WELLINGTON, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- A comparison of different countries' emission reduction targets showed New Zealand is better than many countries, according to an analysis released by the Greenhouse Policy Coalition on Wednesday.
The analysis done by EcoFys, Climate Analytics and the European Climate Foundation showed New Zealand's conditional target of 10-20 percent reductions from 2012 rated better than many other countries.
New Zealand and Switzerland received "medium" rankings in terms of adequacy for targets while Japan and Norway got "sufficient" scores. Other developed countries' targets including for Australia, Canada and the United States were considered "inadequate".
The coalition's executive director Catherine Beard said the New Zealand target stacked up on a comparative analysis basis because it took into account factors such as population growth, emissions profile and the cost of emission reductions.
"The cost of emission reductions is 8-10 times higher for New Zealand than other countries due to our having a higher population growth, more renewable electricity and half our emissions coming from agriculture, which is highly unusual amongst developed countries," she said.
Beard said New Zealand negotiators at climate talks underway in Copenhagen needed to ensure that any target they commit New Zealand to will be achievable and affordable.
"And this is only likely to be the case if the majority of the world's emitters take similar action on a comparative basis".
The coalition said a survey it conducted found 73 percent opposed a 15 percent emission reduction target if it was going to cost 1,400 NZ dollars (1000 U.S. dollars) per person per year.
