Cows, cars drive sharp rise in New Zealand greenhouse gas emissions

Methane produced by cows in New Zealand's intensifying dairy industry and vehicle exhausts have helped drive up the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent over the last two decades, according to a government report out Friday. In 1990, New Zealand's total greenhouse gas emissions were 60, 641.4 gigagrams (Gg) carbon dioxide equivalent, but the figure was up by 15,406.5 Gg to 76,048.0 Gg in 2012, according to the Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2012 and Net Position report from the Ministry for the Environment. "The four emission sources that contributed the most to this increase in total emissions were dairy enteric fermentation, road transport, agricultural soils, and consumption of hydrofluorcarbons," said the report. Minister for Climate Change Issues Tim Groser said New Zealand would comfortably meet its Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas reduction targets and have a surplus of credits. New Zealand set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels on average, or take responsibility for any emissions over these levels, over the first Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol from 2008 to 2012. "In line with other reports in recent years, the inventory shows our emissions gradually rising as New Zealand's economy and population grows," Groser said in a statement. "At the same time, these reports show we are planting more trees. From 2008 to 2012, afforestation exceeded deforestation. Forestry is an important part of New Zealand's climate change response as forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere." He said farmers were also producing more meat and milk with less greenhouse gas emissions and government investment in research to support further reductions would help meet future targets. "New Zealand is committed to doing our fair share and we have an unconditional commitment to reduce emissions to 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2020," he said. However, the opposition Green Party said the figures showed government policies since 2008, when the center-right National Party-led administration took power, were driving climate change. "One of the main causes of New Zealand's soaring emissions is deforestation. We're witnessing a chainsaw massacre, with removals, or credits, from forestry down 23 percent since 2008," Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman said. "We need to do our fair share when it comes to reducing our emissions. Our per capita emissions are well above the average for countries which made commitments under Kyoto," he said. "We're basically free-loading. That's bad for the climate and it's a massive risk to our extremely valuable clean green image."