advice on a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol

Simon Johnson made this Official Information Act request to Ministry for the Environment

The request was partially successful.

From: Simon Johnson

18 December 2012

Dear Ministry for the Environment,

On 9 November 2012 the Minister for Climate Change Issues the
honourable Tim Groser announced that New Zealand would not be
signing up to a Second Commitment Period (CP2) under the Kyoto
Protocol for the period from 2013 to 2020.

I am assuming that the Minister received some advice from the
Ministry to support his decision and that the decision was
confirmed by Cabinet.

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request copies of;
1) the advice provided to the Minister
2) the Cabinet paper.

Please provide me this information via the www.fyi.org.nz website

Yours faithfully,

Simon Johnson
Wellington

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From: Info at MfE
Ministry for the Environment

18 December 2012

Thank you for your enquiry.

If you are from a media organisation, please call the Ministry for the Environment’s media phone: 027 231 6930

If you are making a request for information under the Official Information Act 1982, please forward your email to [email address]<mailto:[email address]>

Otherwise, we will respond to your email as soon as possible.

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From: Eleanor Williams
Ministry for the Environment

20 December 2012

Dear Mr Johnson,

On behalf of the Ministry for the Environment I acknowledge receipt of your email of 19 December 2012 requesting copies of advice from the Ministry for the Environment provided to the Minister for Climate Change Issues regarding the decision to not sign up to a Second Commitment Period (CP2) under the Kyoto Protocol.

As this information relates more closely to the functions of the Minister, I have applied section 14 of the Official Information Act 1982 and transferred your request to Hon Tim Groser for consideration.

You will receive a response as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Regards,

Eleanor Williams
Executive Relations Team
Ministry for the Environment- Manatü Mö Te Taiao 

http://www.mfe.govt.nz

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From: Simon Johnson

20 December 2012

Dear Eleanor Williams,

Thank you for your email of 20 December 2012 where you say my
request for information is being transferred to the Minister's
office.
Will you please clarify for me whether that means that the
information I have requested;
1) exists
2) is official information, and
3) it is held by the Ministry for the Environment?

Thank you

Yours sincerely,

Simon Johnson

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From: Eleanor Williams
Ministry for the Environment

20 December 2012

Hi Simon,

The transfer means that the information requested relates to the functions of the Minister for Climate Change Issues and is therefore most appropriately considered by the Hon Tim Groser.

Regards,
Eleanor Williams
Executive Relations Team
Ministry for the Environment- Manatü Mö Te Taiao

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From: Simon Johnson

20 December 2012

Dear Eleanor Williams,

Thank you for your reply. May I politely point out that you have
not answered my question.

I also point out that under Section 13 of the Official Information
Act 1982 it is the duty of each Department to give reasonable
assistance to a person requesting information.

I do not see the relevance of a transfer under Section 14 of the
Official Information Act 1982 unless you are saying the Ministry
for the Environment does not hold the information, and the Minister
does. If that is the case please let me know.

As I have requested information (advice) that would in the normal
course of events be held by both the Minister (recipient) and the
Ministry (author) I do not see why such information could be more
"closely connected" with the Minister than the Ministry. The
connection would be equal.

Let me clarify my request so it is extremely specific.

If there is advice to the Minister from the Ministry for the
Environment and a cabinet paper concerning New Zealand's decision
to not participate in a second Kyoto Protocol commitment period,
and if the Ministry for the Environment holds copies of such
information, then that is specifically the information I am
requesting from you.

So please clarify for me if this information exists, and if the
Ministry for the Environment holds it.

If this requires further clarification, please let me know via the
www.fyi.org.nz website

Yours sincerely,

Simon Johnson

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From: Eleanor Williams
Ministry for the Environment

20 December 2012

Dear Simon,

I appreciate what you're saying and agree that your request is very specific.

The Ministry for the Environment holds information on behalf of its Ministers. I can assure you that the transfer under section 14 does not change the information captured by the scope of your request. It merely means that the response will come from the Minister for Climate Change Issues rather than the Ministry for the Environment. This is in recognition of the fact that the information you've asked for relates to Ministerial responsibilities and decisions made by members of Cabinet rather than departmental functions and responsibilities. It would not be appropriate for such information to be released by a department.

I hope this helps clarify the rationale behind the transfer of your request. If you would like to discuss the matter further, please contact my Manager, Anne-Marie Johnsen, on 04-439-7547 (but please note that the Ministry will close for the end of the year at midday tomorrow. We will re-open on January 7 2013).

Kind regards,

Eleanor Williams
Executive Relations Team
Ministry for the Environment- Manatü Mö Te Taiao 

http://www.mfe.govt.nz

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From: Ministerials
Ministry for the Environment

20 December 2012

Apologies Simon, I gave you the wrong number for my manager. Anne-Marie's contact phone number is 04-439-7773.

Cheers,

Eleanor

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Alex Harris left an annotation (20 December 2012)

Cabinet papers are nominally held by the Minister, and so its a common practice where the request is politically sensitive to transfer to them so they can make the decision.

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From: Jonathan Franklin (MIN)

11 February 2013

Attachment Document 9.pdf
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Attachment Cover Letter.pdf
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Attachment Document 1.pdf
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Attachment Document 2.pdf
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Attachment Document 3.pdf
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Attachment Document 4.pdf
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Attachment Document 5.pdf
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Attachment Document 6.pdf
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Attachment Document 7.pdf
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Attachment Document 8.pdf
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Dear Mr Johnson

 

Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Jonathan Franklin

Private Secretary (Advisory)

 

Office of Hon Tim Groser

Minister of Trade

Minister for Climate Change Issues

Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

 

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From: Simon Johnson

14 February 2013

Dear Jonathan Franklin (MIN),

Thank you for providing the 8 documents and the letter and table
describing the documents and the provisions of the Official
Information Act relied on for the many with-holdings of
information.

Document 1 is undated, other than being described as October in the
table. There is a space for the Minister's signature and a date on
the last page.

May I please know the official date of the document and the date Mr
Groser signed it.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Johnson

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