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Story: Economy and the environment

New Zealand’s ecological footprint, 2008

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New Zealand’s ecological footprint, 2008

New Zealanders are not clean and green. An ecological footprint calculates the resources humans use and the amount of waste they generate. This is measured in terms of global hectares (a hectare with world-average ability to produce resources and absorb wastes) per person. New Zealand had the sixth highest figure (7.7 hectares) in the world, only slightly lower than one of the worst offenders the United States (9.4 hectares), and much higher than the world average (2.7 hectares).

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Global Footprint Network

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How to cite this page

Eric Pawson, Economy and the environment – New Zealand’s ecological impact, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/21674/new-zealands-ecological-footprint-2008 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Eric Pawson, published 26 February 2010.

Comments

Robbie Andrew
16 November 2010
Global Footprint Network released revised Ecological Footprint accounts last month. New Zealand is now ranked 32nd with a footprint of 4.9gha/capita. This is a result of work done by Landcare Research and Massey University.