2026 New Zealand general election: Environmental policies compared

The biggest divide in the 2026 election is between parties prioritising stronger environmental protections and restoration and those prioritising economic development, farming flexibility and streamlined resource management.

The main issues are:

• Freshwater: How to improve rivers, lakes, groundwater and drinking-water quality.
• Pollution: How to control agricultural runoff, nitrates, sewage, industrial discharges and waste.
• Biodiversity: How to protect native species, wetlands, forests and threatened ecosystems.
• Resource management: How land, water and other natural resources should be allocated, and how environmental rules should balance conservation with development.

The comparison below covers the seven main parties: National, Labour, ACT, NZ First, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and The Opportunities Party (TOP).

1. Party-by-party comparison

National Party

Development and economic growth focus

National's approach is to make resource management more efficient, reduce regulatory barriers and support primary industries while retaining environmental protections.

• Freshwater: Supports changes to freshwater rules affecting farmers. Proposes easier consent rules for irrigation and up to $300 million in low-cost loans for on-farm water storage.
• Pollution: Emphasises practical improvements and farming productivity rather than imposing substantially tighter restrictions on agricultural activity.
• Biodiversity: Promises $100 million annually from the International Visitor Levy for the Department of Conservation. Also proposes $30 million for cleaning up contaminated Crown land.
• Resource management: Supports replacing the Resource Management Act with a new planning system designed to make development easier. Supports more enabling rules for infrastructure, energy and economic activity.

National also proposes changes to fisheries management, including new marine protection measures around the Hauraki Gulf and Waiheke Island.

Sources: National's 2026 policy programme and The Conversation policy tracker.

Labour Party

Environmental protection with a pragmatic approach

Labour's position is broadly to restore environmental protections and improve freshwater quality, while balancing environmental objectives with economic activity.

• Freshwater: Supports cleaning up rivers and lakes and improving water quality.
• Pollution: Supports restoring the Emissions Trading Scheme and maintaining commitments under the Paris Agreement. Its environmental approach includes addressing agricultural and industrial pollution.
• Biodiversity: Has previously advocated greater conservation investment and restoration of degraded natural environments.
• Resource management: Supports reform of environmental legislation, but with stronger environmental safeguards than the current government's approach.

One important distinction: Labour's 2026 campaign policies are less detailed on freshwater and biodiversity than those of the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and TOP. Its current policy programme includes environmental commitments, but it has not presented an equally comprehensive package of specific freshwater measures.

Source: Labour's 2026 policy programme.

Green Party

Strong environmental protection and restoration

The Greens have one of the most extensive environmental policy programmes.

• Freshwater:

• Introduce stronger, science-based freshwater standards.

• Reduce nitrate limits for drinking water.

• Reduce synthetic nitrogen fertiliser use.

• Reduce livestock stocking rates where catchments require it.

• Strengthen wastewater discharge rules.

• Protect and restore wetlands.

• Improve monitoring and enforcement of drinking-water quality.

• Pollution:

• Make major polluters pay for environmental damage.

• Strengthen controls on agricultural pollution.

• Reduce industrial and wastewater contamination.

• Phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.

• Biodiversity:

• Establish a sovereign biodiversity fund.

• Increase funding for invasive species and pest control.

• Establish ecosystem regeneration employment programmes.

• Protect all remaining natural wetlands.

• Strengthen native species and habitat protection.

• Resource management:

• Repeal the Fast-track Approvals Act.

• Restore stronger environmental safeguards.

• Strengthen Māori participation in environmental decision-making.

• Prioritise ecological health in freshwater management.

The Greens also propose substantially greater marine protection, including protecting 30% of the Hauraki Gulf by 2030 and ending bottom trawling.

Source: Green Party 2026 Manifesto.

ACT New Zealand

Less regulation and greater property rights

ACT generally favours reducing environmental regulation and giving farmers, landowners and businesses greater flexibility.

• Freshwater: Wants to remove Te Mana o te Wai requirements from resource consenting as part of its changes to environmental rules affecting farmers.
• Pollution: Favours regulatory approaches that it considers practical, evidence-based and proportionate.
• Biodiversity: Supports conservation approaches that recognise private property rights, landowner interests and hunting.
• Resource management: Favours simplifying environmental legislation, reducing compliance costs and making it easier to undertake development.

ACT's position contrasts with the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, particularly over the role of Māori principles in freshwater governance and the extent of regulatory controls on farming.

Source: The Conversation policy tracker.

New Zealand First

Economic development and resource utilisation

NZ First's environmental approach places considerable emphasis on economic development, regional interests and practical resource utilisation.

• Freshwater: Emphasises water infrastructure, productive land use and the needs of rural communities.
• Pollution: Generally favours practical environmental management rather than extensive additional regulation.
• Biodiversity: Supports conservation alongside recreational access, hunting and regional economic interests.
• Resource management: Favours reducing barriers to development and making greater use of New Zealand's natural resources.

NZ First's 2026 position also includes opposition to aspects of existing climate policy, including withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.

Its freshwater and biodiversity proposals are less comprehensive and specific than those of the Greens, TOP and Te Pāti Māori.

Source: 2026 party policy comparison.

Te Pāti Māori

Māori authority, ecological health and restoration

Te Pāti Māori proposes a major change in how freshwater and natural resources are governed.

• Freshwater:

• Give Māori decision-making authority over freshwater governance.

• Recognise Māori rights and interests in water.

• Establish enforceable environmental limits for rivers, lakes and aquifers.

• Prioritise ecological health over commercial extraction.

• Reject privatisation and trading of water rights.

• Support iwi, hapū and marae-led freshwater initiatives.

• Pollution: Supports stronger environmental controls and reducing agricultural pollution, including phasing out synthetic fertilisers.

• Biodiversity: Supports Māori guardianship and greater protection of whenua, native ecosystems and taonga species.

• Resource management:

  • Repeal the Fast-track Approvals Act.
  • Oppose mining on conservation land.
  • Strengthen Māori participation and authority in environmental decision-making.
  • Recognise the relationship between Māori communities and natural resources.

An important feature is its emphasis on tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga rather than simply adjusting existing environmental regulations.

Source: 2026 party policy comparison.

The Opportunities Party (TOP)

Environmental limits and market-based solutions

TOP offers an interesting middle ground between stronger environmental protection and economic incentives.

• Freshwater:

• Reinstate Te Mana o te Wai.

• Strengthen enforcement against polluters.

• Introduce cap-and-trade arrangements for nitrates and phosphates.

• Increase riparian planting and wetland restoration.

• Pollution:

• Establish limits on nutrient pollution.

• Use trading mechanisms to incentivise reductions in pollution.

• Introduce a national container deposit scheme.

• Biodiversity:

• Establish a $500 million Nature-based Solutions Fund.

• Support biodiversity credits for Significant Natural Areas.

• Fund councils, iwi, hapū and communities to restore natural environments.

• Develop stronger forestry standards and native forestry strategies.

• Resource management:

• Limit ministerial overrides of fast-track projects.

• Protect councils' ability to establish stronger environmental standards.

• Strengthen environmental accountability.

TOP's approach is distinctive because it combines stronger environmental standards with financial incentives and market mechanisms.

Source: 2026 party policy comparison.

2. Side-by-side comparison

The following table summarises the broad direction of each party's proposals.

Party	Freshwater	Pollution	Biodiversity	Resource management
National	Farming flexibility, irrigation and storage	Practical controls	Targeted conservation funding	Enable development
Labour	Clean up rivers and lakes	Restore emissions controls	Conservation investment	Environmental safeguards
Greens	Stronger standards and nitrate reduction	Stronger controls on agricultural and wastewater pollution	Extensive restoration and protection	Strong environmental limits
ACT	Remove some freshwater consent requirements	Less prescriptive regulation	Property rights and conservation	Reduce regulatory barriers
NZ First	Productive water use	Practical management	Conservation alongside economic use	Enable resource development
Te Pāti Māori	Māori authority and ecological limits	Reduce agricultural pollution	Māori-led protection and restoration	Māori participation and authority
TOP	Nutrient limits and trading	Polluter accountability	Nature restoration funding	Stronger safeguards and accountability

3. Where the biggest differences lie

Freshwater protection

The Greens and Te Pāti Māori favour stronger ecological protections and more stringent governance. TOP also favours stronger limits, using nutrient trading. National and ACT place greater emphasis on reducing regulatory constraints on farmers.

Agricultural pollution

The Greens favour stronger controls on fertiliser use, livestock intensity and wastewater. TOP favours enforceable nutrient limits and trading. National, ACT and NZ First generally favour greater flexibility for farming.

Biodiversity

The Greens and Te Pāti Māori emphasise protection and restoration. TOP proposes substantial dedicated funding. National favours targeted conservation investment, while ACT and NZ First place greater emphasis on balancing conservation with land use and economic activity.

Resource management

The central disagreement is whether environmental rules should become stronger and more enforceable, or whether they should be simplified to facilitate development, farming, infrastructure and investment.

4. An important consideration: what happens to environmental law?

This election is particularly significant because New Zealand's environmental management framework is changing.

Two developments matter:

• The amended National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management came into force on 15 January 2026. It includes requirements relating to ecosystem health, threatened species, mahinga kai and freshwater monitoring. National Policy Statement for Freshwater ManagementNational Policy Statement for Freshwater Management
• The Natural Environment Act 2026 was passed on 30 September 2026. Its objectives include enabling resource use while safeguarding ecosystems, protecting human health from contaminants and protecting significant indigenous biodiversity. Natural Environment Act 2026

Consequently, parties are not simply proposing different environmental programmes. They are also offering different approaches to how the new legal framework should be implemented, changed or strengthened.

5. Independent environmental assessment

One useful additional perspective is Greenpeace Aotearoa's 2026 environmental scorecard.

It assessed the seven main parties across five areas: conservation, oceans, freshwater, climate, and environmental law and democracy.

Its overall grades were:

Party	Greenpeace assessment
Greens	A
Te Pāti Māori	A
TOP	B
Labour	C
National	F
ACT	F
NZ First	F

These are Greenpeace's assessments, not an independent government rating or a universal measure of policy quality. Greenpeace has an explicit environmental advocacy perspective. Vote for the environment this New Zealand electionGreenpeace 2026 General Election Scorecard

You can read its assessment here: Greenpeace 2026 environmental policy scorecards.

6. Overall takeaway

If freshwater quality, agricultural pollution, biodiversity and environmental protection are your main priorities, the broad policy groupings are:

• Strongest emphasis on ecological protection: Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
• Environmental protection combined with economic incentives: TOP.
• Environmental protection with a more moderate approach: Labour.
• Greater emphasis on farming flexibility and economic development: National, ACT and NZ First.

One final qualification: these are party proposals, not guaranteed outcomes. Under New Zealand's MMP system, coalition negotiations can substantially change which policies are implemented. The eventual government programme will matter as much as individual party manifestos. Know Your Vote

For a voting decision, I would pay particular attention to three questions: Will freshwater quality standards become stronger? Will agricultural nutrient pollution be more tightly controlled? Will biodiversity protection take priority over development when the two conflict? Those questions reveal some of the most important differences between the parties.