The UNFCCC Secretariat has announced that New Zealand is the 46th Party to formally submit its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), committing to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030.
According to the INDC, the target corresponds to an 11% reduction from 1990 emissions, which will be used as the formal reference level.
7 July 2015: The UNFCCC Secretariat has announced that New Zealand is the 46th Party to formally submit its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), committing to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. According to the INDC, the target corresponds to a reduction of 11% from 1990 emissions, which will be used as the formal reference level.
New Zealand’s target, which is economy-wide covering the energy, industrial processes and product use, agriculture, forestry and other land use, and waste sectors, will remain provisional until agreement is reached on the use of international market mechanisms and approaches to accounting in the land sector. The INDC rests on the assumptions that rules agreed by Parties will allow for unrestricted access to global carbon markets and will use land or activity-based accounting that includes provisions addressing, inter alia, natural disturbance, permanence and legacy effects.
The INDC also notes that while 1990 will be used as the base year, the mitigation target has been framed in terms of 2005 for ease of comparison with other Parties’ targets.
The INDC notes the high share of New Zealand’s emissions attributable to the agriculture sector and the need for a longer timeframe than 2030 to develop and deploy many of the emissions-saving practices in this sector. Given the already high share of renewable energy and the sources of its emissions, New Zealand indicates that the estimated cost to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) of meeting its target is higher than the likely cost of other Parties’ tabled targets.
On adaptation, the INDC directs interested parties to Chapter 6 of New Zealand’s sixth national communication (NC) submitted to the UNFCCC in December 2013.
All Parties to the UNFCCC are expected to submit INDCs in advance of the Paris Climate Change Conference, which will take place in November-December 2015. Those submitted by 1 October 2015 will be included in a synthesis report on their aggregate effect by 1 November 2015. Parties are anticipated to agree on a global climate change agreement to take effect in 2020 at the Paris Climate Change Conference. [UNFCCC Press Release] [New Zealand’s INDC] [UNFCCC INDC Portal]