Intergenerational environmental justice in Aotearoa New Zealand’s environmental policy

Decisions made today will profoundly impact the lives of present young people and future generations, including with irreversible biodiversity loss and climate change. It raises questions of how intergenerational environmental justice is integrated within domestic environmental policy. To this end, this paper examines how young people and future generations are framed across four decades of environmental policy in Aotearoa New Zealand, spanning 40 key pieces of legislation, eight policy statements, and selected case law. Our analysis demonstrates that future generations and particularly young people are sparsely discussed in environmental policy, risking their interests falling through the legislative “cracks”. Where they are included, we present a framework of three strands of intergenerational environmental justice that have developed over time. Tracing these concepts reveals inconsistencies in terminology and a lack of definitions and guidance of key concepts. We argue the lack of a transparent articulation of intergenerational environmental justice in domestic environmental policy opens the door for ad hoc and weak interpretations of these concepts. It underscores the need for more systematic attention to be given to how intergenerational environmental justice is integrated into domestic environmental policy.