New Zealand: Politics
Minister not concerned about potential economic impacts of ruling out offshore mitigation
11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts isn’t worried that ruling out using offshore mitigation is effectively reneging from the Paris Agreement with potential to damage New Zealand’s economy and access to export markets.
Govt rushes to pass climate law changes under urgency
10 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Legislation to amend the Climate Change Response Act was introduced to Parliament on Monday, and the government intends to rush the changes through under urgency in the next two weeks, avoiding the usual public consultation.
Trans-Tasman ministers push climate cooperation amid NZ retreat from climate commitments
8 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Last week's 2+2 Climate and Finance Ministers’ Dialogue in Auckland urged deeper trans-Tasman climate cooperation, despite New Zealand’s recent moves to weaken climate policies.
NZ’s rejection of emission targets fuels risk of international law breach
8 Dec 2025
By Karen Scott, Professor in Law, University of Canterbury | The New Zealand government’s decision this week to reject all of the Climate Change Commission’s emission target recommendations was just the latest in a string of policy statements that weaken the country’s action on climate.
Govt ‘scaremongering’ over co-operation – former climate ambassador
5 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s former top climate diplomat, Kay Harrison, says the Government’s recent comments ruling out buying climate mitigation offshore amount to scaremongering, and the country is missing a chance to give our businesses a boost.
NZ's ‘missed opportunity’ on aviation and shipping emissions
5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s refusal to include international aviation and shipping in New Zealand’s 2050 climate target has been met with disappointment from climate experts, who say the decision undermines accountability for a transport-reliant nation, and misses a critical opportunity to strengthen New Zealand’s climate leadership.
Open letter urges govt to abandon plans to subsidise LNG terminal
4 Dec 2025
Climate and renewable energy advocates have joined forces calling on the Government to ditch its plan to subsidise an LNG import terminal.
Greens slams govt over climate targets
4 Dec 2025
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has accused the Government of knowingly breaching the Paris Agreement, after Cabinet papers released under the Official Information Act reveal the Government was warned its policy on biogenic methane would breach the 1.5C Paris target.
UPDATED: Finance Minister’s comments show govt in breach of Paris Agreement – experts
3 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Finance Minister Nicola Willis has effectively walked away from the Paris Agreement by ruling out offshore mitigation, according to multiple experts, opening the country up to reputational, trade, and economic consequences.
Climate comments ‘outrageous’ – former top climate negotiator
3 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s former climate ambassador, Kay Harrison, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ recent statements that the Government had ruled out buying offshore climate mitigation are “outrageous”.
NZ backs climate-resilient horticulture project for Cambodia
2 Dec 2025
New Zealand has launched a major climate-resilient horticulture initiative in Cambodia, investing NZD$12 million in a multi-year project designed to boost rural incomes, strengthen food security and reduce child labour as communities face increasing climate pressures.
Local council shakeup will weaken environmental protection, say critics
26 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s sweeping overhaul of local councils threatens to erode hard-won environmental protections, warning that stripping regional councils of directly elected governance will weaken oversight of freshwater, biodiversity and land-use decisions.
Govt slashes environmental funding by $1 billion
25 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Central government funding for the environment is set to fall by a quarter in 2025/26, prompting warnings that hard-won environmental improvements may now stall or reverse.
Minister warned over lack of rationale for climate policy
25 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ formal explanation of why the Government isn’t going to follow the independent Climate Change Commission’s advice on climate targets is still in the pipeline, the Minister has confirmed.
NZ fails to back ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels at COP
24 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Eighty-six countries including Australia, the UK, Germany, and Ireland backed a proposal at COP30 for national plans on how to quit oil, gas and coal – but New Zealand wasn’t one of them.
Greenpeace slams Govt climate and environment policy rollbacks
24 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greenpeace is 'celebrating' the current Government reaching the two-year mark with an updated timeline of what it calls the Luxon Government’s “war on nature,” saying the week-by-week record shows the scale of environmental rollbacks – and the growing public pushback against them.
Govt’s rejection of CCC’s advice on climate targets undermines independent watchdog’s role, says opposition
21 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s latest dismissal of Climate Change Commission advice shows they have their heads in the sand about the reality of meeting climate targets, according to the Labour Party, while the Greens say Government decisions were an embarrassment on the world stage at COP30 this week.
‘We must keep 1.5 alive’ – Minister’s statement to climate summit
19 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has delivered New Zealand’s National Statement to this year’s United Nations climate summit, affirming the country’s commitment to international climate targets and saying “we must keep 1.5 alive.”
Methane U-turn earns NZ ‘Fossil of the Day’ at COP30
18 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand has been handed an unwanted ‘Fossil of the Day’ award at COP30 in Brazil after the Government weakened its methane-reduction targets, drawing international criticism for backtracking on climate commitments and undermining global efforts to curb the potent greenhouse gas.
Greens put miners ‘on notice’, pledge to revoke fast-track approvals
18 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Greens have pledged to revoke fast-track consents for coal, hard-rock gold, and seabed mining projects if elected to government next year.
NZ backs international government push for high-integrity carbon markets
13 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand has joined a coalition of governments aiming to strengthen corporate demand for voluntary carbon credits.
Oxfam urges NZ to renew climate funding as Pacific projects face closure
12 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the Government to urgently renew New Zealand’s climate finance commitments, warning that vital projects supporting Pacific communities’ resilience are running out of funding.
COP30: Climate law changes mean NZ could retreat from its international obligations
12 Nov 2025
By Cathrine Dyer, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington | As this year’s UN climate summit (COP30) gets underway in Belém, Brazil, the New Zealand delegation will be attending beneath a cloud of scepticism about the government’s seriousness in addressing carbon emissions.
Cost gaps in Fast-Track law could silence environmental voices – EDS
10 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Environmental Defence Society is warning that flaws in the Fast-Track Approvals Act 2024 could shut out critical conservation input, after legal advice found key statutory bodies can’t recover costs for participating in the process and councils face uncertainty over which costs are covered.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
Govt weakens climate legislation, strips CCC’s powers
5 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government has announced sweeping changes to key climate legislation, including stripping the independent Climate Change Commission of one of its core roles, and removing the requirement that Emissions Trading Scheme settings align with international climate targets.
Supermarket fast-track a ‘cynical ploy’, risks climate and environmental protections
5 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s “express lane for supermarkets” announcement has been met with fierce backlash, with critics calling the Fast-track Approvals Amendment Bill a Trojan horse that strips environmental protections, sidelines communities, and hands sweeping powers to ministers at the expense of democracy.
NZ, Singapore, Chile to collaborate on Green Economy Partnership
3 Nov 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The three countries that kicked off what eventually became the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) have agreed to start work on a Green Economic Partnership Agreement (GEPA).
Gene tech reforms face political split
23 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams |The Government’s Gene Technology Bill continues to divide Parliament, after the Health Select Committee released its long-awaited report last week outlining key recommendations and lingering concerns.
NZ abstains from vote on global shipping carbon tax
22 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government says it held back from endorsing the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework over fears the plan could raise costs for exporters and importers.
Govt ‘captured by industry’ on methane – Carr
21 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr says that recent moves to weaken methane targets and halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing show the Government has been captured by industry.
‘Pathetic': experts slam govt’s approach to adaptation
20 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has signalled it will step back from full property buyouts if assets are hit by climate disasters, a move adaptation experts say will condemn hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders to a “dismal” future.
Govt promises ‘earlier action’ in response to Commission’s warning climate targets at risk
17 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government says it will “explore opportunities for earlier action” ahead of the third Emissions Reduction Plan, and has committed to looking at ways to stop the system of free carbon credits for industrial polluters from disincentivising industrial decarbonisation.
Govt unveils National Adaptation Framework
16 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Minister of Climate Change Simon Watts has revealed the first actions under New Zealand’s National Adaptation Framework, which sets out the Government's approach to the rising risks from natural hazards such as floods and storms.
Where’s Watts? Climate Minister no-show at climate conference
16 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Opposition parties have slammed the Climate Change Minister’s failure to front up to a major international conference in Christchurch, saying it shows that climate adaptation is a low priority for the National Party.
‘Weird and sad’ – Tuvalu Climate Minister condemns NZ halving methane target
15 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Dr Maina Talia, Tuvalu’s Minister for Home Affairs, Climate Change, and Environment, says he’s surprised at New Zealand’s decision to weaken its target for reducing methane emissions – and is planning to take up the issue with his counterpart Climate Minister Simon Watts this week.
Policy churn ‘bewildering and costly’: Commissioner urges cross-party fix for environmental management
9 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton warns that fragmented, stop–start policy and constant law reform are stalling progress on climate, freshwater and biodiversity.
Fast-track changes coming before end of year
3 Oct 2025
The Government is already preparing to amend its fast-track approvals law, even as the first projects consented under the regime begin construction.
NZ quiet on climate target at UN meeting
2 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand didn't mention its recently minted – but widely criticised – climate target for 2035 at a major multilateral climate meeting in New York last week, at an event which was ostensibly billed as a platform for leaders to present their new targets.
‘Damp squib’ – Govt energy plan slammed for locking in fossil fuels
2 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Critics across business, climate groups and the opposition say the Government’s electricity reforms duck structural change, double down on LNG and gas, and offer little relief for soaring power prices – warning of an “expensive white elephant", deeper energy poverty and a missed chance to scale renewables.
International organisations slam ‘no additional warming’ approach to methane
1 Oct 2025
A coalition of nearly 100 international organisations, including Greenpeace, have launched an open letter to governments calling for binding targets to cut industrial agricultural emissions, ahead of the New Zealand government's decision on its methane target.
‘Beyond embarrassing’ – Peters’ Paris remarks draw fire for talking down Pacific climate diplomacy
26 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Foreign Minister and NZ first leader Winston Peters says he wants to revisit the Paris Agreement with Pacific leaders because some may be unaware of how it’s structured.
More shoreline adaptation plans confirmed for Tāmaki Makaurau
24 Sep 2025
Auckland Council has now confirmed 18 of a total of 20 shoreline adaptation plans, which look at how council-owned assets and land can be managed in response to coastal hazards and a changing climate over the next 100 years.
Australia leapfrogs NZ on climate ambition
19 Sep 2025
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action say Australia’s new 2035 climate target should be a wake-up call for ‘clean, green’ New Zealand.
Climate change collaboration and competition law
18 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The revamped competition law regime needs to be able to take into account the benefits of companies that collaborate for action on climate change, says the panel that reviewed both the Commerce Commission and the Commerce Act.
North Canterbury councillors divided on nitrate emergency call
18 Sep 2025
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter | North Canterbury’s regional councillors are concerned about unsafe rural drinking water, but disagree on whether it constitutes a nitrate emergency.
Ashburton councillor opposes climate strategy he voted for
17 Sep 2025
Jonathan Leask, Local Democracy Reporter | Incumbent Ashburton councillor Phill Hooper says he doesn’t want to waste money on a climate change strategy, despite voting for the policy a few weeks ago.
Climate at the ballot box in local govt elections
15 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate action as well as anti-climate stances are both the subject of promises at this year's local government elections, with pledges to focus on resilience to extreme weather events widely supported, while plans for cutting emissions have been countered by promises to block such action, as voting papers hit mailboxes last week.
Invites-only fast-track for seabed mine slammed as 'rushed, awful'
12 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With the wider public shut out of submissions, critics including Te Pāti Māori, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining and Greenpeace say the process strips away robust scrutiny and risks setting a dangerous precedent.
Watts full-throated in National’s support for Paris
10 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts came to this week’s Climate Change and Business Conference with nothing to announce.
Govt redirects energy innovation funding to solar on schools
Today 12:15pm
By Liz Kivi | Schools will save money, have greater energy security, and reduce carbon emissions through a $30 million Government initiative to put solar panels on up to 500 schools across New Zealand, say Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Education Minister Erica Stanford.
Greens condemn planned coal mine next to protected wetland
4 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Green Party says a new plan for a coal mine and fertiliser plant next to an internationally significant wetland is “ecological vandalism and climate denial.”
Carbon removal plans falling billions of tonnes short, experts warn
Today 12:15pm
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand needs to look beyond forestry and rapidly expand other forms of carbon removal to help meet global climate goals, according to a major international report.
Rotorua extends diesel bus contract after NZTA declines extra funding
25 May 2026
By Mathew Nash, Local Democracy Reporter | Rotorua is stuck with its diesel-powered public buses after a funding snag played a part in setting back plans for zero-emission buses by years.
Govt ramps up war on wilding pines with $79m boost
25 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government is ramping up efforts to contain the spread of wilding pines with a $79 million funding boost aimed at protecting farmland, biodiversity hotspots, tourism landscapes and water catchments across New Zealand.
Govt’s LNG plan puts trade deals at risk, lawyers warn
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.
