This Supplementary Order Paper amends Part 5 of the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill, amending the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012 (EEZ Act).

The EEZ Act regulates the use and development of our oceans between 12 and 200 nautical miles from New Zealand. New Zealand needs to do its fair share, yet our net emissions increased by 13% between 2008 and 2013 and the Ministry for the Environment predicts that they will increase significantly by 2050.

New clause 184CA would amend section 11 to add the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and protocols to and agreements under that convention to the international obligations relevant to the implementation of the EEZ Act.

New clause 185C amends section 33 to require the Minister for the Environment to take into account the importance of reducing discharges of greenhouse gases when making regulations under the Act.

Clause 190(3AA) amends section 59 of the EEZ Act to require the Authority to take into account the importance of reducing such discharges in determining applications.

Section 59(5)(b) of the EEZ Act currently prevents the Environmental Protection Authority from considering the effects of increasing greenhouse gas emissions when deciding applications for marine consents for activities such as gas drilling and seabed mining. Clause 190(8) would remove this restriction.