The New Zealand Government announced a dashboard containing the average number of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for each government agency’s fleet of vehicles.
According to a recent press release, the tool will allow agencies to track how they are doing in comparison to other agencies in order to encourage them to transition to an emissions free fleet by 2025/2026.
The initiative is part of the broader outcomes work programme, which prioritises areas where the Government’s annual procurement spend can help achieve broader social, economic and environmental outcomes.
Reducing government fleet emissions
Aligning with the government’s priority to transition to a net zero emissions economy by 2050, the goal is for almost all the new vehicles entering the government’s fleet to be emissions free by 2025/2026.
The tool will list the average emissions profile of each mandated agency with a fleet of light vehicles. This will be initially updated quarterly, with updates becoming more frequent as 2025/26 approaches.
Agencies can keep track of their progress and compare it to that of other agencies, thereby motivating them to transition to an emissions free fleet.
In purchasing replacement vehicles from the All-of-Government motor vehicles contract, agencies must target vehicles with CO2 emission profiles that are 20% below their agency’s current fleet average.
There are several ways for agencies to lower their emissions. One would be to buy low emission or electric vehicles.
They could also opt to use ride-sharing services or to optimise the way they use their fleets.
Information on the Dashboard
The information on agency fleet size, being reported, falls under these categories and characteristics:
- Information represents only an estimate of each agency’s fleet, which is based on the New Zealand Transport Agency Motor Vehicle Registry.
- Information only includes light vehicles that weigh less than 3,500kg.
- Motorcycles, including mopeds, and trailers are all excluded from the reported information.
The CO2 emissions figures displayed are obtained from Rightcar, a website that aims to help vehicle buyers to choose safer, cleaner and more economical cars.
In addition, Rightcar also contains data on safety, fuel economy and vehicle emissions to help buyers make the right choice.
Rightcar is administered by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA). It is linked to the motor vehicle register, connecting the registration plate information with vehicle data.
Agency fleet size and emissions data is updated quarterly but as mentioned earlier, will be updated more frequently as 2025/2026 approaches.
Other activities that agencies are pursuing to lower their emissions are not captured by the dashboard.
The dashboard is based on estimate data only and should not be relied upon.
