New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2006: An Overview

• New Zealand’s national greenhouse gas inventory
• Total emissions and removals: 1990–2006
• Emissions by gas
• Emissions by sector
• Agriculture sector
• Energy sector
• Industrial processes sector and solvents and other product use sector
• Waste sector
• Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry sector

New Zealand’s national greenhouse gas inventory

In New Zealand, the inventory is managed and produced by the Ministry for the Environment. Emission estimates are compiled using data from a number of government agencies, particularly the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Statistics New Zealand. The inventory forms part of the Ministry for the Environment’s wider ‘state of the environment’ reporting.

The guiding documents in inventory preparation are the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, the Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry3 and the Climate Change Convention guidelines on reporting and review4.

A brief overview of the methods used in each sector is provided below. The full inventory report contains a thorough description of the methods used in each sector.

Energy sector

Greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector are calculated using the IPCC Tier 1 approach. Energy data are compiled from industry-supplied information via the Ministry of Economic Development and Statistics New Zealand. New Zealand-specific emission factors are used for calculating carbon dioxide emissions. Applicable IPCC default factors are used for calculating non-carbon dioxide emissions where New Zealand emission factors are not available.

Industrial processes sector and the solvent and other product use sector

Production and consumption data and the associated carbon dioxide emissions are supplied directly to the Ministry of Economic Development by industry sources. The IPCC Tier 2 approach is used and emission factors are New Zealand-specific. Data for the non-carbon dioxide gases are collated via an industry survey. Emissions of hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons are estimated using the IPCC Tier 2 approach and sulphur hexafluoride emissions from large users are assessed via the Tier 3a approach.

Agriculture sector

Livestock population data is obtained from Statistics New Zealand through the agricultural production census and surveys. A Tier 2 (model) approach is used to estimate methane emissions from dairy cattle, non-dairy cattle, sheep and deer. The methodology uses animal productivity data to estimate dry matter intake and methane production. The same dry matter intake data is used to calculate methane from enteric fermentation and nitrous oxide emissions from animal excreta. A Tier 1 approach is used to calculate methane and nitrous oxide emissions for livestock species present in insignificant numbers.

Land use, land-use change and forestry sector

The LULUCF inventory is completed using a mix of IPCC Tier 2 and Tier 1 approaches. A Tier 2 approach is used for the “planted forest” subcategory of forest land. Changes in planted forest stocks are assessed from national forest survey data and computer modelling of the planted forest estate. A Tier 1 approach is used for the categories cropland, grassland, wetland, settlements and other land. Results from the Land Use and Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS), will improve the reporting for the LULUCF sector and be consistent with reporting under the Kyoto Protocol.

Waste sector

Emissions from the waste sector are estimated using waste survey data combined with population data from Statistics New Zealand. Calculation of emissions from solid-waste disposal uses an IPCC Tier 2 method with New Zealand-specific emission factors. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from domestic and industrial wastewater handling are calculated using a refinement of the IPCC methodology. There is no incineration of municipal waste in New Zealand. The only incineration is for small specific waste streams including medical, quarantine and hazardous wastes. Emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from waste incineration have been calculated for the first time in the 2008 inventory.

Reviews of New Zealand’s inventory

To ensure the quality of reporting meets the standards required of the Climate Change Convention, the inventory is subject to an annual international review. The results of the reviews are available on the Climate Change Convention website5.

New Zealand has consistently met the reporting requirements of the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. The inventory is submitted within the allocated six weeks of 15 April as required under decision 15/CMP.16.

To become eligible to participate in the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms eg, carbon trading, the national system for the inventory, the national registry, and the 1990 (base year) inventory, were reviewed by an expert review team in February 2007. The expert review report7 concluded that:

• “New Zealand’s greenhouse gas inventory is consistent with the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines and the IPCC good practice guidance, and adheres to the reporting guidelines under Article 7 of the Kyoto Protocol”

• “New Zealand’s national system is prepared in accordance with the guidelines for national systems under Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Kyoto Protocol and reported in accordance with the guidelines for the preparation of the information required under Article 7 of the Kyoto Protocol”

• “New Zealand’s national registry is fully compliant with the registry requirements as defined by decisions 13/CMP.1(see footnote 6) and 5/CMP.18”.

These significant developments allowed New Zealand to be one of the first four Parties to be eligible to participate in the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms. New Zealand’s registry was operational on 1 January 2008.

Improvements in the 2008 inventory submission

The New Zealand inventory is under continuous improvement. The full inventory report contains a thorough description of the improvements in each sector.

In the 2008 inventory submission, improvements focussed on quality control. The major change was to reschedule the inventory timeline to allow more time for quality control. All sector-level data was compiled by January 2008 and subject to two months of quality checking for accuracy at the sector level and for consistency between the Common Reporting Format tables and the national inventory report.

The consultants KPMG were contracted for three months to complete quality checks on key data categories for the 2006 inventory year and to develop data quality objectives to further advance the implementation of New Zealand’s quality control and quality assurance plan.

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