WELLINGTON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions rose 0.9 percent in the March 2025 quarter, driven largely by a surge in energy sector emissions, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday.
Stats NZ reported a 176-kilotonne rise in emissions during this quarter, with industry emissions up 1 percent and household emissions down 0.2 percent. By comparison, New Zealand's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.8 percent during the same period.
Emissions from the electricity, gas, water, and waste sector surged 67.8 percent, the highest since 2012, driven by coal use amid low hydro inflows, while the sector's GDP remained flat, it said.
Hydroelectric generation fell 15.1 percent, its lowest March level since 1987, prompting greater coal use and driving up sector emissions, according to a report of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
"A key factor of fluctuation in New Zealand's total quarterly emissions is the variation in energy sources used for electricity generation," said Stats NZ environment statistics spokesperson Tehseen Islam, highlighting the volatility of the country's weather-driven renewable energy.
Emissions fell in several sectors, with manufacturing down 6.8 percent, transport, postal and warehousing down 2.2 percent, and construction down 5.7 percent, despite GDP growth across all three areas, Islam said.
Annually, New Zealand's emissions fell 1.5 percent to 77,656 kilotonnes in the year to March 2025, the lowest March total since 2010, driven by manufacturing cuts. Only the energy sector rose, up 15.9 percent, but it remains 29 percent below its 2013 peak, Stats NZ said. ■
