Higher emissions drop needed
Updated environmental indicators show our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 showed no sustained reductions when compared to 2005 levels.
And Stats NZ adds that our glacier-ice volumes are continuing to decrease,
“These two indicators provide important information about our environment,” says Angela Seaton, environmental reporting manager. “GHG emissions cause global warming and subsequently climate change, so measuring them is vital to support decision-making and monitor our progress in greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
“Glacier-ice volume is a good indicator for climate change because fluctuations in ice volume are strongly influenced by temperature, precipitation and solar radiation.”
The indicator measures New Zealand’s GHG emissions from 1990 to 2019, showing the trends for emissions, quantities of different types of emissions and their main sources.
The country’s emissions in 2019 have not substantially reduced compared to 2005 levels. In 2019, our gross GHG emissions were 82.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent – 0.2 per cent lower than 2005 levels.
Gross GHG emissions were mainly made up of CO2 at 45.5 per cent, methane on 42.1 per cent and nitrous oxide on 10.2 per cent.
The annual glacier-ice volumes indicator shows a 35 per cent decrease of the ice volume in our glaciers from 1978 to 2020 –down from 53.3km3 to 34.6km3. The highest three losses are in the past 10 years, indicating that we are losing our glaciers more rapidly. The greatest annual losses in glacier volume were in 2011 (2.5km3), 2018 (2.7km3), and 2019 (2.5km3).
