‘Greening the Antipodes’? Environmental policy and politics in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Processes of globalisation, initially in the form of European colonisation, have fundamentally shaped the environmental challenges faced by both Australia and New Zealand. The common heritage and proximate geographical position of these two countries explain many of the similarities in their environmental institutions and responses, and international interventions on environmental issues. But there are also important differences between the countries in environmental performance and their engagement with globalisation, differences for which disparities in domestic socio-environmental, economic and political-institutional factors can provide part of an explanation. The political-ideological orientation of governments appears to be one of the more significant factors shaping the countries' environmental development and policies, nationally and on the international stage.