Climate change for DOC - questions and answers - What is New Zealand’s annual per capita emissions?

What is New Zealand’s annual per capita emissions?

In 1990 New Zealand emitted an estimated 61.5 Mt of CO₂e, or around 16 tonnes per person a year (based on Statistics New Zealand’s December 1999 population estimate of 3.837 million). This figure is likely to climb to 16.3 tonnes per person per year during CP1, according to 2006 projections by the Treasury and the Ministry of Economic Development.

Note: Emissions are sometimes quoted in terms of tonnes of carbon, which is 27.3% of the value of tonnes of CO₂e. On that basis, New Zealand’s annual per capita emissions would equate to 4.4 tonnes of carbon per person per year. This level is similar to those of Canada and Australia. The US has a higher annual per capita figure, close to 6 tonnes. By comparison, Russia’s annual emissions are around 3 tonnes per capita, and Western Europe’s, a little more than 2 tonnes per capita. The average Chinese person’s emissions are one-seventh of a New Zealander’s. (But China has more than 250 times New Zealand’s population.)