Thanks to drought, New Zealand beats Kyoto target

WELLINGTON: New Zealand will better its target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol because of drought and reassessment of its forests, a government report said yesterday.

The country was now expected to produce around 9.6 million tons less of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases than allowed in the protocol's first commitment period of 2008-2012.

Under the Protocol, the UN's main weapon in the fight against climate change, New Zealand is meant to show no increase from 1990 levels between 2008-2012. That compared with an estimate last year that New Zealand would have a greenhouse gas deficit of around 21.7 million tons.