The Environment Act 2000 (No 64 of 2000) is the central environmental statute of Papua New Guinea. Its long title is unusually direct about why it exists.
An Act to provide for and give effect to the National Goals and Directive Principles, and in particular —
(a) to provide for protection of the environment in accordance with the Fourth National Goal and Directive Principle (Natural Resources and Environment) of the Constitution; and
(b) to regulate the environmental impacts of development activities in order to promote sustainable development — safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil and ecosystems for present and future generations, and avoiding, remedying and mitigating adverse effects; and
(c) to provide for the protection of the environment from environmental harm; and
(d) to provide for the management of national water resources; and
(e) to repeal various Acts.
The constitutional footing
Paragraph (a) ties the Act directly to the Fourth National Goal, which declares the country’s natural resources and environment are to be conserved and used for the collective benefit of us all, and replenished for the benefit of future generations.
That matters legally. The National Goals are non-justiciable under section 25(1) of the Constitution, but section 25(3) requires a law to be read, where reasonably possible, in the way that gives effect to them. An Act that says on its face it exists to implement Goal 4 is an Act whose ambiguities should be resolved in favour of environmental protection.
What is in the Act
| Part | Subject |
|---|---|
| I | Preliminary — definitions, including the three grades of environmental harm |
| II | Objects and the general environmental duty |
| III | Administration — the Director, the Environment Council, and the authority |
| IV | Environment Policies |
| V | Environment permits — including environmental impact assessment |
| VI | Environmental management — codes of practice, improvement plans, programmes |
| VII | Water — rights, compensation, investigations, protection |
| VIII | Financial provisions — fees, levies and bonds |
| IX | Enforcement — orders and directions, offences, authorised officers, proceedings |
| X | Miscellaneous — the register, operational procedures |
| XI | Repeal, transitional and savings |
Section 6 — how the object is achieved
Section 6 sets out the machinery in a way few statutes bother to. Protection is achieved by setting environmental objectives and providing the means to encourage and ensure their observance, specifically by:
- determining objectives by researching the state of the environment and identifying the beneficial values important to the community, through consultation, in Environment Policies;
- applying those objectives to level 1 activities by Environmental Codes of Practice, Environment Protection Orders, Clean-up Orders and Emergency Directions;
- applying them to level 2 and level 3 activities by conditions in environment permits, and negotiated environmental improvement plans and management programmes;
- requiring activities involving matters of national importance to undergo environmental impact assessment; and
- enforcement, including prosecution for the offences of causing environmental harm.
Read section 6 first. It is the map to the rest of the Act.
Section 5 — matters of national importance
All persons exercising powers under the Act shall recognise and provide for five matters:
- the preservation of Papua New Guinea traditional social structures;
- the maintenance of sources of clean water and subsistence food sources to enable those who depend on them to maintain their traditional lifestyles;
- the protection of areas of significant biological diversity and the habitats of rare, unique or endangered species;
- the recognition of the role of landowners in decision-making about the development of the resources on their land; and
- responsible and sustainable economic development.
These are not preamble. Section 5 is an operative obligation on every decision-maker under the Act, and the fourth in particular gives landowners a foothold in permit and assessment decisions.
Read the current text
The consolidation used here runs to Act 49 of 2015. Amending Acts include the Environment (Amendment) Acts of 2002, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015, and parts of some amending Acts were not in force at the date of that consolidation. Administration has also moved to the body established by the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority Act 2014. Check the current text and the commencement of any amendment before relying on a section.
Sources
- Environment Act 2000 — long title; ss 4, 5, 6
- Conservation and Environment Protection Authority Act 2014
- Constitution — Preamble (Fourth National Goal); s 25
- Climate Change (Management) Act 2015
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Environment Act 2000 and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.