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Reporting under international climate change agreements

International experts Werner Kurz (Canada), Michael Koehl (Germany) and Bernhard Schlamadinger (Austria) are in a New Zealand Kyoto forest with local colleagues during an informal review of LUCAS. Bay of Plenty, October 2005.

International experts Werner Kurz (Canada), Michael
Koehl (Germany) and Bernhard Schlamadinger (Austria)
are in a New Zealand Kyoto forest with local colleagues
during an informal review of LUCAS.
Bay of Plenty, October 2005.

In the context of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, New Zealand is a signatory to two important international agreements:

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

The UNFCCC requires New Zealand to report annually on its greenhouse gas emissions and removals. This is done through the production of the ‘National Inventory Report’. It is compiled by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), with contributions from the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF).

A previous report in full is available on the MfE website, for example the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2007 published in April 2009 (covering 1 July 2006-30 June 2007 emissions).

Available international data from all participating countries can be retrieved in tabular and graphic form from the IPCC website. The query provided here presents the data for New Zealand only. Note that the options in that retrieval can be further modified to exclude or include LULUCF data, or provide data by year for each greenhouse gas.

Kyoto Protocol

New Zealand is also a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, which is a subsidiary agreement under the UNFCCC. Ratified on 19 December 2002, the Kyoto Protocol came into force on 16 February 2005. This commits the country to reduce its national emissions during the first commitment period (CP1: 2008-2012) to 100% of the level of emissions in the base year 1990. Each country must take responsibility for any excess over these reference level.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the National Inventory Report under UNFCCC will continue to be submitted, but more detailed reporting is required for the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector. This is why the Land Use and Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS), the subject of this website, was set up in New Zealand - to meet those more detailed information requirements.

Its output will enable accounting and reporting of afforestation, reforestation and deforestation under Article 3.3 of the Kyoto Protocol.

The different classes of land use categories, as inferred from land cover, are based on the categories as recognised in the IPCC's Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF.

These categories include (and are illustrated in the IPCC land use maps):

As further explained on the Workstreams and Benefits page, LUCAS calculates the amount of carbon stored in forests and soils and how these carbon stocks change with land use. The terrestrial carbon pools page defines the five components it involves:

  • above-ground biomass
  • below-ground biomass
  • dead wood
  • litter
  • soil organic matter.

To meet its international reporting requirements, New Zealand adheres to the Good Practice Guidance and International Review Requirements. The process is further illustrated in the diagram below.

Overview of LUCAS reporting process

Overview of LUCAS reporting process


Last updated: 3 August 2009