Papua New Guinea Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

rain forest loss as a result of growing commercial demand for tropical timber; unsustainable logging practices result in soil erosion, water quality degredation, and loss of habitat and biodiversity; large-scale mining projects cause adverse impacts on forests and water quality (discharge of heavy metals, cyanide, and acids into rivers); severe drought; inappropriate farming practices accelerate land degradion (soil erosion, siltation, loss of soil fertility); destructive fishing practices and coastal pollution due to run-off from land-based activities and oil spills

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 10.91 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 7.54 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 11.05 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation

Land use

agricultural land: 2.6% (2018 est.)

arable land: 0.7% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.5% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 0.4% (2018 est.)

forest: 63.1% (2018 est.)

other: 34.3% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 13.6% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 2.91% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 2.08% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1 million tons (2014 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 20,000 tons (2016 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 2% (2016 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Sepik river source and mouth (shared with Indonesia) - 1,126 km; Fly river source and mouth (shared with Indonesia) - 1,050 km

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 223.5 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 167.6 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 1 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

801 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Papua New Guinea on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Papua New Guinea 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Papua New Guinea 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.