Greenhouse Gas Reduction Levels Identified by NPDC

Work to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted in New Plymouth District has taken another step forward.

Tonight (Tuesday) New Plymouth District Council’s Monitoring Committee has recommended the full council confirm a target that would see the council and the wider community reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent.

“We’re part of the Communities for Climate Protection Programme and if we’re to be serious about reducing carbon emissions, we need to have identified goals for us to aim for,” says Assistant Chief Executive Frank Versteeg.

If approved by the council at its 22 July meeting, the council would seek to stabilise its own carbon emissions at 2006 levels by 30 June 2010, then reduce emissions by 20 per cent by 30 June 2015.

The council would also help the wider New Plymouth District community stabilise its carbon emissions at 2001 levels by 20 June 2011, then reduce emissions by 20 per cent by 2021.

“The community goal isn’t absolute – it’s something to aspire to, and it could be reviewed from time to time,” says Mr Versteeg.

“However we want to make sure the goal is achievable so that organisations and individuals will buy into it and adopt it as their own.”

In July last year NPDC conducted a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, analysis and forecast for the council and the community. The setting of emission reduction goals is the second milestone for it to achieve, which will be followed by the development and adoption of a plan to achieve these reduction goals, then implementation and monitoring.

“We’ll be working with key stakeholders, such as local industry, to help them identify how they can work towards reaching these emission reduction goals in a manageable way,” says Mr Versteeg.

The data used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions at a district level are mostly derived from information gathered by Statistics New Zealand and are reliant on results from the Census.

Currently, greenhouse gas emissions from New Plymouth District are forecast to increase by 1.34 per cent every year to 2010.

In 2001 the district generated an estimated 440,622 tonnes of CO2, with this projected to rise to 494,155 tonnes in 2010, driven mostly by commercial/industrial growth in the district.

In 2006 NPDC generated an estimated 8,159 tonnes of CO2 in operating its buildings, vehicle fleet, streetlights, and water, sewerage and waste systems. This figure is projected to rise to 8,485 tonnes in 2010, particularly in response to more sewerage systems coming online which will result in more material being collected and treated.

Internationally there are 700 councils involved in CCP, with 31 councils – representing 80 per cent of New Zealand’s population – taking part in this country.

The first council in the world to set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target was Toronto, Canada, which in 1990 aimed to reduce its emissions to 20 per cent below its 1988 level by 2005. A recent report indicates that Toronto as more than tripled that goal, with current emissions 67 per cent below the 1988 target.