Our commitment to the community
Inland Revenue: Towards a carbon neutral public service
March 2007
The Prime Minister announced in her Statement to Parliament on 13 February 2007 that Inland Revenue, along with five other government departments, will take the lead in achieving carbon neutrality in the public service.
The other five departments are the Department of Conservation, the Treasury, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry for the Environment, and the Ministry of Health.
Inland Revenue has already introduced initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint, and won awards for sustainable transport, leadership on Govt3 and change in behaviour of staff in the 2006 Govt3 awards.
Achieving carbon neutrality
There are three aspects to achieving carbon neutrality:
- measure emissions
- reduce emissions
- offset remaining emissions.
Measure emissions
We will gather more accurate information about our greenhouse gas emissions linked to energy and electricity use, transport (including domestic and international air travel), and waste sent to landfill.
We and the five other lead agencies have been chosen because good information can be obtained quickly about our energy and transport use. More comprehensive emissions inventories will be developed as part of the first stage of the programme.
Reduce emissions
The six lead agencies will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they release by putting in place:
- Energy efficiency measures, which might include energy use audits, educating staff on using less electricity, low-energy lighting systems, more efficient heating and cooling systems, and purchase of equipment that uses less electricity.
- Travel measures, which might include workplace travel plans to eliminate unnecessary journeys, purchasing of more fuel efficient vehicles, and transport alternatives such as video-conferencing facilities.
- Waste reduction and recycling systems.
Other core public service departments will also start to cut their emissions as part of the transition towards a carbon neutral public sector.
Agencies will not undertake emissions reductions that would lessen their effectiveness. More emphasis will be put on making purchase decisions that have the lowest overall cost in the long term, rather than a low initial purchase cost but high running costs.
Offset remaining emissions
Agencies are expected to lower their carbon emissions, not reduce them to zero (which would be impractical with current technology). Carbon neutrality will be achieved when the amount of greenhouse gases we emit is absorbed through offset projects. Those offset projects will remove an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or prevent it being released.
Individual departments will not be asked to identify or implement their own offsetting programmes. The Ministry for the Environment will lead a process to investigate the most environmentally appropriate and cost-effective options for the lead agencies. The initial preference is for New Zealand-based forestry related projects on Crown land, but other New Zealand-based projects will also be considered. Once the options have been worked through and an offsetting system put in place, other core public service departments will progressively join the programme.
Our emissions inventory and reduction plan
Inland Revenue and the five other lead agencies have implemented plans to reduce their emissions further and offset remaining emissions. You can find our emissions inventory and reduction plan for 2006-07 below:
Highlights from our reduction plan:
- 10% reduction in energy use per full time equivalent by December 2012
- Continue to focus on reduction in waste to landfill
- Implement a workplace travel plan by 2010 aiming for a 15% reduction in kilometres travelled and the introduction of video conferencing technology.
Timeframes
By the end of 2012, those agencies will have offset all their 2007-2012 emissions.
All 34 core public service departments will be on a path to carbon neutrality by 2012.
Links to other programmes
Many agencies have already made major cuts in their energy use, transport costs and waste as a result of their participation in the Govt3 programme.
The government's commitment to purchase eco-friendly goods and services will also support emissions reduction measures.
Links to further information
- Prime Minister's Statement to Parliament 2007 (13 February 2007)
- Public Service takes lead on carbon neutrality (13 February 2007) - Media release by Hon David Parker, Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues and Hon Annette King, Minister of State Services.
- The Government's work on New Zealand Climate Change
Date published: 03 Apr 2008
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