New Zealand has submitted its new 2035 target today, aiming for 51-55pc cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared with 2005 gross levels.
Countries party to the Paris agreement must submit new climate plans — nationally determined contribution (NDCs) for 2035 — to the UN climate body the UNFCCC by 10 February, as part of the so-called ratchet mechanism which requires them to review and revise plans every five years.
The target includes all sectors of New Zealand's economy and all GHGs. The sectors covered comprise energy, industrial processes and product use, agriculture, land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) and waste.
The country's second NDC target is expressed as a range "to respond to evolving national circumstances, notably the high proportion of biogenic methane from agriculture in New Zealand's emissions profile," the NDC said.
The country's largest source of emissions is the agricultural sector, making up 53pc of total emissions in 2022, according to the environment ministry.
With this target, the country's net emissions would reach between 39mn t and 42mn of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2035, according to the environment ministry.
The target covers the 2031-2035 time period, but is set as a single-year goal. Single-year goals aim to cut emissions by a single target year, while multi-year goals aim to reduce emissions over a defined period. A multi-year goal is typically more effective when it comes to limiting cumulative emissions, according to the GHG protocol, a GHG cut framework established by the World Resources Institute.
New Zealand committed to reduce GHG emissions by 50pc by 2030, from a 2005 baseline. It is also a single year — "point year" — target but is managed using a carbon budget across the NDC period.
The country said today the lower range of its 2035 target aligns with its third emissions budget — maximum quantity of emissions allowed in a five-year period — for 2031-35, but the upper end of the range goes beyond "the budget to achieve greater emissions but still remains feasible". New Zealand's emissions budget for 2031-35 is 240mn t of CO2e, according to environment ministry data.
New Zealand said the country will publish its third emissions reduction plan for the period 2031–35 in light of the new NDC in 2029, and it will "continue to assess, realign and introduce policies to reduce emissions". This plan would cover the third emission budget period.
The country said it aims to achieve its new NDC target through domestic emissions reductions and removals, but may take part in "co-operation under Article 6 during the NDC period".
Article 6 of the Paris accord includes two mechanisms aimed at helping countries meet their emissions reduction targets and NDCs through carbon trading.
