The carbon footprint of households, which reflects the emissions embodied in households’ consumption and lifestyle choices, decreased 6.3 percent (2,677 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) during 2020, Stats NZ said today.
The decrease in household consumption-based emissions (also known as carbon footprint) was primarily driven by the 26 percent decrease (4,019 kilotonnes) in household transport emissions due to pandemic-related restrictions in 2020.
Indirect household transport emissions, which includes emissions from extraction, refining, and transport of fuel, as well as household use of commercial transport modes including air, water, and rail, buses, and taxis, dropped 43 percent (3,077 kilotonnes).
Direct household transport emissions, largely resulting from household use of fuel in road transport, dropped 12 percent (941 kilotonnes).
“Prior to COVID-19, household transport was the largest contributor to the household carbon footprint, but following pandemic lockdowns and associated border restrictions, transport emissions fell and contributed a similar proportion as food and non-alcoholic beverages,” environmental-economic accounts insights analyst Kate Augustine said.
| Year | Transport | Food and non-alcoholic beverages | Housing and household utilities |
| 2007 | 14626 | 11973 | 5723 |
| 2008 | 13843 | 10435 | 6990 |
| 2009 | 13174 | 11548 | 6456 |
| 2010 | 13504 | 11657 | 5795 |
| 2011 | 13724 | 10716 | 5792 |
| 2012 | 13452 | 11168 | 6568 |
| 2013 | 13242 | 11337 | 5864 |
| 2014 | 13593 | 11090 | 5636 |
| 2015 | 14470 | 11489 | 5662 |
| 2016 | 14789 | 11663 | 5009 |
| 2017 | 15330 | 11316 | 5205 |
| 2018 | 15522 | 10556 | 5063 |
| 2019 | 15207 | 10402 | 5402 |
| 2020 | 11188 | 10998 | 5605 |
The other main contributors to household consumption-based emissions were food and non-alcoholic beverage emissions, which increased 5.7 percent (596 kilotonnes), and housing and household utilities emissions, which increased 3.8 percent (204 kilotonnes).
Households are the largest contributor to New Zealand’s total carbon footprint – accounting for 69 percent of emissions. In 2020, New Zealand’s carbon footprint decreased by 5.2 percent from the previous year, to 57,381 kilotonnes.
Tourism consumption-based emissions decreased 39 percent in 2020
Tourism consumption-based emissions also dropped in 2020 due to the lack of travel during COVID-19 restrictions.
Total tourism consumption-based emissions decreased 39 percent (4,665 kilotonnes). Specifically, international tourism emissions dropped 90 percent (4,497 kilotonnes). This coincides with the dramatic drop in international tourist expenditure, as seen in the Tourism satellite account: Year ended March 2021. International tourism expenditure on air passenger transport plummeted, down 95 percent ($2.5 billion), as COVID-19 border closures complicated air travel.
In comparison, domestic tourism emissions, mainly from road transport, dropped 2.4 percent (168 kilotonnes) in 2020. Direct domestic tourism emissions, from the use of private vehicles, decreased 12 percent (148 kilotonnes), and indirect domestic tourism emissions, from the extraction, refining, and transportation of fuel and use of other commercial transport, decreased 0.3 percent (20 kilotonnes).
