New Zealand Political Studies Association (NZPSA) Annual Conference

Environmental politics in Aotearoa have always been contentious, but in recent years have risen to the forefront of mainstream policy debates. From bans on new oil and gas exploration to pricing agricultural emissions and cleaning sacred waterways, many of today’s challenges hold social and economic significance that extend far beyond the silo of environmental management. In this roundtable authors of a forthcoming new text on Environmental Politics and Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand will present the key points from their chapters, in order to stimulate discussion distinct elements of environmental politics in New Zealand. We will explore New Zealand’s unique institutional, cultural and resource context, by first focusing on the key importance of Te Tiriti before turning to the unique characteristics of the natural environment in Aotearoa. The unique setting here informs and is, in turn, informed by the global context of environmental politics, policymaking and social movement activism.

Participants: 

Julie Macarthur, Maria Bargh
Aotearoa in global context

David Hall
The state of the environment in New Zealand

Janine Hayward
Environmental history in Aotearoa

Valentina Dinica
Theorising Environmental Policy

Rod Oram
New Zealand’s Green Economy