Emissions
He aha tēnei mea te tukunga? | What are emissions?
An emission is something that has been released or discharged into the world and comes from a wide range of activities (cows farting, car exhaust, waste decomposing in landfill, hairspray).
Some emissions are more harmful than others. Greenhouse Gas Emissions, for example, trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, and they can linger for hundreds, even thousands of years! The more emissions we release, the hotter the earth will get and because these gases don't just 'fade away,’ we have to act now and quickly so the earth is at a livable temperature for future generations.
Countries around the world, including New Zealand, have committed to reducing their emissions to net zero by 2050.
Me pēhea te whakaiti i ngā tukunga? | How can we reduce emissions?
We don’t need to change our whole lives to look after the planet, but we do need to change. Small, collective changes can trigger significant societal shifts and build new norms.
Once you delve deeper into this, you’ll quickly see that reducing your carbon footprint can also reduce your costs.
These positive changes don’t need to be big! They can look like:
- Taking shorter showers
- Having one meat and dairy free day a week
- Changing your lightbulbs to LED at home
- Buying second-hand electronic goods
- Planting a native tree in your garden
- Ditching fast fashion and shopping second-hand
Track your carbon weight with FutureFit
The brainchild of Auckland Council and Wellington City Council, FutureFit works much like a fitness app but instead of tracking your steps, you’re tracking your carbon footprint!
How does it work?
It’s tailored to individual use which is why you’ll be asked a wide range of questions. All information is confidential and used only to understand and estimate your carbon footprint.
Sign up and use FutureFit for free via their website.
E whakatinana ana te Kaunihera i āna kupu | Council is "walking the talk"
We are committed to reducing our operational emissions under Council’s climate action policy with a target to achieve net zero by 2050 in alignment with The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019.
Council will be setting more specific targets about emission reduction and creating a plan for our transition in 2025.
Ā mātou tukunga | Our emissions
In 2024, the Climate Action & Resilience Team is working with Toitu on the carbonreduce programme to audit council emissions for 2023 and 2024. This provide our community with transparency about the emissions we create from Council operations. The results of these audits will be released in mid-2025. Moving forward, an emissions audit will be completed every year.
Ngā tukunga o te rohe whānui | District wide emissions
Council participated in a combined initiative with Te Tai Tokerau Councils and undertook a district wide emissions inventory report feeding into a reginal report for the 2021-2022 financial year. The report details the Far North Districts Greenhouse Gas emissions resulting from activity and consumption. Read the Far North District Emissions Inventory.
The total gross emissions are 1,130,970 tCO2e. The graph below outlines the results with agriculture and transportation as the most significant contributors. Using information from the inventory, council can promote, monitor and support the community to reduce emissions.
