New Zealand: Politics
These days, Rio Tinto is a big fan of our ETS
22 Jun 2018
Pacific Aluminium – whose parent company Rio Tinto threatened to leave New Zealand if a carbon price was introduced – is now a fan of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Govt hears of value in overseas carbon credits
20 Jun 2018
Access to international carbon credits could lower the cost of decarbonising the economy, the Government has been told.
20% of Nats don't want zero carbon, says survey
19 Jun 2018
One in five National Party supporters opposes the idea of New Zealand being carbon-neutral, a recent survey suggests.
SIMON SAYS: We'll work for sensible solutions
15 Jun 2018
The National Party says it will work with the Government to establish a climate change commission.
Key report dangerously misleading, say Wise men
15 Jun 2018
A document likely to underpin the Government’s plans to decarbonise the economy is being called dangerously misleading.
Trust ticks off benefits of higher carbon prices
14 Jun 2018
Carbon prices of $50 to $350 a tonne by 2020 will drive investments in low-emissions development of Maori land, creating jobs and alleviating poverty along the way, the Government is being told.
Exempting methane won't change our obligations
13 Jun 2018
Exempting methane from New Zealand’s 2050 emissions-reduction target will not stop the country being held liable for it under international rules.
Shaw invites Nats to work on Zero Carbon Act
12 Jun 2018
Climate minister James Shaw has invited the National Party to help him to draft the Zero Carbon Act.
Climate stand gives us trade edge, says Shaw
8 Jun 2018
New Zealand's tougher stand on climate change is already paying dividends, earning the country support for a free-trade agreement with Europe, says climate minister James Shaw.
Carbon Bill provides certainty for fuels chief
8 Jun 2018
The Zero Carbon Bill gives the certainty that has been lacking to tackle one of the biggest problems facing business, says Z Energy chief executive Mike Bennetts.
Government hears of $800 carbon price possibility
7 Jun 2018
Carbon prices of more than $800 a tonne will be needed if New Zealand doesn’t tackle greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, the Government has been told.
ICCC to probe impact of oil and gas exploration
6 Jun 2018
The Interim Climate Change Committee will investigate the impact of further oil and gas exploration on New Zealand’s emissions reduction targets.
We could switch millions of hectares, say officials
5 Jun 2018
Two million hectares of New Zealand farmland could be switched from meat and dairy to more environmentally friendly horticulture, officials say.
Methane is a different beast, say scientists
5 Jun 2018
Methane – a gas causing New Zealand major headaches as it tries to cut its emissions - should be treated differently from other greenhouse gases, scientists say.
Officials look at carbon liability hedging
1 Jun 2018
Officials say they will advise the Government on the potential to hedge New Zealand’s future carbon liability.
Sea-level rise will cost councils billions of dollars
30 May 2018
Local authorities face at least $4 billion worth of infrastructure damage if sea-levels rise 1.5 metres, Local Government New Zealand is warning.
Govt hears of pitfalls in property damage payouts
25 May 2018
New Zealanders’ expectation of insurance payouts for property affected by the impact of climate change is stopping them from taking action to prevent it, the Government has been told.
EU trade deal could include carbon trading
24 May 2018
Linking New Zealand’s carbon market to the European Emissions Trading Scheme could be part of a new free-trade deal.
Stop reacting and start planning, says report
24 May 2018
Climate change adaptation must be part of the Climate Change Commission’s agenda, says a new government report calling for strong action.
CCC bill points to cost of carbon-free economy
22 May 2018
The bureaucratic costs of shifting to a carbon-free economy are starting to be felt.
Low warming goal vital to our primary production
21 May 2018
New research with serious implications for New Zealand’s primary production-based economy and the country’s rare and endangered species says global warming needs to be kept below 1.5deg.
NZ to stand by Pacific climate change victims
18 May 2018
New Zealand is softening its stance on climate refugees.
Green Investment Fund eyes start this year
18 May 2018
Climate minister James Shaw’s Green Investment Fund will be in business by the end of the year, he says.
BUDGET 2018: Green is good
17 May 2018
There are no changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme, but the promised Green Investment Fund is being backed with $100 million of taxpayer dollars in a budget being described as the greenest in history.
Tax system must go green, says enviro group
17 May 2018
Another organisation is telling the Government to shift the tax burden from the production of private wealth to the consumption of public wealth, aka the environment.
Climate change threatens our food and health
15 May 2018
Whether it is food shortages, diseases like dengue fever or respiratory conditions caused by wind-blown Australian dust, climate change is a serious health threat for New Zealanders, the Government is being told.
Use taxes for a better world, says thinktank
14 May 2018
Taxes should be aiming at keeping human activity within the planet’s physical capacity – and that means carbon prices that deliver fast, deep and sustained emissions reductions, the Government’s Tax Working Group has been told.
THE HOUSE: When was the last gas bonanza?
11 May 2018
The Government’s ban on new oil and gas exploration permits, threats to restrict the number of cows and charging applicants for the cost of inquiries for marine consents were all on Parliament’s agenda this week.
Fonterra front and centre of dairy industry review
9 May 2018
The Government’s overhaul of the climate-damaging dairy industry is under way.
Kiwis question cow numbers and need for more farms
9 May 2018
Roughly half of the country thinks New Zealand has too many cows and nearly as many want a moratorium on new dairy conversions, a poll suggests.
Tax system should have role in environment
8 May 2018
The tax system should protect the environment, the Tax Working Party has been told.
TALANOA TIME: Talks hear climate tales
7 May 2018
It’s Talanoa Dialogue day in Bonn – and New Zealand is suggesting the world take a look at Maori concepts of stewardship as a way of battling climate change.
Parker's new-look RMA might include climate
3 May 2018
New Zealand's resource management regime is to be overhauled – and it could mean the climate ramifications of projects are again taken into account.
Open up carbon capture rules, says Prod Com
3 May 2018
All carbon capture and storage in New Zealand should qualify for credits under the Emissions Trading Scheme – no matter where the carbon comes from, the Productivity Commission says.
Global markets and agriculture our Bonn targets
2 May 2018
Access to international carbon markets and getting the rest of the world to cut emissions from agriculture are two of New Zealand’s negotiating priorities at international climate talks this week.
Prod Com off course, says carbon tech company
1 May 2018
The Productivity Commission is badly under-estimating the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the steel and iron industries, says a New Zealand company with technology to do just that.
Industrial emissions can be cut - but it's not easy
30 Apr 2018
Soaring emissions from the industrial sector can be cut through improved efficiency and using lower-emissions fuels, but there’s no easy fix, the Productivity Commission says.
PROD COM REPORT: Keep the ETS ... with changes
27 Apr 2018
New Zealand should keep the Emissions Trading Scheme, but it should include agricultural emissions and subsidises for heavy emitters should go, the Productivity Commission says.
PROD COM REPORT: Farmland into forests
27 Apr 2018
New Zealand might need to convert more than three million hectares of farmland into forests to meet its emissions targets, the Productivity Commission says.
PROD COM REPORT: Nats to take a look
27 Apr 2018
The Productivity Commission’s draft report will be high on the agenda for the National Party’s Bluegreens forum in Christchurch this weekend.
Government on global hunt for carbon credits
24 Apr 2018
The Government is locating sources of international units that could be used to meet New Zealand’s international climate obligations – but hasn’t decided yet whether to use them.
Ex-MP to keep ties with Beehive climate group
23 Apr 2018
Former Green MP Kennedy Graham will keep working with the ground-breaking cross-Parliamentary Globe climate group, its new chairperson says.
OUR LAND: Trouble ahead ... but how much?
19 Apr 2018
Climate change will have long-term impacts on New Zealand’s land-based industries and biodiversity – but we don’t have enough information to predict what will happen.
OUR LAND: We're losing our best growing soils
19 Apr 2018
The Government is moving to protect New Zealand’s best growing soils in the wake of a report that shows they’re compacted, contaminated and being washed away at an alarming rate.
August date for public to have say on Shaw's ETS
18 Apr 2018
A new review of the Emissions Trading Scheme will be open for public consultation in August.
Govt announces body to steer climate transition
17 Apr 2018
The interim climate commission has just been announced.
We can do net-zero by 2050, says Prodcom
16 Apr 2018
New Zealand can get to net-zero emissions by 2050, the Productivity Commission says.
Finance key to net-zero economy, says Shaw
13 Apr 2018
The Government is fleshing out plans to finance decarbonisation of the economy.
If we're serious about change, we must break the chains of economic growth, says think tank
6 Apr 2018
An end to economic growth must be considered a distinct possibility if New Zealand is to decarbonise, the Government has been told.
Climate challenges have an upside for tourism
5 Apr 2018
Climate change mightn’t be all bad news for New Zealand’s tourism industry.
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.
