Auckland now greenest region
While mired in pandemic restrictions, Aucklanders earned the title for the country’s lowest carbon footprint in 2021.
City of Sails residents slashed their emissions by 11% between 2019 and 2021, according to new Statistics NZ data, as lockdowns slowed manufacturing and kept household pollution down.
Wellington and Nelson came in second and third place in the regional tally. At the other end of the spectrum, Southland maintained its position as the highest-emitting region.
In 2019, experts advised the world to cut greenhouse gas output by about 8% a year, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Data released Tuesday indicates lockdown-scale action can achieve this target.
In February and August 2021, Covid outbreaks saw Auckland put into long periods of restrictions. Households slashed their annual carbon footprint by 16%, compared to 2019.
Auckland’s industries had similar drops. With factories closed, manufacturing emissions fell 10% between 2019 and 2021. Agricultural, forestry and mining emissions also fell 10% in the supercity.
Totalling all industrial and household emissions, Aucklanders knocked their per-capita footprint down from 6.4 tonnes in 2019 to 5.7 last year.
The capital – which wasn’t subject to the long lockdowns of Auckland – also made progress. Each Wellington resident produced 5.8 tonnes in 2021, lower than the 6.3 emitted in 2019.
Capital households contributed to the feat by cutting their total emissions 14%, even as more people moved to the city.
Nelson also saw its per-capita emissions drop from 7.5 to 6.7 tonnes. Again, households took the lead, contributing just 1.2 tonnes – the lowest in the country.
Since Statistics NZ began releasing regional emissions data, Southland has remained the highest-polluting area.
For each resident, the region emitted the equivalent of 60.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2021 – more than 10 times that of each Aucklander.
However, households contribute less than 3% of this amount.
The vast majority comes from methane-producing farming, and another large chunk from the smelting of aluminium at Tiwai Point.
Gas-producing Taranaki and coal-mining West Coast had the second and third-highest perresident carbon footprints respectively.
Taranaki’s total emissions fell 18% over two years. Gas shortages meant less of the fossil fuel is being used.
Coal-burning units at the Huntly power plant pick up the slack
when gas generation falls. This caused the Waikato region’s emissions to rise slightly between 2019 and 2021.
While most regions experienced a drop in emissions compared to pre-pandemic 2019, Canterbury increased its greenhouse gas output by 3%.
Canterbury households decreased emissions, but this was more than offset by more methane and nitrous oxide from agriculture in the region.
Emissions are allocated to the region where they are created. So all the emissions from the Huntly power plant are added into Waikato’s tally, even though many regions rely on its electricity.
Statistics NZ’s estimates for 2021 are provisional.