Simon Upton
New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Simon Upton is the New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, a post he has held since 2017.
Mr Upton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and a Rhodes Scholar. As a Member of Parliament (1981-2000) he held a variety of ministerial portfolios including environment, research, biosecurity, health and state services. He has also chaired the Round Table on Sustainable Development at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), worked as Environment Director at the OECD for seven years, and pursued a number of private sector roles in New Zealand.
The Commissioner provides independent reports and advice to support the maintenance or improvement of the quality of New Zealand’s environment. Mr Upton has focussed on investigating emerging environmental issues that are not yet in the spotlight, or issues that may be neglected or unaddressed. He engages with parliamentarians and agencies to improve environmental management systems, providing evidence-based reports on a wide range of topics.