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Ministry for the Environment's emissions inventory report and reduction plan

The Ministry for the Environment is one of the government agencies taking part in the Carbon Neutral Public Service programme.

You can find our emissions inventory and reduction plan for 2006/07 below. They have been verified by Det Norske Veritas, an independent certification organisation, on behalf of the Ministry for the Environment, which runs the Carbon Neutral Public Service programme.

Our 2006/07 emissions inventory indicates:

The Ministry’s total emissions were 912 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents.
79% of our emissions were from air travel, with the majority from international air travel; and
18% of our emissions were from electricity use.

Highlights from our reduction plan include:

Develop and implement a workplace travel plan to reduce our emissions from air and land transport.
Installation of a dedicated video conference facility in our Wellington office to reduce air travel
Review air travel approval process to include carbon accounting
Develop systems for regular reporting of travel to managers to be reviewed regularly at the monthly managers meeting
Staff education on the need for air travel to encourage the use of videoconferencing and teleconferencing
Energy audits for all our buildings in 2007/08 to identify areas for improved electricity use; and
Upgrade of Wellington office building management system to identify high energy use in real time
Implement recommendations from energy audits
Establishment of Govt3 working group to create and promote new waste reduction initiatives and revised waste reduction targets.