NZ's opportunity: low carbon, secure energy, high growth
Tue 31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The New Zealand economy could more than double in size by 2050 by pursuing secure, affordable electricity using local renewable and low-carbon sources and allowing the Emissions Trading Scheme to work properly, says a major new report.
Fuel shock pushes buyers back toward EVs
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Surging fuel prices are pushing some New Zealand buyers back toward electric vehicles and hybrids, as households respond to the oil shock by trying to cut their exposure to petrol.
FMA to ease conditions for green bond issues
Tue 31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Green, social and sustainability-linked bonds will face lower disclosure requirements and regulatory costs under a class exemption newly granted by the Financial Markets Authority.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
Mon 30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
Mon 30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
CARBON PRICE
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Exclusively for subscribers, the Carbon News NZU Index tracks daily movements in the compliance carbon market across multiple trading platforms.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
Thu 26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
MfE forecasts suggest diminishing NZU stockpile
19 Mar 2026
By Clive Bradbury | ANALYSIS: The Ministry for the Environment has updated its NZ ETS forecasts of emissions, removals and entitlements from the Crown's financial forecasting, with predictions pointing to a significant drop in the ‘stockpile’ this year.
NZ urged to grab a slice of burgeoning $35 billion market for nature credits
13 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand could unlock strong domestic and international demand for high-integrity nature-based credits, if government, investors and restoration groups work together to scale supply, a new report says.
What does India’s new Paris Agreement pledge mean for climate action?
Tue 31 Mar 2026
India has set a new target to reduce its “emissions intensity” – greenhouse gas emissions per unit of economic output – to 47% below 2005 levels by 2035.
Japan considers switch from LNG to coal
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Japan is considering ramping up coal-fired power generation amid a liquefied natural gas crunch that has led to significantly higher prices.
China launches two probes into US trade practices
Tue 31 Mar 2026
China's commerce ministry has initiated two counter-probes into U.S. practices that hamper the flow of Chinese products into the United States, it said on Friday, refraining from immediate retaliation to U.S. measures announced earlier this month.
Europe’s energy illusion: Why a €1 trillion green bet hasn’t broken the import habit
Tue 31 Mar 2026
The war with Iran is exposing a hard truth – Europe’s green push has left it no less dependent on imported energy.
Balcony solar is spreading across the US
Tue 31 Mar 2026
The balcony solar movement is running hot in Germany, and now it is spreading into the US like gangbusters, just in time for US President Donald Trump’s war in Iran to send the cost of coal through the roof alongside oil and natural gas.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
CLIMATE CALENDAR
Tue 31 Mar 2026
The Carbon News calendar of talks, events, conferences, consultations, and petitions related to climate change.
Open letter: NZ needs an essential use allocation plan for fuel – now
Mon 30 Mar 2026
Wise Response Society | We are writing to make one demand: the government must publish a quantified, ranked essential use allocation plan for fuel - with litres-per-day allocations, tied to actual onshore stock levels and realistic resupply assumptions.
Cost of living dominates Kiwis’ concerns – but sustainability still shapes trust, choices and expectations of business
Mon 30 Mar 2026
Media release: Sustainable Business Council | The cost of living continues to emerge as New Zealanders’ top concern - yet sustainability continues to play a decisive role in how people judge businesses, according to new research.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
Thu 26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
