Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment - Te Kaitiaki Taiao a Te Whare Pāremata

Who is the Commissioner?

In March 2007 Dr Jan Wright was appointed as New Zealand's third Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

Dr Jan Wright was sworn in as Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment for a five-year term on 5 March 2007.

Jan has a multidisciplinary background with a Physics degree from Canterbury, a Masters degree in Energy and Resources from Berkeley in California, and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard.

Prior to her current role, Jan worked as an independent policy and economic consultant for many different government agencies and as a member of various Crown Entity Boards.

In the last year she has released reports on four major investigations – mining on conservation land, a strategic approach to biofuels, state of the environment reporting and, most recently, the greenhouse gases associated with large scale use of lignite.

Another major part of her job is the provision of independent advice on Bills and other matters of interest before Select Committees.

The office

The Commissioner has a total of 16 staff. They come from a wide range of disciplines and bring a variety of work and life experience. Their work ranges from individual assignments to teamwork on major investigations that may last several months.

The role of the staff is to provide administrative, technical, and general support for the Commissioner's investigations.