Officials told Govt not to stop climate court case
Wed 27 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | Government officials advised ministers not to intervene in a groundbreaking climate court case, according to newly released documents.
ETS auction failures created $1.4b fiscal hole – Greens
Wed 27 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hit back at the Green Party's claim that the repeated failure of New Zealand’s carbon auctions has added a $1.4 billion 'fiscal hole', with Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick blaming the Government for undermining the ETS.
LNG vital to prevent economic damage as gas leaves NZ economy
Wed 27 May 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Importing natural gas will make the difference between an “orderly” or “chaotic and unnecessarily costly" decline as domestically produced gas runs out, the chief executive of the Gas Industry Company, David Prentice, said yesterday.
Geo-heat search explores exhausted oil and gas fields
Wed 27 May 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Underground heat from exhausted oil and gas fields are a new target for government-backed efforts to tap geothermal resources for electricity production and industrial use.
Govt’s LNG plan puts trade deals at risk, lawyers warn
Tue 26 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action are warning that the government’s plans for an LNG import terminal and to subsidise gas fields are in breach of New Zealand’s free trade agreements with the UK and the EU.
CARBON PRICE
Wed 27 May 2026
Exclusively for subscribers, the Carbon News NZU Index tracks daily movements in the compliance carbon market across multiple trading platforms.
Govt unveils long-awaited voluntary carbon market guidance
15 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government has released long-awaited guidance for New Zealand’s voluntary carbon and nature markets, as questions continue for the sector despite ministers signalling support for its growth.
Carbon News updates forward curve
13 May 2026
Carbon News has updated its ten-year NZU forward curve, following a recent rise in spot market prices, with NZUs rallying from about $34 in January to nearly $54 in early May.
Conservation land open for voluntary carbon market schemes
12 May 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The government is to open up the Crown-owned conservation estate to private investment in voluntary carbon market projects.
Australian operator to run NZ ETS auctions
11 May 2026
The Government has appointed an Australian company to run its Emissions Trading Scheme auctions, taking over from NZX, which has operated the ETS auctions since they began in 2021.
China’s new carbon metric leaves Germany-sized gap in its emissions
Wed 27 May 2026
A major change in the way that China measures its core climate goal has effectively halved the growth in the country’s carbon dioxide emissions over the past five years.
New breed of political prisoner arises in Britain as anti-protest sentences rise
Wed 27 May 2026
More people are being jailed in England and Wales as a result of acting to prevent climate breakdown and the war in Gaza, research reveals.
ExxonMobil seeks environmental approval for new offshore project in Guyana
Wed 27 May 2026
Exxon Mobil has applied to Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for authorization to develop the Haimara gas-condensate discovery in the offshore Stabroek block, the agency said on Sunday. The project would be the consortium's ninth development in the block.
Climate change alarms are flashing. Washington isn’t paying attention
Wed 27 May 2026
The Trump administration has swept away climate change policies, Democrats are focused on energy costs, and environmental groups have gone quiet.
Rice feeds billions of people – but its role in fuelling climate change is growing
Wed 27 May 2026
Rice feeds more than half the world. From terraced paddies in Southeast Asia to irrigated fields in China and India, it underpins daily meals for billions of people. But the same flooded soils that help rice thrive also create ideal conditions for microbes that release climate-warming gases.
Project linking food waste to cutting methane emissions gets underway
Wed 27 May 2026
Media release | Kai Commitment is leading a New Zealand-first project to help understand the connection between food waste and methane emissions and identify effective interventions.
VR tool helps communities plan for a safer, resilient future
Wed 27 May 2026
Media release: University of Canterbury | A newly developed virtual reality (VR) tool could help communities understand flood risks, raise public awareness and give decision-makers clearer information for planning.
CLIMATE CALENDAR
Wed 27 May 2026
The Carbon News calendar of talks, events, conferences, consultations, and petitions related to climate change.
Climate action key to affordable housing, but buildings decarbonisation stalls
21 May 2026
Media release: United Nations Environment Programme | Decarbonisation of the buildings and construction sector has slowed, leaving it both a major emissions source and increasingly vulnerable to climate impacts and energy price shocks, according to a new report from the UN Environment Programme and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction.
Human health appears unaffected by living near wind turbines
21 May 2026
Media release: PNAS | High-resolution data collected across the United States show negligible evidence of adverse health outcomes tied to wind turbine exposure, a study finds.
