New Zealand: Politics
Super fund dumps big emitters - and fills pockets
16 Mar 2020
New Zealand’s national superannuation fund is hundreds of millions of dollars off because it has shed high-carbon investments, says chief executive Matt Whineray.
ClimCom opens doors to carbon-budget ideas
16 Mar 2020
Energy, transport, farming and forestry businesses are the first sectors to put their vision of a carbon-neutral New Zealand to the body charged with developing the country’s carbon budgets.
POLITICS: The mood is all very GFC
13 Mar 2020
The coronavirus Covid-19 and the impact it could have on the economy dominated the attention of politicians this week, but they did manage to squeeze in a mention of climate change.
Councils all talk and little action, says GBC
12 Mar 2020
Most local authorities are talking big on climate action but failing to cut emissions in their own operations, the Green Building Council says.
New rules will hurt refinery and small shippers
11 Mar 2020
New clean-air rules for shipping will hit the Marsden Point oil refinery and some shipping operators in the pocket, the Ministry of Transport says.
EDS pours cold water on RMA 'bonfire'
11 Mar 2020
National’s planned “bonfire” of regulations will be pyrotechnics if the Resource Management Act is thrown on the flames, the Environmental Defence Society says.
ClimCom wants to see $50 carbon cap now
10 Mar 2020
The Climate Change Commission says controls on carbon prices should be lifted to about $50 a tonne now.
Ministry sprouts staff as green workload grows
10 Mar 2020
The Ministry for the Environment says its staff numbers have increased as the Government has ramped up its workload.
POLITICS: Nats declare war on RMA
9 Mar 2020
The Resource Management Act will be toast under a National Government.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
9 Mar 2020
Parliament sits this week, with the Environment Select Committee meeting on Thursday to discuss the Urban Development Bill, changes to the Resource Management Act.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
6 Mar 2020
It’s the last month for getting emissions returns in – the deadline is March 31.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
5 Mar 2020
Parliament’s Environment Committee is discussing changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Resource Management Act today.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
4 Mar 2020
A demonstration against oil company OMV continues today, with two protesters occupying a company rig and a yacht shadowing it.
Officials question farmer ETS obligation
3 Mar 2020
Making farmers instead of agricultural processing companies the point of obligation under the Emissions Trading Scheme could push administration costs up 4000 per cent, officials say.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
3 Mar 2020
Parliament sits today and will resume debate on the Prime Minister’s speech.
Climate not big election issue, says National
2 Mar 2020
Climate change should be less of an election issue this year than it was last time round, thanks to cross-party agreement on the zero-carbon act, says National Party climate spokesperson Scott Simpson.
Campaigners hail fossil-fuels investments move
2 Mar 2020
The Government’s decision to ban default superannuation funds investing in fossil fuels is being welcomed by campaigners and criticised by the oil industry.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
2 Mar 2020
MPs are back to Parliament this week, with the House sitting tomorrow and on Wednesday and Thursday.
We need to know changes to ETS, say foresters
28 Feb 2020
Forest owners – who yesterday called for a $200-a-tonne carbon tax on the burning of coal – say changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme should be signalled in the May Budget.
FRIDAY POLITICS: A new look at the air we breathe
28 Feb 2020
The Government announced plans this week to overhaul the rules governing air quality and fine particulate matter.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
28 Feb 2020
Today is the last day to make submissions on the Government’s proposals to change the Emissions Trading Scheme’s settings and on ways to accelerate the uptake of renewable energy generation.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
27 Feb 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern leaves Fiji today for Sydney, where she will meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
SMELTER SMOOCH: Tiwai wants to work with taxpayer
26 Feb 2020
An industrial heavyweight that last year received $12 million worth of free carbon credits from taxpayers says it wants to work with the Government and community to create a low-carbon world.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
26 Feb 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s visit to Fiji continues today, where discussion on climate change is on the agenda.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
25 Feb 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in Fiji today and tomorrow, talking with Fiji PM Frank Bainimarama about climate change.
Z Energy worries about access to units
24 Feb 2020
One of the country’s largest emitters fears there might not be enough carbon credits available for surrender in 2021.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
24 Feb 2020
Auckland Council’s audit and risk committee meets today and says climate change mitigation and adaption continue to be top risks for the council, leading to potential environmental degradation, economic inequality, social vulnerability and financial and reputational damage.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Ready, willing, and Abel
21 Feb 2020
By ADELIA HALLETT | A largely unheralded candidate selection in Auckland this week could prove pivotal in New Zealand’s climate politics.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
21 Feb 2020
You’ve got one week left to get in submissions on changes to the settings of the Emissions Trading Scheme and on the Government’s plans to accelerate the use of renewable energy.
Free carbon credits might get early overhaul
20 Feb 2020
The entire formula used to calculate how free many free carbon credits heavy emitters receive might be overhauled before the end of the year.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
20 Feb 2020
Parliament’s Environment Committee is discussing changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme today, as well as the annual reports of the Environmental Protection Authority and Predator Free 2050.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
19 Feb 2020
Applications for the Government’s Low-Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund open today, with secure parking for electric bikes eligible for the first time.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
18 Feb 2020
Greater Wellington Regional Council’s environment committee meets today to set environmental priorities.
Climate change low on Nats' question list
17 Feb 2020
Fewer than five per cent of the written questions to Government ministers lodged this year are about climate change.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
17 Feb 2020
Cambridge University economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta will give a public talk in Wellington tomorrow on the economics of biodiversity (5.30pm-7pm, Lecture Theatre 1, Rutherford House, 23 Lambton Quay).
Row brews over free credits to heavy emitters
14 Feb 2020
Tension is building over the allocation of free carbon credits to trade-exposed heavy emitters.
Leaders (well, some of them) are talking climate change
14 Feb 2020
Climate change was on the lips of the leaders of two of the five parties in Parliament when it resumed this week.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
14 Feb 2020
Submissions close today on the Urban Development Bill, allowing what the Government calls better co-ordination of land, infrastructure and public assets in complex urban development projects.
Climate crisis looms as major election issue
13 Feb 2020
Climate change will be a major factor for more than a quarter of voters in this year’s general election, a new poll suggests.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
13 Feb 2020
Parliament sits today, with MPs from the Environment Select Committee continuing hearing oral submissions on proposed changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
This key MP favours change to RMA law
12 Feb 2020
At least one member of the select committee investigating changes to the Resource Management Act thinks the planning law should include climate change.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
12 Feb 2020
Parliament sits today and tomorrow, and the Environment Select Committee continues hearing submissions on changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Resource Management Act tomorrow.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
11 Feb 2020
It’s back to the office today for MPs, as Parliament resumes for the year.
Climate-risk reports critical, politicians hear
10 Feb 2020
Directors of large companies, Crown entities and any organisation participating in the Emissions Trading Scheme should have to provide an annual signed and audited statement of climate risk, Parliament is being told.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
10 Feb 2020
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is looking for businesses that have switched to electric vehicles to be included in a billboard campaign next month.
Why and what we should learn from bushfires
7 Feb 2020
Wildfires raging in Australia this summer show why New Zealand must include emissions from natural disasters in its climate reporting, says an expert on environmental accounting.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
7 Feb 2020
Today, submissions close on the Land Transport (Rail) Legislation Bill, allowing the rail network to be funded from the National Land Transport Fund.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
5 Feb 2020
It's Waitangi Day tomorrow, which means there will be no Carbon News.
* WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
4 Feb 2020
Climate Change Iwi Leaders’ Group chair Mike Smith continues his case against Fonterra and others in the High Court today.
Expert warns against offshore credits sprees
3 Feb 2020
New Zealand should be buying offshore carbon credits every year instead of going on a buying spree when its carbon bill falls due, says an expert on international carbon policy and markets.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
