The just-released Stats NZ report found that, while about two thirds of regions recorded drops in greenhouse gas emissions between 2007 and 2018, those gains were offset by rises in four regions – Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Otago and Southland. "This is the first comprehensive picture we have been able to develop to show where emissions are being produced in New Zealand and which regions are driving the changes in emissions," Stats NZ's environmental-economic accounts manager Stephen Oakley said. In Canterbury and Otago, increases in overall emissions were driven largely by the primary industries, specifically by increases in emissions from these regions' expanding dairy cattle numbers. The regions with the least emissions were Marlborough, Tasman/Nelson, West Coast, and Gisborne, altogether accounting for just 5.8 per cent of emissions. Canterbury recorded the highest methane and nitrous oxide emissions in 2018, largely due to emissions from agriculture.

Source: Otago Daily Times July 23, 2020 00:00 UTC