New Zealand: Politics
Huntly key to free credit allocations
13 Jul 2012
Trade-exposed emitters might find themselves entitled to more free credits if changes to the electricity allocation factor go ahead.
Major ETS change looks like payoff to Act
6 Jul 2012
Politics might be behind a Government decision not to impose restrictions on the importation of international carbon credits into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Labour vows to protect carbon price
6 Jul 2012
Labour says it will push for measures to protect the domestic carbon price.
ETS overhaul begins to take shape
29 Jun 2012
The Government’s final plan for an overhaul of the Emissions Trading Scheme is likely to be made public in the next two weeks.
Minister claims oceans victory at Rio
22 Jun 2012
Environment Minister Amy Adams says the key goals on oceans pushed by New Zealand at the Rio+20 conference in Brazil have been included for discussion in the summit's outcome document.
Greens probe fossil-fuel subsidies
22 Jun 2012
The Government is being accused of undermining its own policy to cut fossil-fuel subsidies, by encouraging oil exploration and giving free carbon credits to internationally exposed emitters.
Joyce slams businessmen's report
15 Jun 2012
Economic Development Minister Stephen Joyce says the Pure Advantage business group is just looking for subsidies for businesses it likes.
Travel leaders call for sustainability
15 Jun 2012
Travel and tourism leaders are calling for a new enlightened framework for sustainable tourism in a ground-breaking collection of essays compiled by academics at Melbourne’s Victoria University academics.
ETS cash cow has lost its moo
25 May 2012
The Emissions Trading Scheme has turned from a cash cow into a financial liability in a few short months.
Forget Australia, says business lobby
25 May 2012
New Zealand should assume its Emissions Trading Scheme will not be linked with Australia’s, says BusinessNZ.
Last-minute submissions flood ministry
18 May 2012
The Ministry for the Environment has been swamped with last-minute submissions on changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
NZ wants new deal for carbon markets
11 May 2012
Negotiations for a new framework for international carbon markets will be a priority for the New Zealand delegation at international climate change talks in Bonn next week.
China will show the way, says think-tank
11 May 2012
The current dominant economies – including the United States – will stagnate over the next 40 years, while China will be a success story because of its ability to respond to changing conditions, the latest Club of Rome report says.
Time running out for ETS submissions
11 May 2012
If you haven’t yet made your submission on the latest round of changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme you’re nearly out of time.
NZ eyes regional common carbon market
27 Apr 2012
New Zealand is maintaining a “watching brief” on developments in Asia that Australia believes could lead to a common carbon market.
Govt stands back from new-world calls
27 Apr 2012
New Zealand supports global action on environmental issues, but might stop short of supporting an overhaul of world governance systems at the upcoming Rio+20 conference, officials say.
ETS consultation rolls to a stop
27 Apr 2012
Regional consultation meetings and hui on proposed changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme are over.
Prices force rethink on carbon books
20 Apr 2012
The Government is reworking its books in the wake of the carbon price collapse.
Labour backs calls for a new world
13 Apr 2012
Labour’s deputy leader says he supports calls for a major overhaul of the world’s economic, social and environmental management systems.
Why we must have an emissions target
13 Apr 2012
New Zealand will have to adopt an emissions target before it can introduce a cap-and-auction system.
We can't go on like this, says think tank
13 Apr 2012
Over the past 50 years, the world's middle and upper classes have more than doubled their consumption levels, and an additional 1 to 2 billion people globally aspire to join the consumer class, the Worldwatch Institute says in its latest report.
Greens predict urban sprawl, congestion
13 Apr 2012
The Productivity Commission's main recommendations for affordable housing will create sprawling, congested, and less productive cities, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman says
Government airs ETS changes
11 Apr 2012
The Government has just released proposals to amend the Emissions Trading Scheme in the wake of last year's Caygill Review.
Govt wants hold on international credits
11 Apr 2012
The Government intends restricting the number of international carbon credits New Zealand emitters can use to meet their obligations, it has been revealed today.
Worried scientists push for global action
30 Mar 2012
Thousands of scientists meeting in London are calling for radical economic and social reorganisation on a global scale to avert an environmental crisis.
Greenhouse group shuts doors
30 Mar 2012
The Greenhouse Policy Coalition will be no more from tomorrow.
Our focus wrong, says think-tank head
23 Mar 2012
Departing New Zealand Institute chief executive Rick Boven says that New Zealand is failing to grasp the full implications of the environmental crisis.
Shearer pushes green economy vision
16 Mar 2012
Opposition leader David Shearer said he wanted a green economy, but didn’t say how he’d achieve it. Prime Minister John Key didn’t mention it at all.
Govt will slow ETS
9 Mar 2012
The electricity, industrial and transport sectors will continue to be sheltered from the full force of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
We're late, but no worries, says Smith
9 Mar 2012
New Zealand might have missed the deadline for submissions on increasing international emissions reduction levels, but Climate Change Minister Nick Smith says it’s not a problem.
NZ will target fossil fuels at Rio
9 Mar 2012
New Zealand will use the Rio+20 Summit to push for reform of fossil fuel subsidies.
Green economy only way for Shearer
10 Feb 2012
Lining up economic policy and environment policy is the biggest environmental issue facing New Zealand, says Labour leader David Shearer.
Labour likes ETS ... if it works
10 Feb 2012
New Labour leader David Shearer says that he is committed to the Emissions Trading Scheme – if it works.
We need new water system, says academic
10 Feb 2012
A Waikato University academic says that New Zealand needs to rethink its water allocation system or risk stifling economic and cultural development.
Govt might block overseas credits
3 Feb 2012
The number of international carbon credits coming into New Zealand could be cut.
Officials back slow-down of ETS
3 Feb 2012
Government officials are backing recommendations to slow down the impact the Emissions Trading Scheme is having on the economy.
Minister puts plans for environment
27 Jan 2012
New rules to protect New Zealand’s oceans and freshwater, streamlining the Resource Management Act, a new Environment Reporting Act and aligning the Emissions Trading Scheme with that of Australia are on the Government’s agenda.
Poor prices will hurt government income
16 Dec 2011
Collapsing carbon prices could leave a hole in the Government’s books.
Smith (and climate change) down the track
16 Dec 2011
The removal of the Climate Change Minister Nick Smith from National's parliamentary front bench is a sign of things to come under this Government, the Green Party is warning.
Groser looks for more ETS partners
9 Dec 2011
New Zealand is working towards a regional carbon market.
Business brains want Beehive to come clean
25 Nov 2011
Business lobby group Pure Advantage is calling for an across-Parliament agreement for an environmentally clean business growth plan for New Zealand.
ETS here to stay, vows Groser
18 Nov 2011
New Zealand will push for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, but the Emissions Trading Scheme is here to say regardless of the outcome of international climate change negotiations in Durban this month.
Environment: Where the minor parties stand
18 Nov 2011
Both National and Labour are vowing that the Emissions Trading Scheme is here to say, but what do the smaller parties have to say about the environment?
Kauri might hold clues to climate secrets
18 Nov 2011
NIWA scientists will use geochemistry of precisely-dated kauri tree rings to examine New Zealand's climate during the last millennium.
Key admits our rivers in trouble
11 Nov 2011
Prime Minister John Key has conceded that many of New Zealand’s rivers are in trouble after all.
Unhappy exporters voice ETS fears
11 Nov 2011
National's promise to slow down implementation of the Emissions Trading Scheme has failed to impress exporters.
NZ doctors 'asleep at the wheel'
11 Nov 2011
Senior doctors and other health professionals are backing calls in the New Zealand Medical Journal for the country to do much more to reduce the risks of climate instability to acceptable levels.
Environment key poll issue, says Labour
4 Nov 2011
Labour is about to pitch its environment policy as an election-winner.
Chauvel lists flaws in ETS review
4 Nov 2011
The Emissions Trading Scheme would be up for review again under a Labour Government.
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.
