NZ government told to overhaul environmental research funding

Spending on environmental research is hard to quantify and often misdirected, commissioner finds

Environmental research funding in New Zealand is underfunded, has the wrong priorities and needs an overhaul, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

Commissioner Simon Upton said that “the way public funds are currently invested in environmental research is fragmented, making it hard to respond to long-term environmental problems such as climate change, freshwater quality and biodiversity loss”.