EventsImage galleriesMediaPublicationsAnnual reportAsia White PaperBusinesslinkExport year 2007NewslettersPost election briefTrade matters
Although we have tried to use plain English content on the site, you may come across specialist terms and acronyms. Find out what they mean in our glossary of terms.
If you come across a term that isn't included in the Glossary please send us an email.
New Zealand will submit the limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in April 2006. MFAT is responsible for the presentation of the submission and associated costs.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) New Zealand is required to submit the limits of its continental shelf extending beyond the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).
The area of New Zealand’s continental shelf beyond the EEZ amounts to approximately 2.4 million km2 – about 7.9 times the size of New Zealand. New Zealand has exclusive rights to the resources of the seabed of the continental shelf (such as petroleum or gas deposits).
New Zealand is on track to make its submission to the CLCS in April 2006. The submission will be the product of a seven-year, $44 million data acquisition project, managed by Land Information New Zealand, with technical work provided by NIWA and Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences. MFAT will be responsible for presenting the submission to the CLCS.
The CLCS will consider the limits and supporting data put forward by New Zealand, and may then make recommendations to New Zealand either confirming the limits proposed, or suggesting further work be done to identify alternative limits. Although the CLCS’ recommendations are not technically binding on New Zealand, they will have considerable authority and New Zealand will be expected to have due regard to them.
One important issue that will need to be resolved is whether New Zealand includes the co-ordinates for the continental shelf of the Ross Dependency in its submission, or submits a submission dealing only with the continental shelf of metropolitan New Zealand.
New Zealand is an active supporter of key global and regional initiatives to ensure long-term conservation, management and sustainable use of marine living resources.
New Zealand continues to seek strong governance arrangements for the sustainable management of fisheries resources and the protection of the marine environment and the biodiversity of the high seas
New Zealand is a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement. New Zealand is a member of three regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs): the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources (CCAMLR), and the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific (WCPFC). New Zealand was also involved in recently concluded negotiations for an RFMO in the Southern Indian Ocean; and, together with Australia and Chile, is a co-sponsor of an initiative to establish an RFMO in the South Pacific Ocean.
Under a Cabinet agreed strategy (September 2004), New Zealand has been pursuing a “multi-pronged” approach to improving protection of marine biodiversity in the high seas. The development of a new South Pacific RFMO to fill the existing gap in governance arrangements in high seas areas around New Zealand is a critical component of this strategy. New Zealand has also sought support through the United Nations General Assembly for improved international cooperation with respect to the urgent protection of vulnerable ecosystems in high seas areas.
NGOs have been campaigning for an interim global moratorium on high seas bottom-trawling. New Zealand has been a particular target of this campaign, given the extent of bottom-trawling by the New Zealand industry. The issue will be reviewed at the 61st UN General Assembly (UNGA 61) in late 2006.
International attention is also currently focusing on the need to find new mechanisms to give effect to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) goal for a representative network of high seas marine protected areas by 2012. New Zealand has previously expressed its firm commitment to this goal.
So far, there is no agreement on the necessary legal tools to ensure any such arrangements are enforceable and in accordance with existing international instruments. The Tasman Sea has been targeted by some (e.g. the EU) as an area that particularly warrants protection.
The development of the new South Pacific fisheries management organisation will be a major focus of effort over the next two to three years. The first intergovernmental meeting to discuss the establishment of this organisation will be held in Wellington in February 2006. These negotiations will be open to all States interested in the fisheries concerned, including Australia, the EU, US, Japan, Korea, and Pacific and Latin American countries.
The issue of New Zealand’s approach to bottom-trawling will again be under scrutiny when the UN General Assembly negotiates its annual oceans resolution in October/November 2005.
The international environment agenda is extensive and growing rapidly (with more than 300 multilateral environment agreements (MEAs) signed since the early 1970s). The 1992 Rio Earth Summit initiated a number of environmental treaties covering oceans, air, biodiversity and biosafety; since the late 1990s the scope of these treaties has also widened, with negotiations dealing with further control measures on ozone depleting substances, combating global warming, improving chemicals and waste management, and protecting and conserving forests and biodiversity.
International negotiations on climate change, biodiversity, biosafety, oceans, atmosphere, and the transboundary movement of hazardous substances, have significant economic, trade and international development assistance implications for New Zealand. Environment Division (MFAT) works closely with domestic agencies (Ministry for the Environment, New Zealand Agency for International Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Treasury, Ministry for Economic Development, Ministry of Fisheries, Department of Conservation, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet) to identify, protect and advance New Zealand’s interests in such negotiations. In addition, MFAT seeks to project environmental values held by New Zealanders (e.g. on the conservation of whales).
The future direction of international efforts to address climate change remains unclear. Although climate change requires action on a global scale, there is no agreement amongst the major emitters as to how this might be achieved: the EU favours further targets modelled on Kyoto Protocol[1] commitments, supported by international emissions trading; major developing country emitters, such as China and India, are unwilling to take on commitments which might restrict growth; while the US considers that technology could solve the problem, and sees climate change linked to energy and development agendas.
There are currently no formal intergovernmental negotiations on future action on climate change beyond the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (i.e. post 2012). But momentum is building through informal discussions for a process to look at this. Some milestones:
New Zealand has bilateral climate change partnerships with the US and Australia. We also participate in the Umbrella Group within the UNFCCC, which brings together a mix of non-EU Kyoto members (New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Norway, Iceland, Russian Federation and Ukraine) as well as Australia (which chairs the group) and the US: this group provides for information sharing and cooperation; common positions are possible but divergent views are also respected.
Officials are currently undertaking a review of climate change policy, with a report back to Cabinet due 31 October. This will include seeking guidance from Ministers on a negotiating mandate and strategy for the New Zealand delegation attending COP11 in Montreal.
In 2001 New Zealand, together with EU countries, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, made a voluntary commitment to help developing countries meet the challenges of climate change. New Zealand’s share of the commitment ($5 million a year from 2005) includes climate change-related contributions to the Global Environment Facility and under NZAID’s Pacific Regional Environment Programme; additional funding of $1.9 million has been made available in MFAT’s Vote; this needs to be disbursed to one or more of the UNFCCC’s multilateral funds by 31 December.
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety regulates trade in certain types of genetically modified (GM) organisms known as “Living Modified Organisms” (LMOs). Although the Protocol came into force in September 2004, a number of key elements of the Protocol were deferred to parties for further work given their complexity and the controversial nature of the issues. There is therefore an intensive work programme in which New Zealand is participating as a full Party. Some of these decisions will have a direct impact on New Zealand, especially the research sector whose current trans-boundary activities are covered by the Protocol. Although New Zealand is not yet exporting LMOs for use as food, feed or processing, documentation and identification requirements for such shipments could potentially capture conventional agricultural commodities. A liability regime would potentially conflict with New Zealand’s current approach to liability, which is not to distinguish between harm caused by GM as opposed to non-GM organisms. New Zealand stakeholders, research sector, industry and environmental NGOs take a keen interest in all of these issues. The next Meeting of Parties (MOP3) will be held in Curitiba, Brazil in March 2006.
The CBD is an extremely broad-ranging environmental instrument, with an increasingly demanding work programme. Given the crosscutting nature of the issues, it touches on many key environmental, trade, economic and other New Zealand interests. It is therefore a particularly challenging negotiating forum. The 8th Conference of Parties (COP8) will be held in Curitiba, Brazil, in March 2006. This is a major event on the international environmental calendar, which will likely attract several thousand delegates for the two-week meeting. The focus for the meeting will be island biodiversity in which New Zealand is well placed to play a constructive and active role.
There is a separate Ministerial segment, which is expected to adopt a Ministerial declaration. (The Minister of Conservation has usually attended.)
A new strand of work under the CBD is negotiations on a new international regime for access and benefit sharing, which deals with trade in genetic resources. The next Working Group will meet in February 2006. Officials will need to consult the Government on New Zealand’s negotiating stance. There is a risk that the international negotiations will get ahead of New Zealand’s domestic policy, which is still developing in this area.
Indigenous groups are particularly interested in the CBD, and there is an active work programme on issues relating to indigenous people’s involvement in biodiversity protection. This creates challenges for consistency with other international indigenous forums, notably the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (see Human Rights brief below).
New Zealand was a leading player during the negotiation of the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. An issue for New Zealand is the use of methyl bromide, which is generally banned under the Protocol except for quarantine or pre-shipment treatments. New Zealand has obtained a “critical use exemption” for the strawberry industry in 2005 and 2006. Use of methyl bromide for forest product fumigation has been increasing over recent years to meet New Zealand’s own and other countries biosecurity requirements (70% to meet the importing requirements of China, Australia and India).
SAICM is a negotiating process under the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) with the objective “that by 2020 chemicals should be produced and used in such a way as to minimise adverse effects on human health and the environment”. SAICM has the potential to capture and clarify in one place the sometimes obscure and disparate approaches to chemicals management. A final preparatory conference is scheduled for September 2005, which will negotiate a high level declaration, overarching policy strategy and global action plan. Ministers are expected to sign countries up to SAICM at the Conference of Plenipotentiaries to adopt the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in Dubai, 5-9 February 2006.
SAICM has the potential to impact significantly on chemical management and industry in New Zealand. The current drafts of the SAICM papers are, however, in line with the approach taken by New Zealand in the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO).
The GEF is a financial mechanism established to provide assistance to developing countries to deal with global environmental problems. A 4th replenishment round is underway and scheduled to conclude during a meeting in Tokyo, 21-22 November 2005. In the last replenishment, New Zealand contributed the equivalent of NZ$12 million over 3 years. We will need to make a commitment on the level of contribution to the 4th replenishment before November, which will require a Cabinet decision.
At the last International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting the pro-conservation group managed to retain the ban on commercial whaling, despite the increasing number of pro-whaling countries in the IWC. The next IWC meeting in June 2006 (in St. Kitts-Nevis) is likely to see increased pressure for the resumption of commercial whaling. Officials are currently considering the options for New Zealand’s future strategy on whales conservation, including guidance for IWC58. One possible outcome could be a decision to hold a high-level (possibly Ministerial) meeting of IWC parties, to try to sort out the apparently irreconcilable differences over whaling. The Minister of Conservation has attended recent IWC meetings.
New Zealand’s target under the Protocol’s first commitment period, from 2008 to 2012, is to reduce its emissions to the level they were in 1990 or take responsibility for the excess. New Zealand is currently forecast to exceed its Kyoto first commitment period target.
[1] The Kyoto Protocol entered into force in February 2005.
The Ministry has the lead role in the pursuit of New Zealand’s interests in the Antarctic Treaty System. In addition it is responsible for the conduct of New Zealand’s diplomatic relations with other countries in respect of Antarctica. It also coordinates the development of advice to the Government on Antarctic policy issues through chairing the Officials Antarctic Committee. Finally, it assists the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in carrying out his/her responsibilities under the Antarctica (Environmental Protection) Act 1994, and provides the Minister with strategic advice and performance feedback on the New Zealand Antarctic Institute (see separate brief).
Given our proximity to Antarctica and our territorial claim there (the Ross Dependency) New Zealand has a strong interest in the peace and stability of the Antarctic region and protection of its environment. We believe these interests are best served through effective participation in the Antarctic Treaty System. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty, of which New Zealand was one of 12 original signatories, preserved Antarctica ‘for peaceful purposes only’. It prohibited the establishment of military bases or the testing of any type of weapon or nuclear explosions. On the matter of territorial claims the Treaty has served to set aside disputes while prejudicing the position of none and protecting the position of all including our own interest as a claimant. The subsequent Protocol on Environmental Protection (1991) designated Antarctica ‘a natural reserve devoted to peace and science’. Antarctica’s value as an area for the conduct of scientific research, in particular research essential to understanding the global environment, is specifically acknowledged and New Zealand contributes actively to scientific cooperation in Antarctica.
The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) signed in 1980 is the other major agreement of the Treaty System. New Zealand is one of the original signatories and the Convention is implemented in New Zealand law by the Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR) Act 1981. The Convention provides a management framework for the conservation of Antarctic living marine resources, including the valuable toothfish species (but does not cover whales). A key CCAMLR principle is that conservation includes rational use. New Zealand fishes in the CCAMLR Area and exports of toothfish are worth over $20 million annually.
Increasing commercial interest in Antarctica’s resources including through fishing, tourism or bioprospecting, for example, presents a challenge to the Antarctic Treaty System.
Fishing is regulated by CCAMLR but Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing in the CCAMLR Area for toothfish is a serious problem. This transnational criminal activity is undertaken by syndicates operating through Hong Kong, Indonesia and South America. New Zealand dedicates considerable resources to upholding the CCAMLR regime, for example by carrying out surveillance of the Ross Sea using RNZAF P3K Orion aircraft. The forthcoming delivery of the Project Protector Navy vessels, three of which will be ice-strengthened for work in the Southern Ocean, will add to our capability.
The Ministry is coordinating a Cabinet paper offering recommendations on a long-term framework for the management of the marine living resources and biodiversity of the Ross Sea which is due in October. A research voyage by the Tangaroa is planned for January-March 2006.
Tourism to Antarctica is expanding and diversifying rapidly. Almost 30,000 tourists visited Antarctica in 2004/5, mainly on the Peninsula side. The tourism industry has until recently largely been left to regulate itself. New Zealand, with support from a number of other Treaty Parties, has argued that the Treaty System must establish the regulatory framework for tourism and progress is being made in this direction.
New Zealand and the United States cooperate closely in Antarctica including by sharing a joint logistics pool, together with Italy, which operates between Christchurch and McMurdo Sound. There will need to be an expansion and enhancement of New Zealand’s contribution to the logistics pool, especially in respect of airlift.
The Royal Society Committee on Antarctic Science is leading New Zealand’s participation in the International Polar Year (2007-2009). Science projects will include the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), a large-scale, multi-country, multi-ship survey of the Southern Ocean.
The next two years will see the celebration of the fiftieth anniversaries of New Zealand/ United States Antarctic cooperation and of the establishment of Scott Base. A programme of commemorative, education and public awareness activities will be organised around these anniversaries.
