At Tāhū o te Ture Ministry of Justice, we’re committed to operating in a way that supports a sustainable future for our environment, finances and people.
The Ministry's Sustainability Strategy 2025-2030 details how we’ll reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and embed sustainability into our operations, now and in the coming years.
Our Sustainability Strategy contains four key sustainability goals:
- We use resources efficiently.
- We minimise our pollution.
- We manage our climate risk.
- We empower our people to make sustainable choices.
Read the Ministry's Sustainability Strategy [PDF, 2.8 MB].
Emissions and reduction targets
The graph below shows the Ministry’s annual emissions, from 2021 to 2026, alongside our reduction target. It also shows the trajectory of reductions required – what we need to do to meet our 2030 target.
In 2025/26, mandatory emissions were 24.8% below 2020/21 levels, and 5.8% lower than 2024/25, ending up 1.2% above target.
Electricity is our largest mandatory source of emissions; however, we have no control over how clean the electricity grid is. To help reduce our exposure to this external factor, we’ve reduced our electricity consumption and will continue to do so.
Key reduction areas
Two areas are essential to meeting our emissions reduction targets. These are:
- making our buildings more energy efficient
- keeping non-essential travel low.
We have around 100 buildings, including courthouses, across 58 towns and cities. We conducted energy audits at several sites, which revealed practical initiatives we can do to conserve energy in our buildings. We’ve made many of these changes and are applying them at other sites, too.
Some of our heating and lighting systems are up for replacement. This is an opportunity to invest in low-emission upgrades that can also reduce our energy bills.
Our emissions
Many of our activities emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
This graph shows a breakdown of where our emissions come from:
Note: Numbers on this graph only relate to Ministry of Justice emissions. They do not include emissions of Te Tari Whakatau, formerly Te Arawhiti (Office for Māori Crown Relations), the Judiciary, and from Crown witness travel.
Our progress
As a big organisation, the actions the Ministry takes to reduce our overall emissions matter.
Emissions rose in 2022/23 as operational travel neared pre-COVID levels. In 2023/24, emissions fell due to a cleaner electricity grid, reduced travel budgets and LPG optimisation. In 2024/25, electricity emissions rose 33% due to lower rainfall, despite a 4.4% drop in electricity use. This was largely offset by sharp reductions in LPG (-81%), domestic air travel (-14%) and refrigerant gas leaks (-54%).
In FY2025/26, our electricity emissions reduced by 22% due to a cleaner electricity grid (higher hydro generation). We achieved further reductions in air travel and LPG emissions. Our freight emissions increased by 64% due to a change in the supplier emission factor and improved accuracy in our reporting. Our refrigerant gas emissions more than doubled (+118%), reflecting the high variability in this emission source from year to year. We are working to address the risks that refrigerant gases pose to our 2030 reduction target.
Would you like to know more? Our Sustainability Strategy details initiatives that’ll help reduce emissions in each area.