Explanatory note

This Supplementary Order Paper would exclude from the definition of adaptive management approach an activity that risks causing irreversible environmental damage, such as the loss of a species. This would allow decision makers to decline consent to the activity. It seeks to recognise New Zealand’s responsibility under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to “preserve and protect the marine environment”.

The Supplementary Order Paper also reduces uncertainty in the development of regulations by amending clause 33A. The amendment would leave consideration of whether adaptive management is an appropriate approach to the Environmental Protection Authority in making decisions on individual marine consent applications, rather than to the Minister in determining the activity status for particular activities in regulations.