New Zealand Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

water quality and availability; rapid urbanization; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation; native flora and fauna hard-hit by invasive species

Environment - international agreements

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

signed, but not ratified: Antarctic Seals, Marine Life Conservation

Climate

temperate with sharp regional contrasts

Land use

agricultural land: 43.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 1.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 41.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 31.4% (2018 est.)

other: 25.4% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 87% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.92% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.5% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.03% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 8.61 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 34.38 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 34.3 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 3.405 million tons (2016 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Taupo - 610 sq km

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 500 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 1.18 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 3.2 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

327 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)