Protect Wanaka 
Region-wide greenhouse gas emissions report next year [Otago Daily Times, 13/11/20]
Otago’s first region-wide greenhouse gas emissions report will be completed next year.
Otago Regional Council strategy manager Anne Duncan said the council received six proposals to complete the baseline study and was now in talks with a preferred consultant.
All five Otago territorial authorities had been approached and had agreed to work with the regional council, Ms Duncan’s report to the council’s strategy and planning committee said.
The Dunedin City Council and Queenstown Lakes District Council had already completed district level inventory reports, and the regional report would use that data.
Waitaki, Clutha, and Central Otago districts had also agreed to provide data.
Understanding Otago’s greenhouse gas emissions was the first step towards meaningful mitigation of the gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change, Ms Duncan said.
The greenhouse gas inventory the regional council produced could be used as the basis for future region-wide collaboration.
It could also form the basis of any advocacy or other action taken by the regional council on behalf of Otago.
While there is a variety of emission estimation methods, a mixed method of production-based and consumption-based accounting, recommended by the Ministry for the Environment would be used in the coming report, she said.
