livelihoods across the motu.
“As with previous iterations in the series, one of the report’s most significant contributions is to advance a holistic, integrated, and systemic perspective, that locates people within, and alongside the natural environment. What we do to the environment, the report infers, will end up affecting us, our homes, our communities, our economy.
“As a small-developed nation, we are strongly influenced by global trends and trajectories, and there is currently no foreseeable future, in which we will not face increasing adverse impacts from climate and other stressors. Enhancing the capacity of the natural world to buffer against these drivers; reducing maladaptive economic and developmental drivers, to avoid the continued loss and fragmentation of highly productive land around urban centres for example, decreasing susceptibility to erosion, and addressing the underlying structural conditions behind much of this degradation, is urgently required. Promoting sustainable practices that restore ecological balance and resilience in the face of climate change and human activity, essential.
“There is cause for optimism, however, insofar as the report connects the dots on a fast-moving picture, providing clear-eyed, unambiguous assessment of the state of the environment. What we do with that information, is up to us.”
Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts of interest.
Dr Chris Daughney, Chief Science Advisor, Te Uru Kahika — Regional and Unitary Councils Aotearoa, comments:
“Our environment 2025 provides an important overview of the complex and interconnected environmental issues affecting New Zealand. These environmental issues are central to the role of New Zealand’s regional and unitary councils, who provide services on behalf of their communities to manage land, air, and water resources, support biodiversity and biosecurity, and build more resilient communities in the face of climate change and natural hazards. We’re pleased that Our environment 2025 has drawn extensively on knowledge from regional and unitary councils. Our data and local-scale scientific knowledge enable reporting on biodiversity, soil health, air quality, the quality and quantity of rivers, lake waters, groundwaters and coastal water across the country. We make our data freely available through the Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA) website and individual council websites to help communities better understand the state of their environment at a local level and how it is tracking over time.
“We agree with the key knowledge gaps listed in the report. The regional sector has an extensive science work programme that includes filling of critical data gaps, developing understanding cumulative impacts of environmental stressors, and demonstrating the effectiveness of our approaches taken to addressing environmental issues.
“We are also pleased that the companion report Our Environment, Our Lives provides a few examples of how New Zealand can respond to the environmental issues we are facing. Regional and unitary authorities build and maintain infrastructure that reduces the risk of flooding and other hazards, as well as implementing nature-based solutions. They are working closely with hundreds of community groups and alongside iwi/hapū to develop and implement local, evidence-based solutions on the ground. We are deeply committed to this work, recognising that in some cases it may take many years to see significant environmental improvements resulting from the work going on now.
“The findings in the Our environment 2025 report makes it clear that the work of our 700 regional and unitary council scientists has never been more vital. As Chief Science Advisor for regional government, I see firsthand how essential it is that we continue to build our understanding of the environment, the pressures, and the solutions, so that our organisations can support meaningful change.
“With good local knowledge, councils can take informed action on the ground to help turn around some of the concerning environmental trends, protect the foundations of our economy, and support communities to adapt to climate changes. Environmental science has a critical role to play in shaping a more resilient and fulfilling future for all of us.”
Conflict of interest statement: Dr Daughney is also Chief Science Advisor at NIWA, however, Dr Daughney did not input to Our environment 2025 in this capacity.