Dunedin's emissions

Understanding where Dunedin’s emissions come from helps us focus on the changes that will make the biggest difference.

The Dunedin City GHG Emissions Inventory measures the greenhouse gases produced within Dunedin’s boundary each year. This includes emissions from transport, energy use, agriculture, waste, and other activities.

Latest results

For the year 2024/25, Dunedin’s gross emissions were 1.42 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e).

• Down by 13% from 2018/19

When carbon absorbed by trees and forests is taken into account, Dunedin’s net emissions were 1.12 million tCO₂e in 2024/25.
This shows measurable progress towards the city’s zero carbon goal, while highlighting the further reductions still needed.

The Zero Carbon Plan sets out the pathway for reducing emissions across Dunedin. It identifies the changes needed across the city and the key areas where the Dunedin City Council can take action to help achieve the city’s zero carbon goal.

Ōtepoti Dunedin's Zero Carbon goal

In 2019, Dunedin set a goal to become a Zero Carbon city. This means:

• Net zero carbon emissions (excluding biogenic methane) by 2030
• Reducing biogenic methane emissions in line with national targets

“Net zero” means that the greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere in Dunedin (excluding biogenic methane) are balanced by the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere by trees and other vegetation. This natural process is known as carbon sequestration.

Dunedin can achieve net zero carbon (excluding biogenic methane) by reducing total emissions by 40% and increasing carbon sequestration by 64%, compared with 2018/19 levels. Achieving this will require significant reductions in emissions from transport, stationary energy, agriculture, and industrial processes and product use.

Biogenic methane is methane produced by living organisms, such as livestock or organic waste.

The city’s biogenic methane reduction targets are the same as the central government targets:

• 10% reduction from 2017 levels by 2030
• 24-47% reduction from 2017 levels by 2050

The Zero Carbon Plan maps out the changes that Dunedin needs to become a Zero Carbon city, and what the DCC is doing next to help make that happen.

Where Dunedin’s emissions come from

In 2024/25, the largest sources of emissions across Dunedin are:

• Transport – 44%
• Agriculture – 39%
• Energy used in buildings and industry – 12%
• Waste – 3%
• Industrial processes – 2%

This means most of the change needed to reduce emissions will involve how we travel, how energy is used, and how land is managed.

Two types of emissions we track

There are two different emissions profiles tracked for Dunedin.

City emissions

These include emissions from all activities happening across the Dunedin area, such as farming, transport, homes, and businesses.

Reducing these emissions requires action from communities, businesses, organisations, and government working together.

Council emissions

These are emissions produced by the operations of the Dunedin City Council itself, such as running facilities, managing waste and wastewater, and operating vehicles.

The council is working to reduce these emissions while delivering services to the city.

Find out more about the Dunedin City Council’s emissions.

Why we measure emissions

Dunedin City Council regularly updates the city’s emissions inventory to understand how emissions are changing over time and where reductions are happening.

This information helps guide climate action by showing where the biggest sources of emissions are and where efforts to reduce them can have the greatest impact.

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