Cover Story
2009 Power & Influence List: Environment
The five most powerful and influential New Zealanders in environmental issues in 2009.
1.Nick Smith
(NEW)
Environment minister
Putting Nick Smith at No 1 won’t be popular with green groups, who don’t like his Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms and think his Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is worse than useless. But it’s impossible to ignore his impact on environmental policy. The RMA reforms are all about “simplifying and streamlining” – among the changes, “frivolous” objections to consent applications will be banned, and there will be a new Environmental Protection Agency to decide which projects justify being put on a “fast track” for consents. His ETS is a triumph of politics over principle, pushing the cost of carbon from emitters to taxpayers. It’s unlikely to do anything to help stop global warming, but it will at least mean he and his colleague Tim Groser can turn up to the forthcoming Copenhagen climate-change talks with an “all gases/all sectors” scheme to wave about.
2. Gareth Morgan
(2008 10th)
Author
Gareth the greenie? Gareth Morgan is probably better known for his florid commentary on dodgy financial advisers and overcharging fund managers than as a tree-hugger. But he makes the Environment List this year by virtue of his book, Poles Apart: Beyond the Shouting, Who’s Right About Climate Change? Confused about whether the climate “alarmists” or the “sceptics” were right, Morgan hired eminent scientists from both sides to help him figure it out. Working with co-author John McCrystal, he analysed and challenged their opinions before adjudicating that, on the weight of evidence at the end of 2008, climate change is indeed human-induced. Some scientists sniffed that a couple of laypeople had no business playing judge and jury in such a complex debate, but the Poles Apart project is influential precisely because of Morgan’s determination to understand – and translate in a way other laypeople can understand – what he calls “the most important issue of our generation”. And as Andy Reisinger, senior research fellow at the New Zealand Climate Change Research Centre, blogged: “What Gareth says has an influence on the New Zealand public, regardless of the subject matter.”
3. George Clement
(NEW)
Fisheries consultant
The fishing industry has a pretty chequered environmental record, but George Clement is seen by many as a key player in encouraging the sector to lift its game. He heads the Deepwater Group, which represents deep-sea quota holders. Along with business partner Richard Wells, Clement was the driving force behind the decision to close off 30% of New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone as Benthic Protection Areas (BPAs), from which bottom trawlers are banned. The BPAs, and Clement’s role in their creation, are controversial, however – some environmental groups say the move was greenwash, and claim a large proportion of the BPAs would have been too deep to trawl anyway. Clement is also pushing the industry to embrace the international Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) process, which claims to reduce the environmental impact of fishing. So far hoki is certified under the MSC (wrongly so, in the view of some green groups) and the industry is trying to certify another five species. Clement was at the forefront of the creation of Southern Seabird Solutions, a partnership between the industry, environmental agencies and the Ministry of Fisheries, which is focused on reducing seabird by-catch. There’s still a very long way to go in greening the fishing industry, but Clement is regarded by many as pivotal in making the industry understand that good environmental practice is good business.
4. Brent Clothier
(NEW)
Scientist
Brent Clothier is just one of a huge cohort of Kiwi environmental scientists, but makes it onto the List on the power of his work with “virtual water”, an emerging issue set to add to the environmental considerations of our exports. The Plant & Food Research soil scientist contributed to a paper this year examining the water footprints of various products and identifying some of the criteria that may be used for measuring that impact. It takes, for instance, 200 litres of water to produce a glass of milk, but not all water is equal – from a country with fewer water pressures, such as New Zealand, that footprint may be smaller than water-short Australia’s. As our export markets become increasingly green-aware, panel member Jacqueline Rowarth said Clothier is “doing the work in terms of carbon and water that will give New Zealand the competitive advantage with Walmart, Marks & Spencer and the like”.
5. Gary Taylor
(NEW)
Environmental Defence Society boss
Gary Taylor is an advocate for New Zealand’s environment. With a Queen’s Service Order for services to conservation, and as executive director of the Environmental Defence Society (EDS), Taylor has forged working relationships at government, business and local levels, making the EDS an influential player in resource-management battles. Recently, its efforts have been directed at coastal planning, with a number of lawyers offering their services pro bono to work through council planning processes and the Environment Court to avoid development that will degrade beaches and coastlines. EDS has branched out into training local organisations to work more effectively within those systems, and scored a national coup of its own this year when its Sustainable Land Use Forum expanded into the Land and Water Forum, which Nick Smith launched on a promise to find common ground between the many divergent claims on the country’s national resources.
