

Weaving Soil Science Across Cultures & Environments
A Joint NZSSS and SSA Conference
2nd to 5th December 2024,
Rotorua Energy Events Centre, NZ


Plenary Speakers

Simon Upton
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Biography
Simon Upton was sworn in as Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment for his first five-year term in October 2017. He is now in his second term as Commissioner.
Mr Upton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and a Rhodes Scholar, with degrees in English literature, music and law from the University of Auckland, and an MLitt in political philosophy from Oxford University. He was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in 1999.
As a Member of Parliament between 1981 and 2000, Mr Upton held a variety of ministerial portfolios including environment, research, biosecurity, health and state services between 1990 and 1999.
After leaving Parliament, Mr Upton moved to Paris to chair the Round Table on Sustainable Development at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 2005, he returned to New Zealand to pursue a number of private sector roles while continuing to chair the Round Table.
In April 2010 he returned to the OECD full time as Environment Director, a post he held for seven years until returning to take up the role of Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Soil: an unknown quantity
Despite soil’s fundamental importance to life, it remains poorly understood and undervalued in New Zealand’s policy and public discourse. In this speech, Simon Upton will discuss some reasons why this is the case using the PCE’s recent report into the fate of urban soils in the context of residential development to illustrate some of the challenges of soil protection and conservation.
This report, Urban ground truths: valuing soil and subsoil in urban development, revealed that extensive soil disruption during residential developments is compromising soil health and its role in providing ecosystem services. It found that current regulatory frameworks and construction preferences often discount the services soils provide. Subsoil compaction and shallow topsoil result in urban soils that struggle to support vegetation and environmental functions.
Additional, ongoing research commissioned by the PCE is attempting to understand how different land uses and management practices in the primary sector are impacting on soil quality and quantity. Early findings reveal that gaps in environmental data are a major barrier to this work.
Sponsors

Platinum Sponsor

Gold Sponsor

Field Trip Sponsor

Platinum Sponsor

Silver Sponsor

Session Sponsor

Platinum Sponsor

Notepad Sponsor

Advertising Sponsor

Gold Sponsor

Field Trip Sponsor

Session Sponsor