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How does New Zealand stack up against the OECD?

This wheel graph shows New Zealand’s performance relative to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for a number of the OECD’s key environmental indicators (KEIs). The KEIs shown belong to a headline set of 10 indicators drawn from the OECD’s core set of environmental indicators, of which there are around 50.

The blue circle represents the OECD median for each indicator and the orange spokes represent New Zealand’s performance. Where a spoke falls inside the circle, New Zealand’s performance is in the bottom half of the OECD (ie, New Zealand performs poorly compared with the OECD median). Where a spoke falls outside the circle, New Zealand’s performance is in the top half of the OECD (ie, New Zealand performs better than the OECD median).

OECD’s Key Environmental Indicators: New Zealand compared with the OECD

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This image graphically presents New Zealand’s performance relative to the OECD median for a number of the OECD’s Key Environmental Indicators.

New Zealand’s performance is in the top half of the OECD for:

  • waste generation per capita
  • wastewater treatment connection rates
  • water abstractions as a percentage of total resources
  • threatened mammals
  • threatened vascular plants.

New Zealand’s performance is in the bottom half of the OECD for:

  • greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP
  • greenhouse gas emissions per capita
  • SOx per unit of GDP
  • NOx per unit of GDP
  • Water abstraction per capita
  • Share of world fish catches
  • Energy supply per capita
  • Energy supply per unit of GDP
  • Threatened birds

Notes:

(1) Methodology derived from Ministry of Social Development’s Social Report.
(2) The indicators are grouped by environmental domain.
(3) Definitions and measurement methods vary among countries, and inter-country comparisons require careful interpretation. National-level data may conceal major sub-national differences.

Source: OECD in Figures 2008, OECD Key Environmental Indicators 2008, OECD Factbook 2009, OECD Environmental Data Compendium.

Last updated: August 2008