Making the Environment Count
06 March 2018
NZ Government:
Climate Change Minister James Shaw says Stats
NZ’s release of their first combined Environmental Economic Accounts
will provide a valuable basis for understanding
New Zealand’s transition
to a low
emissions economy.
The System of Environmental Economic Accounts (SEEA) released today
measures the interactions between the
environment and the economy in a
way that hasn’t been done before in New Zealand.
As Associate Minister for Finance with responsibility for overseeing
sustainability indicators, Mr Shaw says this new environmental economic
data will also help explore whether we are sustaining our environmental
assets for future generations.
“This is a crucial step in gathering together the kind of information
government, business and the primary industries sectors need for good
decision-making around sustainable low emissions ways of operating,”
James Shaw said.
“While it’s pleasing to see that New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions
have risen more slowly than general economic growth over the past 25
years, our emissions have still increased by 24 percent, and that
demonstrates part of the challenge we face if we are to reach our net
zero emissions target by 2050,” Mr Shaw said.
“And there are gaps in the data; in the area of waste, for instance, but
officials are working with stakeholders to fill in those gaps for future
environmental economic accounts,” he said.
The Environment Minister, David Parker, has also welcomed the release of
the new system of accounting.
“It’s another way to integrate environmental accountability with the way
the economy works,” Mr Parker said.
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Source: New Zealand Government - www.beehive.govt.nz
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