What Climate Action Can Our Community Take?

Community greenhouse gas emissions

See the Community Greenhouse gas emissions inventories for Nelson for 2018/19 and 2019/20 and a video here showing how the report was developed.

Key findings:

During the 2018/19 reporting period Nelson’s total gross community emissions were 367,257 tons per carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), which equates to 6.9 tCO2e/person.
During 2019/20 reporting period the Nelson region emitted a total gross 330,980 tCO2e, which equates to 6.1 tCO2e/person.

Transport (e.g. road and air travel) was the largest community emissions sector for 2019/20, producing 61.1% of Nelson’s total gross emissions, with petrol and diesel use contributing to 86% of the Transport sector’s emissions. Petrol and diesel transport emissions can be broken down into:
- On-road transport uses of petrol and diesel produced 46.9% of Nelson's total gross emissions. This consists of all standard transport vehicles used on roads (e.g. cards, trucks, buses, etc.)
- Off-road transport uses petrol and diesel produced 6.1% of Nelson's total gross emissions. This consists of all fuel used for the movement of machinery and vehicles off-roads (e.g. within agriculture, construction and industry.)
Stationary Energy (i.e. non-transport energy use) was the second largest emitting sector for 2019/20, producing 14.3% of Nelson’s total gross emissions, with electricity consumed (including associated electricity transmission and distribution losses) contributing to 50% of the Stationary Energy sector’s emissions.

Fossil fuel sales in Nelson to the most recent data available

Nelson Tasman Climate Forum

As part of the Long Term Plan (2024-34), Council is supporting the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum with $110,000 funding each year. The Nelson Tasman Climate Forum is a community-led initiative open to everyone. The Forum has produced a Climate Action Book which is filled with practical ways to lower your carbon footprint, such as taking broken household items to a Repair Café as this video shows.