16 January 2026
25-OIAD-00029
Nigel Gray
Tēnā koe Nigel
Thank you for your email of 27 November 2025, and your two follow-up clarification emails of
9 December 2025, requesting information about maritime vessel pollution and its impacts on
weather, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry for the Environment
(the Ministry).
In your latest email, you amended your request to the following:
1. Any monitoring systems, datasets, or responsibilities the Ministry holds, or
coordinates with other agencies, regarding ship emissions regulated under Annex VI
(SOx, NOx, PM, VOCs) in New Zealand’s territorial waters (within 12 nautical miles)
and Exclusive Economic Zone (12–200 nautical miles).
2. Any reports, datasets, or assessments that consider the potential impacts of ship
emissions on atmospheric conditions, cloud formation, or weather/climate in New
Zealand.
3. Any correspondence between the Ministry and other agencies (Maritime NZ, EPA,
NIWA) between 1 January 2022 and 1 December 2025 that references Annex VI
compliance and potential weather or climate impacts of ship emissions.
In response to your first point, the Ministry does not hold any such responsibilities and does
not hold any such information.
I would therefore typically be required to transfer this part of your request to Maritime New
Zealand under section 14(b)(ii) of the Act as I believe that the information to which this part
of your request relates is more closely related to its functions. However, I understand that
you have already made a similar request of Maritime New Zealand, so I do not consider this
to be necessary.
I am refusing the second point of your request under section 18(g) of the Act as the
information requested is not held by the Ministry and I have no grounds for believing that the
information is either held by or connected more closely with the functions of another
department.
The Ministry holds data about aggregate shipping emissions in New Zealand as part of New
Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which is outside the scope of your request but which
you may find useful. You can find this information online a
t: https://environment.govt.nz/
publications/new-zealands-greenhouse-gas-inventory-19902023/ by clicking on “Common
Reporting output tables”. This data is not organised by movement in or out of New Zealand
territorial waters and does not distinguish between emissions in territorial waters and the
EEZ.
PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143 | Freephone 0800 499 700 | environment.govt.nz
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The Ministry does not hold any evidence to suggest that localised instances of atmospheric
emission pollution contribute directly towards localised weather events. However, you may
find useful information about the aggregate impacts of carbon emissions on climate and
weather systems on the following webpages:
•
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change
•
https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2025
The Ministry has conducted a search of its email archive to find information in scope of the
third point of your request.
I have identified three emails and their attachments in scope of this point of your request, as
listed in the document schedule below.
I am releasing two emails to you in part as excerpts as per section 16(1)(e) of the Act, with
some information withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act to protect the privacy of natural
persons, and one attachment to each email not provided as they are out of scope.
I am releasing one email in part, with some information (including one attachment) withheld
under the following sections of the Act:
6(a)
as the making available of that information would be likely to prejudice the
international relations of the Government of New Zealand.
6(b)(ii)
as the making available of that information would be likely to prejudice the
entrusting of information to the Government of New Zealand on a basis of
confidence by any international organisation.
9(2)(j)
to enable a Minister of the Crown or any public service agency or
organisation holding the information to carry on, without prejudice or
disadvantage, negotiations.
I am refusing one attachment to this email conversation in full under section 18(d) of the Act
as it is already publicly available at
https://docs.imo.org/. You will need to create a free
account on this website to download the document. You can find it by downloading it directly
at
https://docs.imo.org/Shared/Download.aspx?did=158261 or searching “ISWG/GHG
20/2/21”.
In terms of section 9(1) of the Act, I am satisfied that, in the circumstances, the withholding
of information in this request is not outweighed by other considerations that render it
desirable to make the information available in the public interest.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Office of the Ombudsman of
my decisions relating to this request, in accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. The
relevant details can be found a
t: www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. Please note that due to the public interest in our work, the Ministry publishes responses to
requests for official information shortly after the response has been sent on our website at:
https://environment.govt.nz/about-us/official-information-act-requests/. If you have any
PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143 | Freephone 0800 499 700 | environment.govt.nz
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queries about this, please feel free to contact our Ministerial Services team at:
[email address]. Nāku noa, nā
Jo Gascoigne
General Manager – RMA Operations
Ministry for the Environment | Manatū Mō Te Taiao
PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143 | Freephone 0800 499 700 | environment.govt.nz
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Document schedule
# Date
Description
Decision
Grounds Link/Notes
1 18-07-23
Email and two
Released in part 9(2)(a),
attachments
as an excerpt
16(1)(e)
2 01-08-23
Email and two
Released in part 9(2)(a),
attachments
as an excerpt
16(1)(e)
3 06-10-25
Email and two
Released in part 6(a),
One attachment is already publicly availabl
e at https://webaccounts.imo.org/. A free
attachments
6(b)(ii),
account is required on this website to download the document. It can be downloaded
9(2)(j),
directly
at https://docs.imo.org/Shared/Download.aspx?did=158261 or found by searching
18(d)
“ISWG/GHG 20/2/21”.
PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143 | Freephone 0800 499 700 | environment.govt.nz
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