KEY POINTS:
The hot air generated out of this week's leaders debate probably didn't help New Zealand's emissions levels which John Key correctly pointed out are rising.
But the National leader came a little unstuck with his figures when he said New Zealand's emissions were up 12 per cent, and he could have made twice the impact if he had got the numbers right.
Information sourced from the United Nations framework convention on climate change show an even poorer performance from New Zealand.
The country's greenhouse gas emissions actually increased by 25 per cent between 1990-2005.
Key said we ranked 38th worldwide but also later pointed out, when arguing against New Zealand trying to be a world leader in cutting emissions, that we accounted for just 0.4 per cent of global emissions.
In fact out of 41 industrialised countries New Zealand is ranked 34th for the percentage increase in emission levels, with Australia and Canada doing worse.
Mr Key correctly pointed out that the United States had a lower percentage increase than New Zealand of 16 per cent.
To put that in some perspective for the six principal greenhouse gases, emissions in New Zealand grew by 15.9Mt (megatonnes) from 1990-2006, whereas they grew by 120Mt in Australia, and 882Mt in the US over the same period.
Government figures also show that New Zealand's rate of emissions was slowing.
The increase for 2006 was less than 1 per cent on the previous year when it was about 3 per cent.
As the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development points out it is all a bit more complicated than it seems.
Chief executive Peter Neilson said that while the reality was that New Zealand emissions had been increasing, that was because our economy had been growing.
Many of the countries with reduced emissions were in recession .
"New Zealand by comparison has had reasonable growth in the past eight years, and at a faster rate than many other countries."
Mr Neilson said the dairy boom had increased emissions and land converted for dairy meant less forestry.
Trees absorbed carbon dioxide which reduced emissions. He added that the Kyoto responsibility was about sharing the world's emissions either be reducing levels at home of paying someone else too.
"That's what New Zealand will be doing."
