New Zealand: Politics
We're knee-deep in it (adding up emissions, that is)
31 Aug 2015
The Government is now doing what businesses have been doing since 2011 – totting up how many credits it has to surrender to meet its obligations.
Nelson talkfest to get serious about contaminants
24 Aug 2015
Business, government and academic global leaders gather in Nelson this week to talk about the environmental impacts of manufactured contaminants.
Climate expert gives Anzacs a fail mark
17 Aug 2015
Australia has set a post-2020 emissions reduction target as poor as that of New Zealand.
'Myopic focus' costing us climate change progress
17 Aug 2015
New Zealand might have reached the limits of its ability to exploit natural resources, the Labour Party says.
Review ETS after Paris, says climate lawyer
17 Aug 2015
The Emissions Trading Scheme review should be pushed off into next year, a climate change lawyer says.
The urban machine solution is not good for cities
17 Aug 2015
First-world cities have an unhealthy dependence on the “urban machine” - the modern engineering solutions within their infrastructure - making their inhabitants vulnerable to disaster, new research shows.
World doesn't have time for pessimism, says IPCC man
10 Aug 2015
IPCC deputy chair Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele says he hasn’t got time to be pessimistic about whether the world will take action to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Treasury maps out our path to a low-carbon enconomy
27 Jul 2015
A strong carbon price, better urban planning, a climate commission and systematic assessment of how government policies affect climate change would help New Zealand’s transition to a low-carbon economy, Treasury says.
Key: It's our climate policy and we're sticking with it
27 Jul 2015
Prime Minister John Key has rejected calls for cross-party agreement on climate change policy.
Recycling trial aims to solve plastic bags problem
20 Jul 2015
The packaging sector and the Government are working together to find a way to recycle supermarket bags and other soft plastic.
'Failed' NZ could be walking into trap at Paris climate summit
13 Jul 2015
New Zealand could be in trouble with its post-2020 emissions reduction target if the world doesn’t allow us to continue to use creative accounting to meet our obligations, international scientists are warning.
Businesses put brakes on climate action, says study
13 Jul 2015
Fewer businesses are taking action on greenhouse gases than two years ago, Waikato University’s latest sustainability report shows.
Groser off on climate-talking tour
13 Jul 2015
Climate Change Minister Tim Groser is off to climate talks in Paris, Luxembourg and Dublin.
Why our cuts will be an embarrassment in Paris
8 Jul 2015
The 2030 emissions reduction target announced yesterday will damage New Zealand’s credibility at this year’s Paris climate talks, says the man who negotiated for us in Kyoto.
11% cut ... follow us down the path to catastrophe
8 Jul 2015
New Zealand will face droughts, floods, fires, social upheaval and catastrophic global economic damage if the world follows the country’s lead on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, says one of our leading climate experts.
We're still undecided on ETS, says minister
8 Jul 2015
The terms of reference for the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme have not yet been set, says Climate Change Minister Tim Groser.
NZ sets post 2030 target
7 Jul 2015
The Government has just announced the emissions reduction target New Zealand will take to international climate talks in Paris - 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Is our target ambitious, or just spin?
7 Jul 2015
Climate Change Minister Tim Groser is describing the new target as ambitious and a significant increase on the current target of five per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
We need a plan to get there, says business
7 Jul 2015
Business groups say they want to know how the Government is going to make sure New Zealand achieves the 2030 emissions reduction target announced today.
Best brains tell the story ... but will the Government act?
6 Jul 2015
Will the Government order Treasury to prepare an analysis of the economic, environmental and social risks posed by climate change?
Business eyes local climate coalition roundtable
6 Jul 2015
New Zealand could get its own version of Australia’s business-driven climate change coalition, say the organisers of a climate change business conference scheduled for Auckland in October.
We could still be a carbon leader, says trader
6 Jul 2015
It’s not too late for New Zealand to become an international carbon trading hub, says pioneer carbon trader Nigel Brunel.
We should push climate case at UN, say Greens
6 Jul 2015
New Zealand should use its presidency of the United Nations Security Council to raise the issue of climate change as a security risk, the Green Party says.
Financial pain ahead, warn climate-conscious Kiwis
29 Jun 2015
Eminent New Zealanders who fear the country is on track for a climate change-induced financial crisis take their case to Parliament this week.
Forget the courts, we must get to the politicians
29 Jun 2015
A court case ordering the Dutch Government to slash greenhouse gas emissions is ground breaking – but unlikely to be replicated in New Zealand.
Submissions numbers baffle Beehive
29 Jun 2015
It is unclear just how many submissions the Government has received on New Zealand's post-2020 emissions reduction target.
ETS review remains on slow boil
29 Jun 2015
The Emissions Trading Scheme review is unlikely to start any time soon.
Business lobby presses for realistic 'carbon pathway'
15 Jun 2015
Buying carbon credits to meet New Zealand’s emissions reduction target is not sustainable, business is warning.
Leadership is what we need, say scientists
8 Jun 2015
New Zealand lacks the leadership to achieve the 40 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions it needs to make by 2030, the country’s top scientists are warning.
10,000 have their say on carbon emissions
8 Jun 2015
The Government has received more than 10,000 submissions on New Zealand’s post-2020 emissions reduction target.
Stranded assets not for us, declares minister
8 Jun 2015
Stranded fossil fuel assets are not a risk for New Zealand, the Government says.
Drop free carbon credits, says environment chief
8 Jun 2015
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment wants the Government to stop giving free carbon credits to high-intensity trade-exposed emitters, who, she says, could still be paying for just 5 per cent of their emissions by 2050.
Lobby group wants think tank to set emissions target
8 Jun 2015
An environmental lobby group is calling for a cross-sector working group on New Zealand’s post-2020 emissions reduction target.
Bonn talks take step forward - but it's only a small one
8 Jun 2015
The combined climate plans for the G7 and EU have made a small step toward the right track to hold warming to 2degC, but there is still a substantial emissions gap, the Climate Action Tracker model shows.
Treasury tells Government how to cut emissions
2 Jun 2015
Treasury has told the Government that if it wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions it should introduce a carbon price floor, get rid of the two-for-one provisions or cut the number of free carbon credits it gives to emitters.
We're handing big emitters $160m in free credits
2 Jun 2015
Taxpayers will give $160 million worth of free carbon credits to heavy emitters this year.
Our businesses don't get it, says new Greens leader
2 Jun 2015
Too many New Zealand companies just don’t get sustainable business, says the new Green Party co-leader.
Health impacts being ignored, say doctors
2 Jun 2015
The Government is ignoring the health impacts of climate change, doctors say.
Budget holds hint of carbon credit auctions
25 May 2015
The Government is developing the architecture to auction carbon credits.
In the new war of the worlds, the old world is losing
18 May 2015
The power of traditional companies is declining in the face of sustainable and techno companies, new research shows.
Storm shows we haven't got the message, say weather experts
18 May 2015
Reaction to last week’s Wellington floods shows that New Zealanders are not prepared for the impacts of climate change, scientists say.
Where's the clean-tech economy talk, Mr Little?
18 May 2015
Labour leader Andrew Little is blasting the Government for failing to diversify the economy, but he is still not talking about a low-carbon, clean-tech economy.
Why lack of leadership breeds lack of concern
18 May 2015
A lack of leadership on climate change is probably behind a drop in public concern over the issue, says a lecturer in science communication.
At last, Government reveals cost of gases reduction
11 May 2015
The Government has revealed how much it thinks cutting greenhouse gases might cost the country.
Public voice to be heard on NZ's 2030 emissions target
7 May 2015
The Government is calling for submissions on New Zealand’s post-2020 emissions reduction target.
Our best brains to take a look at climate change
4 May 2015
New Zealand’s leading scientists are putting their heads together to predict how climate change will affect New Zealanders.
Why we must remember our debt to the natural world
28 Apr 2015
New Zealand might fail to recognise just how economically dependent it is on the natural world until it’s too late, a new Government report warns.
Apparently, we're going to slash thousands of tonnes of emissions by 2020
28 Apr 2015
The Government expects the Emissions Trading Scheme to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 10,000 kilotonnes in 2020.
Govt tells world: Here's how we're going to cut emissions
20 Apr 2015
New Zealand will use domestic emissions reductions, forestry carbon sinks, international credits and its CP1 surplus to meet its 2020 emissions reduction target, it has told the world.
NZ's fine on fossil-fuel subsidies, says Groser
20 Apr 2015
New Zealand has been given a clean bill-of-health on fossil-fuel subsidies, the Government says.
Watts’s last stand: Simeon Brown takes energy portfolio
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Energy Minister Simon Watts has lost the portfolio to Cabinet fixer Simeon Brown in a reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this morning.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
Annual emissions fell to lowest in 15 years in Sept 2025
5 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to their lowest annual total in the year to September 2025 since records began 2010, according to Statistics New Zealand data published this morning.
Momentum speeds up for low-emissions heavy transport
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s heavy vehicle sector is starting to move toward lower-emissions alternatives, with electric vehicles now delivering cost savings as well as lower emissions.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Businesses look for ways to cut costs in response to oil shock
Wed 1 Apr 2026
New Zealand’s small and medium-sized businesses are looking for ways to ease the pressure as global tensions see rising fossil fuel prices and diminishing supply, with decision-makers mulling measures including work-from-home polices and transport or logistics changes.
