WELLINGTON, Oct 19 (NNN-XINHUA) – New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions increased 0.2 percent, or 33 kilotonnes, in the Jun, 2023 quarter, after a 0.1 percent increase in the Mar, 2023 quarter, according to the statistics department, Stats NZ, today.
Increases in the Jun, 2023 quarter emissions from transport, postal, and warehousing and manufacturing industries, were offset by a large decrease in emissions from the electricity, gas, water, and waste services industry, Stats NZ said.
Transport, postal, and warehousing industry emissions in the Jun, 2023 quarter were 1.8 percent lower than their pre-COVID level of 1,753 kilotonnes in the Dec, 2019 quarter, it said.
“As air transport has increased since the end of COVID-related border restrictions, the number of flights and associated emissions from burning aviation fuels have too,” Stats NZ’s environmental-economic accounts manager, Stephen Oakley, said, adding that, for the year ended Jun, 2023, transport, postal, and warehousing emissions increased 38 percent.
Manufacturing industry emissions increased 6.2 percent and 6.7 percent in the Mar and Jun, 2023 quarters, respectively, primarily driven by an increase in metal product manufacturing, Oakley said.
Emissions from the electricity, gas, water, and waste services industry decreased 10.8 percent in the Jun, 2023 quarter. This was due to a reduction in the amount of fossil fuels being used for electricity generation, after increased rainfall led to an increase in hydroelectricity generation.
This decrease in emissions followed a 27.1 percent increase in the Mar, 2023 quarter, after a record low in the Dec, 2022 quarter, Oakley said.
Household emissions increased 3.4 percent in the year ended Jun, 2023, driven by an increase in household transport, up 4.1 percent, Oakley said.– NNN-XINHUA
