New Zealand gets a bad report from UN on greenhouse
Green Media Release 21st November 2007
The Greens are calling for renewed efforts to reduce our greenhouse emissions in light of a UN report that shows that
New Zealand is amongst one of the worst in the industrialised world for increases in greenhouse gas emissions over the
period 1990-2005.
“New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions increased nearly 25% over the period 1990-2005. This places us as one of the
outliers amongst industrialised countries, with only a small number of countries such as Spain and Portugal increasing
their emissions by significantly more.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is warning that industrialised countries greenhouse emissions
are now at a near record high.
“Globally emissions from the transport sector are increasing rapidly, and New Zealand is no exception with the massive
road building underway adding to the traffic and emissions. We need to reverse the spending balance between roads and
public transport to reduce our emissions and prepare for peak oil.
“This report also puts the pressure on the government to include the dairy sector in the emission trading scheme rather
than leaving them out of it until after the Kyoto commitment period. Dairy emissions are rapidly increasing, which is
adding to New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions.
“Sweden has reduced its emissions by 7.3% over the period 1990-2005. If we put our minds to it we can do the same.
ENDS