The Commissioner has provided a submission to the Science System Advisory Group with his thoughts on how the group should approach environmental research in its review of the science, innovation and technology system.

While acknowledging some need for change, the Commissioner warns against reinventing the wheel during the review process and focusing too heavily on structural or bureaucratic reform as the starting point for the review.

“Any changes need to make a real difference to the way research is funded and commissioned and its outputs used to inform and enrich society. We must identify what core scientific capacity New Zealand wants to maintain over the next couple of decades and provide core (ie. non-contestable) funding to achieve that.”

“No one else is going to tackle our problems or understand our bit of the planet’s surface for the same reason we will. Our environmental science investment will need to accommodate changed ways of doing things and new skill sets, but there have to be profound continuities to enable us to make sense of our biophysical realm and ongoing engagement with Māori scientists, knowledge and resources.”

The Commissioner suggests that group members read the recommendations outlined in his 2020 report A review of the funding and prioritisation of environmental research in New Zealand, which examined this issue in detail.

Read the full submission HERE.