New report captures the state of Aotearoa’s environment

A new report released by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ shows how people continue to drive change in our land, water and coasts.

Our Environment 2025 is the latest edition in a three-yearly reporting series produced under the Environmental Reporting Act 2015.

Download Our Environment 2025

It brings together key findings from the regular six-monthly reports that cycle the five domains of air, freshwater, marine, atmosphere and climate, and land, providing a picture of the whole environment and its interconnections, showing how changes to different parts of the environment impact on each other.

A message to readers from Secretary for the Environment James Palmer and Government Statistician Mark Sowden acknowledges that much of out is outlined in the report is cause for ongoing attention and concern. The report highlights real risks to people, communities and places which, left unaddressed, threaten our livelihoods and quality of life for generations to come.

However, the report also tells a story of hope. There is evidence that some negative trends in our environment are stabilising, or reversing, due to choices people have made about how we live, or as a result of specific management interventions.

“There is no doubt New Zealand, like all places on our planet, has major challenges ahead. These include increased pressures on our environment, communities and economy from extreme storm and weather events driven by the growing impacts of climate change.

“We have a great opportunity to draw on evidence and data to build our resilience to those forces and impacts. Armed with this knowledge we can make informed decisions about our lives and businesses, ensuring New Zealand can leverage the potential of being best prepared for the future.”

Head to our Resources page to learn more about the bio-organic principles that underpin our restoration and access other resources that provide more information on sustainability and caring for our environment.