New Zealand: Politics
Carbon policy proposals fail to impress Beehive
19 Jul 2016
Two policy proposals floated in Carbon News yesterday – a Climate Responsibility Act, and combining carbon trading with a carbon tax and a cut in the goods and services tax – have not impressed the Government.
Why we need a carbon tax ... as well as an ETS
18 Jul 2016
New Zealand needs a carbon tax as well as the Emissions Trading Scheme if it is to meet its promise to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, new research shows.
CLIMATE COSTS: Someone needs to be responsible
18 Jul 2016
A Climate Responsibility Act is being mooted to protect New Zealand from irresponsible environmental management in the same way the Fiscal Responsibility Act protects it from irresponsible financial management.
Subsidy loss will cost dairy farmers a 'low' $4588
15 Jul 2016
Removal of the one-for-two carbon subsidy will cost dairy farmers $4588 and households between $66 and $99 - costs that Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett says are “relatively low”.
Firms made closure threats over 1:2 subsidy change
15 Jul 2016
Four companies threatened to close if the Government removed the one-for-two carbon subsidy.
ETS REVIEW: Plenty are talking about agriculture
13 Jul 2016
The Government might have wanted agriculture kept out of the current review of the Emissions Trading Scheme, but that hasn’t stopped scores of people, ranging from Air New Zealand to the country’s Catholic bishops, talking about it anyway.
Bennett keen to talk with opposition parties
8 Jul 2016
Climate change minister Paula Bennett says she wants to talk to other political parties.
Climate change website dries up
8 Jul 2016
The Government’s climate change website – a one-stop shop for all climate-related Government business– is no more.
CLIMATE CRUNCH: Is the political ice beginning to melt?
7 Jul 2016
Cross-party political agreement on climate change action might have come a step closer.
Greens slam Government for climate failures
6 Jul 2016
The Government is failing to prepare New Zealand for the impacts of climate change – and has slashed millions of dollars of funding for domestic policy advice on the issue, the Green Party says.
BURNING ISSUE: One fire service way to go, say Greens
6 Jul 2016
Amalgamation of the country’s two fire services should help them to prepare for the impacts of climate change – more fires and floods, says Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage.
Global bond market mobilises for climate change
5 Jul 2016
Nearly $NZ100 billion has been invested in climate bonds, a new global report says.
ETS changes you might not know about ...
4 Jul 2016
The public attention might be on the Government’s review of the Emissions Trading Scheme. But behind the headlines other, quiet, changes are being made.
Treasury willing to set up sea-level watchdog group
1 Jul 2016
Treasury has told the Government it is willing to look at setting up a working group on the economic and fiscal impacts of sea-level rise from climate change.
Here's the weather report ... and it's not good
1 Jul 2016
Droughts, floods, storms, cyclones – the latest official predictions of the likely impacts of climate change on New Zealand make alarming reading.
WEAK WORDS: We need clear advice, says watchdog
30 Jun 2016
New Zealand’s top environmental watchdog says that officials should be issuing clear warnings and advice about the implications of climate change.
Bill and I haven't talked sea level, admits Bennett
30 Jun 2016
Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett says she has not asked Finance Minister Bill English to set up a working group to assess the economic impacts of rising sea levels, as recommended by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Politicians not helping, says climate academic
29 Jun 2016
Carbon dioxide emissions are rising faster than ever – and political claims that population growth is causing it don’t help, says one of New Zealand’s leading climate scientists.
EMISSIONS EDICT: Time to act, says Toyota chief
24 Jun 2016
New Zealand businesses should now be asking how they are going to cut emissions in line with the country’s international pledges – even if those commitments are not yet going far enough, says Toyota New Zealand managing director Alistair Davis.
Officials tell why we need a carbon price floor
23 Jun 2016
A carbon price floor would be challenging but would give businesses certainty and guarantee foresters a price that made planting trees worthwhile, officials told the Government.
NZ unlikely to use banked credits, says minister
22 Jun 2016
The Government is unlikely to use New Zealand’s banked carbon credits to make-good on hot-air credits we have already surrendered internationally, a Parliamentary select committee has heard.
Bennett vows to hold carbon price at $25
21 Jun 2016
New Zealand’s carbon price cap will not rise above $25 for a long time – but neither will it go down, Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett has told a select committee.
DIRTY DOLLARS: PM's bank backs the big polluters
16 Jun 2016
A bank in which Prime Minister John Key is a shareholder has been named one of the worst in the world for its level of investing in fossil fuels.
Carbon should trade in limited range, says forester
15 Jun 2016
New Zealand’s carbon prices should be kept within a band of $15 to $50, says a forestry company that has played a leading role in developing the carbon market.
Why we're getting it wrong on growth of cities
14 Jun 2016
New Zealand is failing to use joined-up thinking when it comes to preparing for the impacts of climate change, says the head of environmental planning at Waikato University.
$20b Brownlee: We're doing all we can for climate
10 Jun 2016
Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says the Government is making every effort it can to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
SEA-RISE RISK: We're facing damage worth billions
9 Jun 2016
More than a billion dollars worth of New Zealand’s road and rail networks is at risk from rising sea levels caused by climate change, a Ministry of Transport report says.
CLIMATE CO-OP: Welcome to Coalition of the Willing
1 Jun 2016
The announcement yesterday of a formal working relationship between the Labour and Green parties is a potential turning-point in New Zealand’s battle to adapt to climate change.
YES! We have ideas ... lots of them
1 Jun 2016
The organisers of yesterday’s Yes We Can! seminar on how to transition the New Zealand energy system to a low-carbon future have got a good problem – too many ideas.
Southern long-fin eels to go it alone
1 Jun 2016
Management of at-risk native long-fin eels in the South Island is to be separated from management of their short-fin cousins.
How we can slash emissions from industrial buildings
31 May 2016
New Zealand could cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly a million tonnes a year by 2030 through better energy management in commercial buildings, says the Energy Management Association.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: We're being taught not to waste it
31 May 2016
New Zealanders are about to get lessons in how not to waste food.
Diplomat takes on agriculture emissions job
31 May 2016
New Zealand’s Ambassador to Argentina has got a new job – selling the importance of finding ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
Funding round opens for emissions research
31 May 2016
The fourth round of the funding for research to cut agricultural greenhouse gas emissions is open.
OFF TARGET: Carbon over-shoot could cost billions
30 May 2016
Officials warned the Government that New Zealand was at risk of over-shooting its 2030 emissions reduction target by 150 million tonnes – due largely to subsidies to emitters and a stockpile of privately held carbon units.
Public signals support for scrapping of 1:2 subsidy
30 May 2016
Scrapping the one-for-two carbon subsidy has widespread support, if submissions on the current review of the Emissions Trading Scheme are anything to go by.
Catholic Bishops back agriculture in ETS
30 May 2016
An agency of New Zealand’s Catholic Bishops says agriculture must be brought into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Government to snaffle 1:2 subsidy revenue
27 May 2016
Revenue from the scrapping of the one-for-two subsidy will not be earmarked to fund emissions-reduction policies.
What they said ...
27 May 2016
Budget – what they said on the removal of the one-for-two carbon subsidy:
BUDGET 2016: One-for-two goes but price cap stays
26 May 2016
The one-for-two subsidy to emitters will be phased out from January, but the $25 price cap and the allocation of free credits to trade-exposed heavy emitters are staying, the Government has just announced in the Budget.
Carbon prices jump after Budget breakthrough
26 May 2016
Carbon prices jumped this afternoon on confirmation that the one-for-two subsidy is to be phased out, and could reach $20 by the end of the year.
NATS' 19%: Bennett blames population growth
26 May 2016
New Zealand’s net greenhouse gas emissions have gone up 19 per cent under the National Government – and Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett is blaming population growth.
Minister puts figure on hot-air credits
26 May 2016
More than a quarter of the units New Zealand used to meet its Kyoto commitments were hot-air credits, Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett said in Parliament yesterday.
New report sees world of expanding carbon markets
26 May 2016
Carbon markets will expand on the back of the Paris Agreement, and carbon prices will need to rise to between $50 and $66 for the world to meet the climate change agreement’s goals, a new survey says.
US insurance aid props up climate-risk homes
26 May 2016
Lloyd’s, one of the world’s biggest insurance companies, says the US government must stop providing insurance subsidies to homeowners building on flood plains and in coastal areas exposed to mounting risks related to climate change.
Now hear this ...
26 May 2016
If the development of international carbon markets is your idea of a good story, settle back with your headphones and listen to this.
PARIS PUSH: Pact could be ready to go next year
25 May 2016
The Paris Agreement could well come into force next year, says a New Zealander leading work to flesh out the details of the new global climate change pact.
CARBON CRISIS: Our emissions up a whopping 56%
23 May 2016
New Zealand’s net greenhouse gas emissions – the amount it actually contributes to damaging the climate – rose a whopping 56.7 per cent over 24 years in which it was supposed to be cutting emissions, new Government data shows.
Scientists can't do it alone, says PM's adviser
23 May 2016
The Prime Minister’s chief science adviser has told a United Nations forum that scientists and policy-makers need to work together on issues like climate change.
Batteries and flexible electricity use could save NZ $20b by 2050
Fri 31 Jul 2026
By Oli Lewis | Rapid expansion of batteries and flexible electricity use could save energy users between $5.4 billion and $20.8b through to 2050, new modelling suggests.
Study outlines methane-cutting options for NZ livestock
21 Jul 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Breeding, feed and forage strategies could play a key role in reducing methane emissions from New Zealand's grazing livestock, with researchers concluding that a combination of approaches will be needed to achieve meaningful cuts.
'Terrible result': Emissions barely budged in 2024
5 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions were virtually unchanged in 2024, falling by 0.03%, despite the economy shrinking by ten times that amount during the same period, according to new data.
Rail revival key to reducing transport emissions: new strategy
Thu 30 Jul 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Future is Rail has launched an election manifesto setting out a national strategy for the incoming Government to rebuild New Zealand's passenger and freight rail network, with proposals ranging from overnight train services to nationwide electrification.
National deer management strategy urgently needed to halt 'catastrophe' for native forests
Mon 27 Jul 2026
Scientists are calling for an urgent national deer management strategy, with deer numbers now at unsustainable levels and decimating native forests.
NZ Steel closes in on first heat from electric arc furnace
Thu 30 Jul 2026
By Oli Lewis | The first truckloads of scrap steel are being delivered to New Zealand Steel as the company works through the final stages of a significant emissions reduction project.
