Transport drives down total greenhouse gas emissions in 2020

Manufacturing emissions fell 10 percent (1,164 kilotonnes) in the December 2020 year compared with the December 2019 year, largely driven by decreases in gas and coal consumption, and a decrease in steel production. By comparison, over the same period the manufacturing industry saw only a 3.1 percent drop in its contribution to GDP.

'We can see manufacturing emissions and GDP growth have been diverging slightly since 2018,' Mr Oakley said.

Of the seven industries published in this experimental release, services excluding transport, postal, and warehousing; and electricity, gas, water, and waste services were the only industries to see increases in emissions in 2020 compared with 2019, up 11 and 6.0 percent respectively.

'A particularly dry September quarter saw a strong increase in fossil fuel use for electricity generation, bringing up the 2020 total emissions for electricity, gas, water, and waste services,' Mr Oakley said.

Feedback

Stats NZ welcomes feedback on the methodology used to produce these new experimental estimates as it is the intention to develop them into official statistics. If you would like to provide feedback, please complete the feedback form - Greenhouse gas emission (industry and household) quarterly.

Experimental emissions data is also now available in graphical form on the COVID-19 data portal under the 'Economic' tab.

About the data

This experimental release on quarterly production-based emissions is done within the SEEA framework to track emissions in relation to economic activity. The SEEA production-based emissions estimates transform the greenhouse gas inventory data to be consistent with economic classifications and concepts by changing the unit of analysis (from a process-based approach, for example, energy and waste, to a standard production-based industrial classification, for example, ANZSIC06) and applying the residency principle. This means deducting emissions from non-residents operating on the domestic territory (for example, international tourists driving vehicles) and adding emissions from residents operating overseas (for example, international aviation or shipping).

The Greenhouse gas inventory is based on the territory principle. It is best suited for understanding New Zealand's greenhouse gas profile (in both gross and net terms) and identifying the source processes that generate emissions within the territory. New Zealand's greenhouse gas inventory is the official source of New Zealand's emissions and removals data and is reported annually to the UNFCCC. It is also the basis on which progress towards targets is determined.

The latest annual benchmarks used in the December 2020 quarter estimates are from the December 2018 year.

Greenhouse gas emissions (industry and household): September 2020 quarter - methodology and results has more information on the sources and methods used to produce these statistics.

Due to the experimental nature of the data, revisions are expected as Stats NZ refines the methodology and gradually improves the quality of the series. Quarterly emissions estimates are based on information available at the time of compilation. Revisions to the time series will also result from the incorporation of updated annual benchmarks and quarterly indicators.

See previous greenhouse gas emissions releases:

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