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About the PCE"Independent investigation and advice for a better environment." The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) aims to maintain and improve the quality of New Zealand's environment. The central focus is on environmental sustainability - how we can live within the ecological limits of the planet today and into the future. As an independent Officer of Parliament, the PCE has wide-ranging powers to investigate environmental concerns. 'Independent' means independent of the government of the day, so the PCE reports not to a Government Minister but to Parliament through:
The Commissioner is quite separate from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE). The Ministry is a government department and policy adviser, responsible to the Minister for the Environment. But as an Officer of Parliament, the Commissioner's job is to hold the Government to account for its environmental policies and actions. The PCE is a policy reviewer standing outside the system of environmental management and reporting on it. The office was set up under the Environment Act 1986, and the Commissioner is appointed for a five-year term. In 2007 Parliament voted $2.726 million to fund the office (details on Treasury's website, PDF 180 KB). The PCE is one of three Offices of Parliament. The other two are: | ||
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