New Zealand: Politics
UK likes our way with international credits
13 Jun 2019
Britain is following New Zealand's lead in saying it will probably use international carbon markets in its drive to carbon neutrality - despite the advice of its own experts.
Auckland lays out plan to combat climate crisis
12 Jun 2019
Auckland Council has unveiled a plan it says will prepare the city to cope with the impacts of climate change and cut its emissions.
Defence budget puts climate front and centre
12 Jun 2019
New Zealand’s defence forces will struggle to deal with climate-related security threats if they don’t make climate change a priority, officials say.
Reward farmers for climate work, says Muller
7 Jun 2019
Farmers who plant trees for shelter and to protect waterways and who increase the amount of carbon being stored in their soils should get carbon credits, the National Party says.
Mark issues warning to Asian defence ministers
5 Jun 2019
New Zealand’s defence minister is calling on his counterparts across Asia and the Pacific to get serious about climate change.
Taxpayers face $600m carbon prices bill
31 May 2019
Rising carbon prices are likely to cost taxpayers $600 million this year.
$100 million Green fund ready to invest
30 May 2019
The Government’s $100 million Green Investment Finance fund says it is about to start investing.
Big emitters get together and make a plan
28 May 2019
New Zealand’s trade-exposed industrial emitters – who between them are given more than five million free carbon credits a year – have produced a plan to help to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Bridges predicts cut in money for free credits
28 May 2019
The Government is planning to spend less money on free carbon credits for trade-exposed emitters than it spent this year, the Opposition
Big Oil should set $250 carbon fee, says expert
27 May 2019
The oil industry is about to be told that voluntarily putting a $250-a-tonne carbon charge on its products will make it profitable and ensure its future in a low-carbon world.
Protesters again take aim at mining industry
27 May 2019
The mining sector is positioning itself as part of the solution to climate change, as protesters gear up to disrupt the industry’s annual gathering this week.
Lawmakers eye climate risk disclosure rules
24 May 2019
Companies in New Zealand could face compulsory climate-risk disclosure through new accounting standards.
NZ plays different carbon game home and away
23 May 2019
The gap between New Zealand’s international emissions reduction pledge and what it plans to do at home is big enough to drive an electric bus through.
Zero-carbon bill sets out on rocky road
22 May 2019
The Government’s zero-carbon bill is off for public consultation with some big questions hanging over it.
Climate-wise Smith warns of blind commitment
22 May 2019
New Zealand’s political elder statesman on climate change is warning of a potential gilets jeune-style backlash against the costs of climate action.
National MPs chew over zero carbon bill
21 May 2019
National Party MPs are meeting this morning to decide whether they will support the Government’s zero carbon bill.
Pricing delay carries risks, says ETS expert
17 May 2019
The Government is exposing the country to significant risk by delaying changes to the carbon pricing regime, says one of the architects of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
What’s in store with ETS changes
17 May 2019
The latest round of changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme were announced last night, including tougher penalties for failing to surrender credits, the release of details about emissions levels from specific emitters, guidelines for the use of international credits, removing the $25 price cap and the possibility of a price floor.
Tourism sector must toe the line, says minister
16 May 2019
The Government’s new Tourism Strategy released today says the sector must “play its role” in dealing with climate change.
UN chief pushes case for carbon taxes
14 May 2019
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says income taxes should be replaced with carbon taxes.
Climate effort gets thumbs-up from UN chief
13 May 2019
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is praising New Zealand’s efforts on climate change.
How ZCB puts onus on Government to explain
10 May 2019
The Government will have to explain why it ignores any recommendations on the Emissions Trading Scheme from the proposed Climate Change Commission, officials say.
Public wants climate action now, new poll shows
9 May 2019
A poll to be released today shows a majority of New Zealanders – including National Party supporters - think the country needs to take action now on climate change.
How much methane will farmers have to cut?
9 May 2019
New Zealand’s farmers might have to reduce methane emissions from animals by nearly four million tonnes a year under the Government’s climate change plans.
Taranaki to be nation's clean-energy capital
9 May 2019
Taranaki will be home to a $27 million clean-energy centre, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has just announced.
Carbon bill offers softer touch to farm emissions
8 May 2019
New Zealand’s agricultural emissions will be cut – but not as much as other gases.
ZERO CARBON: What happens next
8 May 2019
The Government is amending the Climate Change Response Act (the law that governs the Emissions Trading Scheme) to implement its zero-carbon plans instead of introducing a new law.
You'll like the ZCB, Peters tells party faithful
2 May 2019
The long-awaited Zero Carbon Bill is close – and New Zealand First expects its supporters will like it.
Agriculture about to get the emissions answer
29 Apr 2019
The agricultural sector will find out soon whether it is likely to come into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Footprint falling - but don't start partying
26 Apr 2019
New Zealand’s biocapacity surplus – its ability to produce resources and absorb wastes – is falling, new data shows.
HALFWAY HOUSE: PM changes our climate focus
24 Apr 2019
Jacinda Ardern’s nuclear-free-moment speech on the campaign trail during the 2017 general election struck a chord.
Review has price cap message for Government
23 Apr 2019
The cap on carbon prices should be lifted, the Government has been told.
Problems getting worse, says environment report
18 Apr 2019
Climate change is already making New Zealand’s environmental problems worse and threatens the economy, a new official assessment of the state of New Zealand’s environment says.
No CGT, but green taxes still on the agenda
18 Apr 2019
A capital gains tax might be off the agenda, but the Government isn’t ruling out environmental taxes recommended by the Tax Working Group.
MEMO LABOUR: The answers are in your files
17 Apr 2019
Labour could find solutions in its own files to the problem of putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
NZ to include 'imported' greenhouse gases
15 Apr 2019
Greenhouse gases embedded in imported products will be included alongside home-grown emissions in the Government’s new reporting regime.
Zero Carbon Bill out soon, says Shaw
12 Apr 2019
The long-awaited Zero Carbon Bill will be unveiled soon, says climate minister James Shaw.
Harrison our new voice on world climate stage
10 Apr 2019
New Zealand has a new Climate Change Ambassador.
New panel to assess what changing climate is doing
10 Apr 2019
A new panel has been appointed to assess how climate change is likely to affect New Zealand.
Govt sleuths crack carbon emissions case
9 Apr 2019
The car fleet used by New Zealand's fraud sleuths might be the smallest in the entire Government, but it's also the most climate-friendly.
We won't use GE to cut farm emissions, says Shaw
5 Apr 2019
Climate minister James Shaw says New Zealand doesn’t need genetic engineering to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farms.
All corporates should come clean, says Sanford
2 Apr 2019
New Zealand’s largest fishing company is calling for all companies to monitor and report on environmental issues.
Let ETS do its job, says English's economist
1 Apr 2019
New Zealand should stay clear of direct intervention to bring down emissions from the electricity sector and instead let the Emissions Trading Scheme do its job.
Courts likely to step in, says public law expert
28 Mar 2019
The courts are likely to step in on climate change if central government fails to, a legal expert says.
How forests can be long-term carbon stores
27 Mar 2019
Forests can be a long-term store of carbon if they’re managed correctly – but without them, New Zealand has no hope of reaching carbon neutrality by the middle of the century, a forestry expert says.
Business lobby warns of huge disruption
27 Mar 2019
Banning every industry except agriculture from using forestry credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions would be a huge disruption to the economy, says Business NZ.
Q and A: The commissioner explains
27 Mar 2019
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton answers questions on yesterday’s report recommending big changes to the way New Zealand deals with greenhouse gas emissions.
Minister not keen on Upton's ETS proposals
26 Mar 2019
Sweeping changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme proposed by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, which would see forestry credits used only for offsetting emissions from farming and not from other industries, are unlikely to be picked up by the Government.
Farming in ETS good move, says forestry expert
26 Mar 2019
Agriculture should be brought into the Emissions Trading Scheme as soon as possible – and farmers be given the opportunity to make money from it, the Government has been told.
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.
