New Zealand's energy emissions have gone up in the first year they count towards the Kyoto protocol commitment to reduce them.
The Ministry of Economic Development has released its annual report on the country's greenhouse gas output from the energy and industrial sectors.
Emissions from the energy sector went up 4% from 2007 to 2008. That means New Zealand is going in the opposite direction if it is to reduce emissions by 2012 under the Kyoto protocol.
The report says emissions from electricity use were up 15%, partly because of an increase in coal generation in a dry year.
Transport - the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases - bucked the trend with a 4% decrease.
The report says that is because of high petrol and diesel prices and the global recession.
Climate Change Minister Nick Smith says it is going to be a huge challenge to get greenhouse gas emissions down and makes a nonsense of the previous Labour-led government's claim that New Zealand could become carbon neutral.
