Tararua Ranges,
Southern Crossing

Parliamentary Commissioner welcomes sustainability education boost

A $13 million boost to education for sustainability as part of the Budget on 18 May has been welcomed by Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Morgan Williams.

The government is planning to spend $13 million over four years for environmental education support for teachers and school children. Dr Williams says this is a significant funding increase and he is delighted to see education for sustainability recognised.

"This is at the very heart of education for the 21st century. Education today is very good at recognising the social connections between people, but not so good at recognising the connections between people and the planet that sustains them."

Dr Williams says that education for sustainability goes way beyond the old-style Nature Studies, in which the environment was the 'green bit' tacked on to other subjects. The Enviroschools programme will get $4.6 million of the $13 million, and a school taking part in the programme will not only reduce its waste, energy and water use, but will also examine its physical surroundings, curriculum, and teaching of life skills.

"Environmental education becomes integrated into the whole of school life and into all levels of learning," he says.

In 2004, the PCE had released a major report on how New Zealanders can learn to live in sustainable ways. See Change: Learning and education for sustainability concluded that it was essential for education for sustainability to have a strong presence in primary and secondary schools. Dr Williams says the next challenge is to ensure it becomes a core part of tertiary education so that tomorrow's decision makers have the understanding to shape a sustainable future for New Zealand.

" Rotorua Lakes' restoration must maintain momentum|

The people and agencies involved in restoring the Rotorua Lakes to full health are doing a superb job, says Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Morgan Williams. However, they need to cast their net more widely to involve the community as much as possible if their work is to maintain momentum.

Restoring the Lakes will take decades rather than years, because the nitrogen in the soils surrounding the Lakes can take more than 60 years to seep its way through surface and groundwaters. Dr Williams says this long process means the Lakes' guardians will need to ensure the institutional framework is robust and enduring.

"We are far from seeing the worst effects yet, so long-term structures to protect the lakes must be in place to see the job through."

He was commenting on a recommendation in Restoring the Rotorua Lakes: The ultimate endurance challenge, a PCE report released on 3 April. The Report examines concerns about the Lakes' declining water quality that members of the Rotorua community had raised with the Commissioner. It contains two recommendations and outlines other issues that may be investigated further.

The second recommendation is to develop a 'sustainability report card' that would produce regular news on water quality, land use patterns, restoration activity, progress and community satisfaction. This recommendation too aims at maintaining commitment over the long haul.

Water quality in the Rotorua Lakes has been declining for 30 to 40 years, with toxic blue-green algal blooms becoming a serious problem in some lakes. However, Dr Williams praised restoration work in the past two to three years as one of New Zealand's "leading initiatives".

" Time to spark a new direction for electricity |

New Zealand needs some fresh thinking about energy so we can move away from last century's model of building more and more big electricity projects to meet our energy needs, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) Dr Morgan Williams.

Dr Williams was speaking in Wellington at the launch of a PCE study that looks at what New Zealand might look like in 10, 25, and 50 years' time depending on the energy choices we make today. The study has been written to spark a national debate about our electricity and energy futures, he says.

"Major challenges in the energy sector mean that we need to make some tough decisions very soon, but there is no clear strategy to shape the direction we will take."

These challenges include:

Dr Williams said these challenges provide us with the opportunity to rethink where New Zealand's electricity system is going and to do things a lot smarter.

"One resource we have in infinite supply is our ingenuity. In energy, there are endless opportunities to innovate and to be creative, and we are already seeing small and medium-sized businesses developing some great ideas in the fields of energy efficiency and distributed energy systems."

Thinking about our electricity system in different ways also opens up tremendous possibilities for regional development, says Dr Williams. He noted that in Germany, 100,000 new jobs had been created in industries related to energy efficiency since environmental tax reforms began in 1999.

The PCE study, Future currents: Electricity scenarios for New Zealand 2005-2050 sketches two scenarios. One paints a 'business as usual' picture dominated by established thinking as more big power projects are built to maintain security of supply.

The other scenario looks at how we can "get more from less" by redesigning the way we use energy for our social and economic advantage. It emphasises small-scale projects close to where the energy will be used and has a strong focus on energy efficiency and smart designs.

Dr Williams says that rather than simply looking at how to generate more electricity from big power projects, we should examine more closely how we can get far more value from the electricity we generate now and from new sources in the future.

"The problems with leaky homes have made us aware of how water can seep into buildings that are badly built or designed, but most people are unaware of how much energy is 'leaking' out of our homes and businesses. We could be saving a lot of money and getting far more out of the electricity we already generate."

The study traces how the alternative scenarios could impact on the jobs and lifestyles of two 20-year-old characters during the course of their working lives. One is an Aucklander and the other an East Cape farmer, so that issues confronting both urban and rural New Zealand are addressed.

Although the study creates two fictional characters, the scenarios are underpinned by rigorous research and analysis. Future Currents is accompanied by a 42-page background technical report.