Urgent calls for action at biodiversity summit undermined by poor govt decisions

Urgent calls for action at COP16 are being directly undermined by a series of troubling government decisions that threaten the integrity of our ecosystems and the wellbeing of local communities, especially Māori. 

196 countries are parties to the Convention and New Zealand has been a member for more than 30 years.

It is the first gathering since parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity committed to developing new strategies and targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at COP15.

But more than 80% of countries, including New Zealand, have not submitted updated plans to meet these targets,

As someone working in Tairāwhiti on efforts to reestablish native forest on the erosion-prone slopes that make up nearly 90% of the region, recent government policy changes and staffing cuts at the Ministry for the Environment and Department of Conservation seem at odds with local and global efforts to restore biodiversity.

While the Convention on Biological Diversity and recently adopted Global Biodiversity Framework commit countries to protecting nature and restoring ecosystems, new legislation in New Zealand fast-tracking consents for projects previously deemed environmentally unacceptable, signal a very real disregard for Indigenous ecosystems and Indigenous rights. 

Local communities, often at the frontline of these developments, are being systematically sidelined, raising concerns about the government’s commitment to any form of genuine consultation and inclusivity. This top-down approach is antithetical to the principles of the Convention, which emphasises the importance of community involvement in conservation efforts and development decisions.

Similarly, the impending Treaty Principles Bill and the referendum expected to come out of the Select Committee process, poses a significant risk to environmental practices and also contravenes the Convention’s requirements for Free, Prior and Informed Consent by Indigenous Peoples on issues affecting natural resources. Te Tiriti o Waitangi, like the UN Convention on Biodiversity, is an international agreement that cannot be unilaterally changed by one party, that’s not how these things work. As aspects of the Convention on Biological Diversity are under negotiation, so the Crown would need to renegotiate the terms of Te Tiriti o Waitangi with every hapū in the country if it wants to open it up to relitigate the definitions of that agreement.

The recent slashing of public service budgets and changes to freshwater policy, changes to the Resource Management Act and mining concessions in the conservation estate and marine environment, further compounds habitat protection issues for New Zealand.

Leaving key environmental agencies under-resourced and ill-equipped to manage the nation’s biodiversity effectively, while simultaneously slashing environmental regulation is taking the country in the opposite direction from these global agreements and our trading partners. This retrenchment not only undermines New Zealand’s environmental governance but also sends a message that ecological concerns are no longer important to a country still trading on its ‘clean, green, sustainable’ image.

Compounding these failures is the freezing of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity (NPS-IB), a crucial framework aimed at compelling action on significant biodiversity restoration. By stalling this initiative, the government is abandoning its responsibility to enhance biodiversity protection and to mitigate the impact of human activities on highly mobile fauna. Te Mana O Te Taiao: Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy needs a major overhaul and New Zealand is due to report on progress towards commitments the country made under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the new Global Biodiversity Framework. But it seems there will be little to celebrate on that front.

My other bugbear with the government’s commitment to COP16 is the make up of the New Zealand delegation. It is so small it cannot cover the breadth and depth of critical issues up for debate over the next two weeks and despite having a ‘national focal point’ for a range of the commitments made in the Global Biodiversity Framework and Convention on Biological Diversity, the delegation excludes experts in the clauses and mechanisms on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In May this year I was part of the Indigenous Caucus at the Diplomatic Conference in Geneva that negotiated a groundbreaking global treaty covering patents based on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. I saw how hard the officials from the New Zealand delegation worked with their counterparts to seal a deal New Zealand can be proud to have shaped. That expertise isn’t included in the COP16 delegation and officials attending will be unable to contribute the kind of diplomatic leadership New Zealand is well known for.

It remains to be seen whether New Zealand's position advocating for better biosecurity, oceans conservation, and endangered species protections, will be taken seriously given the basketcase that is domestic environmental policy at present. RMA reforms have floundered and new legislation is waging a war on Nature at the same time New Zealand is supposed to telling the world what good stewards we are of the biological resources we have inherited and should be passing on in better, not worse, condition than we found them.

Genuine leadership in biodiversity enhancement cannot be achieved through empty promises while simultaneously undermining the foundations of environmental protection at home.

It’s time for New Zealand to align its domestic policies with its rhetoric—prioritising Te Taiao, the natural heritage we have inherited, are responsible to future generations for, and which we all depend on.

Manu Caddie, Adjunct Research Fellow at Te Kotahi Research Institute, University of Waikato, is currently in Colombia at COP16 taking part in meetings organised by the New Zealand Embassy to share perspectives and experiences on a range of issues in Aotearoa, particularly in terms of Māori economic development, biodiversity protection, and intellectual property regimes. His visit is being supported by the Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence based at Victoria University of Wellington and his participation at COP16 is supported by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples.