Reporting under international climate change agreements

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

New Zealand is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This requires us to report annually on New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions and removals. Production of this report, the ‘National Inventory Report’ is led by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) with contributions from the Ministry of Economic Development (MED),and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF).

Kyoto Protocol

New Zealand is also a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, which is a subsidiary agreement under the UNFCCC. New Zealand ratified the Kyoto Protocol on 19 December 2002 with a commitment to reducing our emissions during the first commitment period (2008-2012) to 100% of the level of emissions in 1990 add or take responsibility for any excess. The Protocol came into force on 16 February 2005.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the National Inventory Report will still be submitted, but more detailed reporting is required for the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector. New Zealand is developing a Land Use & Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS) to meet these more detailed information requirements.

LUCAS will enable accounting and reporting of afforestation, reforestation and deforestation under Article 3.3 of the Kyoto Protocol during the first commitment period (CP1) from 2008-2012.

The different classes of land use categories, as inferred from land cover are drawn from categories as recognised in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Good Practice Guidance (GPG) for Land use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF).

These categories include forest land, croplands, grassland, wetlands, settlements and other lands. Forest land will comprise natural forest, Kyoto forests and pre-1990 planted forest. Grassland will include high and low producing grassland, montane grassland, and grassland with scattered shrubs (scattered above-ground woody biomass).

LUCAS will calculate the amount of carbon stored in forests and soils and how these carbon stocks change with land use. It involves reporting for five terrestrial carbon 'pools':

• Above-ground biomass
• Below-ground biomass
• Dead wood
• Litter
• Soil organic matter

Good Practice Guidance and International Review Requirements

For reporting under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, LUCAS must be consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Good Practice Guidance (GPG) for Land use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF).

Under this guidance, carbon accounting and reporting, which is subject to international expert review, has to be:

• Comparable - estimates of our emissions and removals should be comparable with those of other countries
• Complete – Must include all above- and below-ground carbon stocks and changes for land use, land-use change and forestry, as well as full geographic coverage of sources and sinks;
• Accurate – Must be no bias in the methodology used; neither under nor over estimates; and uncertainties need to be quantified and reduced over time;
• Transparent – Assumptions and methodologies (equations, models) must be clear and available for replication, with methods based on peer-reviewed science;
• Consistent – Methodology consistent over time.

For the New Zealand Government to be able to claim, trade, or offset its emissions using forestry sink credits, LUCAS will need to be approved by international expert reviewers.

Resources

International Review of New Zealand's Carbon Monitoring project (PDF 235 KB), November 1999, Ministry for the Environment.

---

Site accessibility

Feedback or questions?
Email information@mfe.govt.nz

Legal statements