Our Environment - What Matters To You?
From late April, the Ministry for the Environment will be seeking community views on the progress NZ is making with our key environmental problems. The `Rio+10' community programme will ask what environmental issues matter to you, and what you think most needs to be done in future.
The aim is to hear from as many individuals and organisations as possible, and not just those traditionally identified with `the environment'. After all, the environment affects everyone. Pollution of popular beaches and rivers can make swimming and rafting a health risk to our families. Disposing of the large amounts of waste we produce costs households and businesses millions of dollars a year. And climate change is likely to affect us all through more droughts and floods in areas prone to these weather extremes.
The programme will be launched in late April with community discussions, hui and publicity, and will run through until July. People can get involved by filling in a Rio+10 response form, or by using a Rio+10 starter kit to set up discussions within their local community.
The community response will help inform the Ministry's future work priorities, and will be incorporated into an international report that NZ is preparing for next year's World Summit on Sustainable Development. The World Summit follows on from the first `Earth Summit', held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which saw a number of important environmental and sustainable development agreements signed, such as the Framework Convention on Climate Change and Agenda 21. Government leaders from around the world will use next year's summit to review progress since Rio and to set priorities for the future.
| To get a Rio+10 response form and starter kit, please contact the Ministry for the Environment at tel (04) 917 7493, fax (04) 917 7523. From late April, response forms will also be available on-line at www.mfe.govt.nz |
Thanks to Ministry for the Environment
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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