Abstract:
On 1 October 1991 the Resource Management Act 1991 came into force in New Zealand ushering in a dramatically reformed system of environmental protection and natural resource management. The legislation created an integrated policy, planning and decision - making structure covering the use and management of land, air and water, guided by the central purpose of ‘sustainable management’. Subsequently various forms of the sustainability principle have been incorporated into the management of forests, fisheries, energy, bio-security, hazardous substances and genetically modified organisms. Integrating the principle of sustainability into domestic environmental legislation in a way that was binding on decision-makers and enforceable in the courts was both innovative and challenging. There have been successes and failures in this 30-year ‘experiment’, and the present government has now initiated a full review and law reform process to overhaul New Zealand’s environmental law. New Zealand’s experiment continues, and the current reform proposals provide an interesting case study on reform of environmental law and policy.
