13 July, 2015

New Zealand deploys creative accounting to allow emissions to rise

Authors

Marcia Rocha, Bill Hare, Jasmin Cantzler, Paola Parra, Hanna Fekete, Louise Jeffery, Ryan Alexander, Kornelis Blok, Pieter van Breevoort, Karlien Wouters

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On 07 July 2015, New Zealand submitted its provisional Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). We rate New Zealand’s INDC 2030 target — nominally a 30% reduction from 2005 levels, equivalent to 11% below 1990 levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions excluding land-use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) by the year 2030 to be “inadequate.” The “inadequate” rating indicates that New Zealand’s commitment is not in line with any interpretations of a “fair” approach to reach a 2°C pathway: if most other countries followed the New Zealand approach, global warming would exceed 3-4°C.

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