New Zealand: Politics
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.
Dairy firms see ETS dates clashing
3 Feb 2020
Reporting dates for the Emissions Trading Scheme should line up with farm production schedules, dairy companies say.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
3 Feb 2020
Submissions on the Resource Management Expert Panel’s issues paper and on proposed increases to landfill levies close today.
Forests will swallow small-town jobs, MPs hear
31 Jan 2020
Rural towns like Moerewa face losing hundreds of jobs if the Government doesn’t rein in the conversion of farms to carbon forests, MPs have been told.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
31 Jan 2020
Today is the last day to apply for unique emissions factors for Emissions Trading Scheme returns.
Wise group slams 'bizarre' RMA emissions rule
30 Jan 2020
Parliament is being urged to change the “bizarre and dangerous” law banning local councils from considering greenhouse gas emissions when granting planning consents.
Australia wrong about our Kyoto credits
30 Jan 2020
New Zealand comes out on top in a row with Australia about climate change, according to The Guardian.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
30 Jan 2020
Some of the heavyweights of the agricultural industry appear before Parliament’s environment select committee today to talk about the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Way now clear for wood, say biomass champions
29 Jan 2020
The Government’s latest move towards getting rid of coal-fired boilers in hospitals and schools shows growing market confidence in the country’s biomass supply, the Bionergy Association says.
Greens vow to make polluters foot the bill
29 Jan 2020
The Greens go into the September 19 election promising to “fix” the carbon price.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
29 Jan 2020
Parliament’s environment select committee is hearing submissions today and tomorrow on reforms of the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Resource Management Act.
Switzerland signs up to NZ trade treaty
28 Jan 2020
Switzerland is joining the New Zealand-initiated trade agreement on climate change.
Climate commission gets its body of experts
17 Dec 2019
The names of the experts who will make up the Climate Change Commission have been announced.
NZ 'low' performer, says climate action watchdog
12 Dec 2019
Failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions has seen New Zealand ranked 37th and in the “low” category in an international assessment of performance on climate change.
MADRID MESSAGE: Our cuts will take hard work
11 Dec 2019
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions will decrease steadily to 2030 but will still be well above 1990 levels, officials have told international climate talks in Madrid.
PLEASE EXPLAIN: NZ faces grilling at Madrid meet
9 Dec 2019
New Zealand faces up to the world in Madrid today to explain how it is meeting its emissions reduction targets despite a 23 per cent rise in gross emissions and 65 per cent rise in net emissions since 1990.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
9 Dec 2019
The second week of the latest Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – better known as COP25 – is under way in Madrid.
Jump to it, Jacinda, says global carbon watchdog
5 Dec 2019
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is under international pressure to increase New Zealand’s 2030 emissions reduction target in line with the Paris Agreement.
Climate-impact reporting to be mandatory
4 Dec 2019
The Government is to assess the climate implications of every major decision it makes.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
2 Dec 2019
Two weeks of international climate negotiations kick off in Madrid today.
ACC still on rack over fossil-fuel investments
29 Nov 2019
The Government-owned Accident Compensation Corporation is likely to remain under pressure to withdraw $1 billion worth of investments in fossil-fuel companies.
Minister won't act on ACC oil investments
28 Nov 2019
The Government says it will not interfere in the Accident Compensation Corporation’s decision to invest in fossil fuels.
Foresters want pre-1990 trees recognised
26 Nov 2019
Extra carbon stored in pre-1990 forests should be recognised with carbon credits, forest owners say.
Change calls on councils to protect species
26 Nov 2019
Councils will be required to protect native species from the impacts of climate change under proposed new rules.
Give councils green powers, politicians told
25 Nov 2019
Parliament is being told by some unlikely bedfellows that councils should have to consider greenhouse gas emissions when granting resource consents.
Government can order ACC to quit fossil fuels
22 Nov 2019
The Government has the power to instruct its largest institutional investor, the Accident Compensation Corporation, to pull out of fossil fuel investments, a select committee says.
Carbon footprints not on Government agenda
22 Nov 2019
The Government is not considering the carbon footprint of imported goods.
Northport move will up emissions, says report
21 Nov 2019
Greenhouse gas emissions from freight currently shipped through Auckland will increase 400 per cent if the port’s operations are shifted to Northland, a new critique says.
Bathurst boadsides Goverment's green agenda
20 Nov 2019
The Government’s environmental agenda is threatening the country’s mining industry and an orderly transition to a low-carbon economy, Bathurst Resources says.
We're different from them, say pig farmers
19 Nov 2019
Pig farmers say their industry is responsible for only a fraction of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and should be treated differently from other agricultural businesses.
Treasury casts eye over emissions changes
18 Nov 2019
Greenhouse gas emissions from farming will fall 12 per cent by the middle of the century even without a carbon price, Treasury says.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
18 Nov 2019
Anyone with an interest in climate change and carbon trading is probably flat-out trying to put together submissions on a host of Government consultations.
National Party applauds farmers' pine protest
15 Nov 2019
The National Party says it supports farmers who marched on Parliament yesterday demanding a halt to the planting of carbon forests on productive farmland.
Young campaigners see nation adopt carbon laws
14 Nov 2019
New Zealand’s zero-carbon legislation becomes law today.
RMA could ease path of climate-change work
13 Nov 2019
Climate-saving projects could get an easier run under the Resource Management Act, says a Government-commissioned panel of experts.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
Thu 23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Forestry biomass could replace as much as 40% of fossil fuel-generated process heat by 2050, but access to supply, regulatory settings and business cases for converting to wood-based heat sources are required, the Government says in a series of documents released yesterday.
Council buys dairy farm to help clean up Lake Rotorua
Tue 21 Oct 2025
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has bought a 266-hectare dairy farm in the Lake Rotorua catchment and plans to retire it from production to reduce nitrogen entering the lake.
Govt releases updated emissions projections
13 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Ministry for the Environment has released updated emissions projections to 2050, which show significant differences to the Climate Change Commission's recent projections for the same period.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
Wed 22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
Emails show forestry lobby fought Gisborne crackdown as slash clean-up drags on
26 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Sustainable land use advocates are accusing Eastland Wood Council of stonewalling efforts to tighten forestry rules, after correspondence between the group and the local council was released under the Official Information Act.
Govt to ease climate reporting thresholds, water down liability
Wed 22 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The rollback of climate change reporting requirements has produced a wave of relief in corporate New Zealand as managed investment funds and listed companies with annual revenue under $1 billion are exempted.
