Climate & Environment — protect whenua and moana

The Policy: TPM Climate & Environment Policy — 2023 Election →

Pitched as a transformative, Treaty-grounded platform to protect Aotearoa's land, water and coasts from extractive industries and climate damage, anchored in the principle that whenua (land) and moana (sea) are taonga — treasures held in trust for future generations, not commodities for exploitation.

What it does

Te Pāti Māori's environmental policy platform, developed for the 2023 election and carried into the 2026 campaign, centres on five interlocking commitments:

End fossil-fuel extraction. The party would end new onshore oil and gas permits and withdraw existing onshore and offshore permits within five years, aligning with its opposition to the National-led coalition's restoration of oil and gas exploration permits in 2023.

Ban seabed mining. Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer (MP for Te Tai Hauāuru) drafted the Prohibition on Seabed Mining Legislation Amendment Bill and led a seven-year legal campaign on behalf of Ngāti Ruanui against Trans-Tasman Resources. When the coalition government fast-tracked the first commercial shallow seabed mining approval in the world in May 2025 — a project to extract 50 million tonnes of seabed per year for 35 years on the Taranaki coast — Ngarewa-Packer condemned it as "environmental vandalism" and vowed to revoke all fast-track mining approvals in government.

Māori-led renewable energy. A $1 billion Pūngao Auaha clean energy fund would finance Māori-owned community energy projects, solar panel installation and insulation on marae, kura, homes and papakāinga developments. A national Māori strategy for renewable energy and clean tech would sit alongside it.

Agriculture reform. The party would include agricultural methane in the Emissions Trading Scheme and phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser by 2025, a reversal of the path taken by the National-led coalition, which in November 2024 passed legislation removing agriculture from ETS obligations entirely (vote: 68–55). Te Pāti Māori MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi Clarke opposed the exemption, arguing "the polluters should pay, instead it will be our mokopuna" who bear the cost. Farm emissions represent 49 percent of New Zealand's total greenhouse gas inventory. The party would also establish a $300 million Māori farming transition fund to move Māori farmers toward regenerative and value-add practices.

Water and coasts. Te Pāti Māori asserts Māori proprietary, customary and decision-making rights over freshwater, opposing the Crown's "everyone owns water" position. The party would boost funding for Te Mana o te Wai, impose a moratorium on new water bottling consents until a new allocation system is in place, and return conservation land to local iwi and hapū. It also opposes the government's Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Amendment Act, which passed with government votes in October 2025 and which Te Pāti Māori characterises as eroding decades of court-confirmed customary marine title.

The result

As an opposition party holding six seats in the 54th Parliament, Te Pāti Māori has been unable to legislate any of these commitments during the current term. The National-led coalition has moved in the opposite direction on most: restoring oil and gas exploration, removing agriculture from the ETS, fast-tracking the first seabed mine, and passing the Takutai Moana amendment over widespread Māori objection.

The 2026 National Climate Change Risk Assessment identifies Māori as facing seven interconnected, compounding climate risks — from loss of taonga species and damage to marae infrastructure to disruption of mātauranga Māori — and finds that colonisation has worsened vulnerability. Dr Shaun Awatere (Ngāti Porou), lead author of the Māori risk companion report, notes that "climate events do not arrive one at a time — each of those harms compounds the next." Professor Paora Tapsell (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Raukawa) of Lincoln University's Kāika Institute of Climate Resilience echoes the call for Māori-led adaptation grounded in tikanga and mātauranga Māori.

Supporters of the platform, including Greenpeace Aotearoa and Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, argue it is scientifically sound and that seabed mining risks "severe and potentially irreversible" marine damage. Climate Minister Simon Watts counters that "agriculture is the backbone of the New Zealand economy, contributing 81 percent of goods exported," and that a $400 million technology fund is a better path than ETS obligations. Critics on the left — including Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick — warn that without agricultural emissions pricing, the legally mandated 30 percent methane reduction by 2030 becomes unreachable.

*Neutrality note: Māori water rights, Treaty obligations in environmental law, and the foreshore-and-seabed question are constitutionally contested in New Zealand; all positions above are attributed to named parties.*

The impacts to watch

• Fast-track reversals: If Te Pāti Māori enters government after 2026, revocation of fast-tracked mining consents (including the Taranaki seabed mine) would face legal challenges from Trans-Tasman Resources.
• Agricultural emissions gap: New Zealand's second emissions budget (2026–2030) requires deep cuts; without a farm-sector pricing mechanism, the Climate Change Commission warns the country faces a large shortfall.
• Māori land and water rights: Both the Takutai Moana Act and Treaty Clause Review repealing Tiriti references in 28 laws (including the Conservation Act and Climate Change Response Act) set the stage for continued litigation and political conflict over resource rights.
• Renewable energy: Māori landowners currently hold significant renewable-energy potential; the Pūngao Auaha fund design will determine whether benefits flow to communities or are captured by larger iwi entities.