PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143
Website: www.mfe.govt.nz
Freephone: 0800 499 700
5 September 2019
19-D-01655
Micha�I Brown
fyi-req uest-10950-40a bf5e8@req uests. fyi.o rg. nz
Dear Michael
Thank you for your request of 11 August 2019 requesting the following under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act):
One of the main sources of GHGs is the transport sector, and air travel in particular. My question is:
Does the MFE offset carbon emissions resulting from staff air travel?
Could you please also provide the following information:
1. If MFE does offset staff-air-travel related carbon emissions, then please provide the policy and
operational documents relating to the offsetting.
2.
The total kilometers of air travel taken by MFE staff in the 2018--2019 financial year.
3. The amount of carbon produced by this 2018-2019 air travel (if information is available).
4. The name of the external organisation who externally verified the figures for questions (2) and {3),
if this data has been verified.
5. If MFE has offset the GHG emissions resulting from the 2018-2019 air travel, provide the cost of
the offsetting and details about the organisation(s) who provided the carbon credits.
6. If MFE is not currently offsetting its GHG emissions, please provide any documents relating to the
estimated cost of doing this and plans to implement offsetting.
Does the Ministry offset carbon emissions?
The Ministry for the Environment does not currently offset carbon emissions from staff air travel. The
Ministry's primary focus to date has been on minimising its carbon footprint. However, the Ministry is
currently reviewing this.
Ministry carbon emissions from air travel
The Ministry's air travel, resultant carbon produced, and verification for these figures is publicly available
through the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS) certification on the Enviro
mark website. The Ministry's CEMARS certification also outlines, among other goals, a commitment to reduce
travel emissions by 20% by 2020.
This certification for the 2017 /18 year can be found at the following link:
https://www.enviro-mark.com/our-members/members/ministry-for-the-environment
Please note that the figures for the 2018/19 year, including distance travelled, have only just been finalised
and will be published on the Enviro-mark website in the next month. As it will soon be publicly available, the
information you have requested in questions 2, 3, and 4 is refused under section 18(d) of the Act. For your
question 2, the total emissions from our air travel will be available on the Enviro-mark website. On distance
travelled, we use the passenger kilometre (pkm) unit. For domestic and international flights in 2018/19,
we've calculated 3,509,245.11 pkm in total. For more information on this unit, you can refer to our 2019
detailed guide on measuring and reporting emissions:
https ://www. mfe .govt. nz/ sites/ default/files/media/ Clim ate%20C ha nge/2019-d eta i I ed-gu id e. pdf
You may find the following link helpful, as it provides carbon emissions calculations, including common
calculations for flights:
https://www.enviro-mark.com/tools-and-resources/faqs-and-glossary#carboNZeroCEMARS
Costs of offsetting
The Ministry does not currently offset carbon emissions or have formal plans to do so. We understand from
Enviro-Mark, during CEMARS certification, that the estimate for offsetting using NZ credits (if these were
available) would be �$35 per tonne. Question 5 of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act,
as the information does not exist. However, the following link offers calculator functions that may provide
you an indication of costs should you wish to do so:
https://www .envi ro-ma rk.com/what-we-offer /carbon-ma nagement#ca rbo n-cred its
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Office of the Ombudsman of this response, in
accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. The relevant details can be found on their website at:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Please note that due to the public interest in our work, the Ministry for the Environment publishes responses
to requests for official information on our website on our OIA responses page shortly after the response has
been sent.
If you have any queries about this, please feel free to contact our Executive Relations team.
Director, Communications and Engagement
