Emissions report shows urgent action needed
Every part of Government will need to take urgent action to bring down emissions, the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw said in response to the recent rise in New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions.
The latest annual inventory of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions shows that both gross and net emissions increased by 2 percent in the 12 months from the end of 2018.
“We’ve known about the potential impacts of global warming for decades, and yet it is only this Government that has taken action to cut New Zealand’s emissions. Whilst we can see from this report that we are acting in the right areas, it also shows we need to step up our response. The time for delay is over,” James Shaw said.
The Ministry for the Environment’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory is the official annual estimate of greenhouse gas emissions and removals in New Zealand since 1990. The report released today includes emissions estimates up to the end of 2019.
The report includes emissions estimates up to the end of 2019. It therefore doesn’t show the impact of measures introduced by the Government since 2019. These include the clean car standard; a ban on coal-fired boilers; putting a cap on the Emissions Trading Scheme (meaning emissions must fall every year); replacing coal-fired boilers in schools and hospitals; and investing billions in new rail, buses, cycle-ways and walking infrastructure.