Councils Collaborate to Standardise Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting

Nineteen regional, unitary, and territorial councils across New Zealand have collaborated and signed up to the Local Emissions Data Platform Initiative, a standardised approach to community greenhouse gas emissions reporting and modelling.

This collaboration, facilitated by the Te Uru Kahika Climate Group and supported by the Ministry for the Environment | Manatū mō te Taiao, aims to reduce costs to councils and improve decision-making across New Zealand in a move that will support efforts to achieve national emissions reduction targets.

Local Emissions Data Platform Initiative Steering Group Convenor and Senior Planner Climate Change at Bay of Plenty Regional Council Jane Palmer said the platform will enable councils to track and model emissions in a cost-effective way, creating a consistent view of emissions profiles and projections across cities, districts, and regions.

“By using a single, standardised platform, participating councils can reduce their individual costs of reporting while gaining tools to better understand local greenhouse gas sources and emission reduction priorities.

“This initiative is a step forward towards understanding what a successful transition to a low-emissions future in New Zealand looks like,” said Ms Palmer.

Key to this effort is the collaborative approach which enables consistency in assumptions and methodologies across councils, reducing duplication of effort and allowing comparability of results, alongside better understanding of possible emissions reduction pathways and initiatives.

With support from the Ministry for the Environment and the commercial expertise of Regional Software Holdings Limited (RSHL), the platform is designed to accommodate other councils too, making it a scalable, and potentially nationwide approach to emissions reporting and modelling.

This initiative is part of a programme of work by Te Uru Kahika’s Climate Group which also encompasses efforts to prepare for and adapt to climate impacts. Through this common emissions data platform, councils and their partners will better support New Zealand’s overall climate strategy, facilitating more effective actions across sectors and regions.

This approach aligns with goals outlined in New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan (2022), which emphasises local governments' crucial role in achieving Aotearoa’s 2050 emissions reduction targets. For many councils, this platform will resolve previous challenges of inconsistent and fragmented emissions data and assumptions, providing the clarity needed to support action across sectors and households.