Environmental Law – an introduction

There has always been a tension between the way we interact with the world for our benefit and how we should interact with the world to avoid the detriment of others.  Historically leaders have been regulating the use of the environment for centuries, with one of the first references to ‘sustainable’ making it into legislation in the 18^th Century.

There is now a plethora of legislation, regulation and policy that attempts to strike the right balance, most well-known of which is the Resource Management Act 1991.  The RMA 1991 has been the subject of substantial criticism over the years and is poised to be replaced by a trio of legislation being the Natural Built Environments Act, the Strategic Planning Act and the Climate Change Adaption Act.  The first two bills are expected to be introduced to Parliament shortly in October with the Climate Change Adaption Bill following in 2023.

It is, however, not a matter of cleaning the slate entirely, the trio when introduced will work with the existing wider framework of law managing our environment with the tensions between old and new being worked out over time with practical application in a real-world environment.

What we can be sure of, is that activities will still be regulated, consents or permits will still be required, and monitoring of activities will continue.  In the meantime, however it is business as usual.

Use this link to view an announcement by the Minister for Environment in September 2022 as to progress of the NBA and visit Sharp Tudhope Lawyers to keep up to date with changes in the Environmental Law field as well as receive helpful information to navigate you through your environmental law matters.