New Zealand's latest inventory of greenhouse gas emissions is now available. Unusually, it is not online at the Ministry for the Environment website; instead, you have to get it direct from the UNFCCC [ZIP]. The headline data is shown in the graph below (stolen from p. 16)
That's right - emissions actually fell! And unlike National's juked stats in the net position, it's a real reduction. Drought in 2006 / 2007 reduced agricultural emissions by a million tons (showing again how dirty those cows are), while the switch from coal to gas at Huntly and good weather accounted for a further 1.7 million tons. Some of this was offset by a small rise in transport emissions, however.
So, superficially good news - but its worth noting that none of it was due to actual policy. And with the ETS on hold and all other policies repealed, there's little hope of real reductions in the future.
