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New Zealand: Politics

More in New Zealand: Politics
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 51 4 of 51 Next

Parties disagree on RMA reform

5 Jul 2023

Political reactions to the resource management reform bills dispelled what little chance there was of a bipartisan way forward.

Forestry Institute's open letter warns NZ may fail to meet climate commitments

23 Jun 2023

The New Zealand Forestry Institute has penned an open letter to MPs and the media outlining “deep concerns” about the future of forests and forest investment, with climate commitments at stake.

National vows to keep agricultural emissions out of the ETS, restrict forestry planting

13 Jun 2023

By Liz Kivi | The NZ Institute of Forestry says the National Party’s newly unveiled climate and agricultural policy will hinder the country’s climate goals.

Govt invests in biomass research and bioenergy plant for Tairāwhiti

12 Jun 2023

The government is investing in a bioenergy plant, as well as research into biomass and better forestry practices, with the aim of making the forestry industry more sustainable.

Fuel bills get differing responses

12 Jun 2023

Two fuels sector bills made progress in Parliament last week.

No FERT tax - govt running out of time and patience with agri sector

2 Jun 2023

With an election looming the Government is running out of time to lock in an alternative pricing mechanism for agricultural emissions. More than running out of time, the government is reportedly running out of patience as the agricultural sector pushes back again and calls for more delay. Meanwhile, emissions keep fueling climate catastrophes.

Government changes Clean Car scheme

2 May 2023

The government is changing its Clean Car programme by adjusting the rebates for zero emissions imports, making the threshold stricter for eligible vehicles, and increasing fees for higher emitting vehicles.

Forestry issue lobbying intensifies

26 Apr 2023

As the deadline for the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use in Tairāwhiti to report draws closer, lobbying over the issue has become more intense, especially with a new minister at the helm.

Who's going to pay for the Government’s climate sweeteners now?

21 Apr 2023

The government has announced the latest round of its decarbonisation of industry fund, despite the very real possibility that the revenues from the Emissions Trading Scheme that pay for it could be non-existent this year.

National to ban overseas investment to convert farms into carbon forestry

19 Apr 2023

The National Party will ban foreign investment in farms to convert them to forestry for carbon farming.

New renewable generation policy close

18 Apr 2023

Energy minister Megan Woods says the national policy statement intended to make resource consenting for renewable electricity generation projects easier is near completion.

Parker says RMA reforms will proceed

4 Apr 2023

Environment Minister David Parker appears confident he can get through resource management reform ahead of the election.

National Party promises to double renewables

31 Mar 2023

The National Party today announced a new energy policy that it says will double renewable energy growth.

Govt announces new waste strategy will cut emissions

30 Mar 2023

The government announced a new waste strategy yesterday that it says will cut tens of thousands of CO2-equivalent emissions with kerbside food scrap collection.

Climate action on the ballot paper: Shaw

27 Mar 2023

The IPCC’s latest blunt warning on climate change came shortly after James Shaw's own warning that the Greens would not be pushed around on climate change policy in the future.

Govt announces review of the ETS

23 Mar 2023

The government has announced it is reviewing the Emissions Trading Scheme to see whether it can play a stronger role in driving New Zealand’s climate response.

National's revolving door for climate change portfolio

20 Mar 2023

Todd Muller’s resignation continues the National Party’s revolving door of climate change spokespeople, with North Shore MP Simon Watts now taking on the role.

Greenpeace slams govt U-turn on climate and roading

9 Mar 2023

Greenpeace has slammed the government’s U-turn on making emissions reduction a top priority of its land transport plan as “short-sighted” in a climate crisis.

Green Party launches petition opposing cuts to Auckland climate programmes

24 Feb 2023

The Green Party has launched a petition to stop proposed cuts to Auckland’s climate and environmental programmes.

Todd Muller's second coming as National's climate spokesperson

26 Jan 2023

By Liz Kivi | Having previously announced his retirement after resigning as National party leader, Todd Muller’s political career has been resurrected with a promotion and appointment to the climate change and agriculture portfolios.

Hipkins gives little away on attitude to climate change

25 Jan 2023

By Jeremy Rose | Compared to Jacinda Ardern’s much quoted declaration that climate change was “our generation’s nuclear-free moment”, new prime minister Chris Hipkins’ comments on the subject to date have been decidedly anodyne.

Bloomberg: Ardern's mixed record on climate change

25 Jan 2023

The outgoing prime minister set up a long-term framework for New Zealand to address global warming, but emissions haven’t been trending downward.

Private members bill could see environment recognised as a company stakeholder

23 Dec 2022

By Jeremy Rose | In 1916 John and Horace Dodge took Henry Ford to court to stop him from, in his words, “employ(ing) still more men, to spread the benefits of this industrial system to the greatest possible number, to help them build up their lives and their homes.”

Cabinet ETS decision a “hospital pass” for incoming government

19 Dec 2022

A former head of the International Energy Agency’s climate change unit has described the Cabinet’s rejection of the Climate Change Commission’s recommended changes to ETS settings as a “hospital pass” for the incoming government.

Forestry ETS changes pass

5 Dec 2022

Among the bills to pass into law in Parliament’s recent Urgency session was the extension of the penalty transition regime for small forestry owners who remove trees.

1.5 degrees not just aspirational: Shaw

25 Nov 2022

Climate change minister James Shaw says New Zealand’s commitment to 1.5 degrees is “absolutely essential.”

Govt calls for submissions on Sustainable Biofuel Obligation Bill

22 Nov 2022

The government is calling for submissions on the Sustainable Biofuel Obligation Bill, which is intended to simplify the transition from liquid fossil fuels to low-emissions fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport.

Co-chair of new Māori ministerial committee compares climate change battle to fight against fascism

Co-chair of new Māori ministerial committee compares climate change battle to fight against fascism

11 Nov 2022

Iwi leader and environmentalist Mike Smith – who has said climate change demands sacrifices like those made to defeat fascism – has been appointed a co-chair on a new Interim Māori ministerial advisory committee on climate change

National leader on gas policy and climate change

7 Nov 2022

By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | With almost a year to the election, National leader Christopher Luxon has been giving some indications of his party’s policy including a return to more gas exploration and a different approach to pricing agriculture’s biological emissions.

National argues climate change ambitions put NZ at risk

25 Oct 2022

By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | National MPs are arguing that New Zealand will put its interests at risk if it attempts to move faster than the rest of the world on climate change issues.

Aussie farmers oppose methane pledge because of NZ’s "dying towns"

19 Oct 2022

New South Wales farmers are citing New Zealand’s proposed farmgate greenhouse gas emissions pricing as a reason to oppose Australia signing the global methane pledge.

Government’s climate policy “bovine scatology”: Winston Peters

17 Oct 2022

Winston Peters condemned the government’s agriculture emissions policy as “bovine scatology -pure unadulterated bulldust,” at the New Zealand First conference over the weekend.

Is government move to protect productive land too little, too late?

19 Sep 2022

The government has released a National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land, aiming to enhance protection for the country’s most productive land and provide security for domestic food supply and primary exports.

Government promises favourable consent regime for renewable energy

12 Sep 2022

By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | Energy minister Megan Woods says a new regulatory framework for the development of offshore wind should be in place by 2024 and a discussion document was being put together on strengthening national direction for renewable electricity generation and transmission.

Pacific to receive half of New Zealand’s climate assistance

22 Aug 2022

Half of New Zealand’s climate change assistance to the developing world has been earmarked for the Pacific, and half of that will go towards mitigation,

Save rail redux

12 Aug 2022

In 1983 the then-Labour MP Richard Prebble toured the country on a save rail campaign.

Shaw “quietly confident”

25 Jul 2022

Climate Change Minister James Shaw declared himself “quietly confident” of winning an upcoming vote for the Green Party co-leader position at a press conference this morning.

Government looking at carbon tariff

19 Jul 2022

In an ideal world New Zealand would replace the current system of allocating NZUs to trade exposed industries with a border adjustment levy, climate change minister James Shaw told the Environment Select Committee yesterday.

PSA launches Vote Climate campaign

18 Jul 2022

The Public Service Association (PSA) has launched a campaign to get voters to support local government candidates who will invest in reducing transport emissions.

Government must balance potential costs of reducing gas

18 Jul 2022

By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | A Cabinet paper on the Government’s development of the Gas Transition Plan says it must reduce the use of gas but balancing the potential costs in doing that will require shifting priorities over time.

Minister defends government's preferred light rail option for Wellington

6 Jul 2022

Transport minister Michael Wood says an Infrastructure Commission review of the government’s preferred rapid transport plan for Wellington, which found it “fundamentally counter-productive” to achieving carbon reduction targets, fails to take account of emission reductions resulting from densification.

Climate change puts another nail in quarter acre pavlova paradise’s coffin

29 Jun 2022

It’s been a long time coming but the climate emergency is finally beginning to reshape the future of our cities. This morning’s announcement that the government is throwing its support behind light rail from the Wellington railway station to Island Bay is driven by a vision of a much higher density city where the motorcar takes a back seat to public transport, cycling and walking.

Greenpeace, Green Party call for stronger action on deforestation imports

23 Jun 2022

Greenpeace says a bill aimed at preventing unsustainable timber imports will do little to save the world’s rainforests or end human rights abuses.

Parliamentary questions often a let down

21 Jun 2022

There is a climate crisis, but deflating people’s tyres is not okay, that in a nutshell was climate change minister James Shaw’s response to a written question from ACT’s climate change spokesperson Simon Court.

Cabinet reshuffle and the conservation challenge

20 Jun 2022

By Ian Llewellyn - Energy & Environment | The major change for the energy and environment sector in Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet reshuffle was the ‘demotion’ of Poto Williams from the police portfolio to conservation.

Climate change looms large over indigenous biodiversity discussion document

10 Jun 2022

Climate change is repeatedly identified as one of the major threats to indigenous biodiversity in a government discussion document launched yesterday.

International commision votes to allow use of more climate-friendly refrigerants

23 May 2022

A secretive vote in the arcane and Byzantine world of international safety standards late last month may lead to a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from home heating and cooling systems in the coming years.

ERP: Oppposition politicians respond

17 May 2022

The National Party has condemned much of the first Emissions Reduction Plan, released yesterday, as corporate welfare but welcomed the announcement that $710 million had been earmarked for helping agriculture to lower its emissions.

ERP: Lobby groups respond

17 May 2022

The nation’s lobby groups have responded to the release of the government’s first Emission Reduction’s Plan with a flood of press releases. What follows is a summary of some of the praise, condemnation, and observations contained in that deluge.

Shaw worried carbon budgets don’t go far enough

13 May 2022

“I know that there are those who will be worried that these emissions budgets do not go far enough. I'm one of them,” climate change minister James Shaw told Parliament yesterday in the opening speech of a special debate on the government’s recently announced emission budgets.

Energy
More Energy >

Meridian Energy considers green bond offer

Mon 25 Aug 2025

Meridian Energy is considering making an offer of up to $250 million of 6.5 year unsecured, unsubordinated, fixed rate green bonds to institutional and New Zealand retail investors.

Agriculture
More Agriculture >

International scientists slam NZ govt's proposed approach to methane

13 Aug 2025

New Zealand's proposed approach to methane emissions has again been attacked by international climate scientists, with a new study saying the attempt to redefine climate target-setting by livestock-exporting countries undermines the transition to a sustainable and equitable food system

Carbon emissions
More Carbon emissions >

Dry winter pushed up Spark’s emissions

Thu 21 Aug 2025

By Pattrick Smellie | Increased use of coal and natural gas to generate electricity in the last year caused a spike in scope 1 and 2 emissions reported by telecommunications operator Spark NZ.

Transport
More Transport >

Fund for low emissions transport winds up

31 Jul 2025

New Zealand’s Low Emission Transport Fund has officially wrapped up, ending a nine-year programme that put hundreds of millions of dollars towards accelerating the country’s shift to cleaner transport.

Forestry
More Forestry >
Minister of Climate Change Simon Watts

Certainty crucial to emissions cuts – Watts

20 Aug 2025

By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says that policy certainty is the Government’s primary lever for unlocking private capital and meeting climate targets, telling a carbon forestry conference that ETS settings are 'locked' through 2030.

Business
More Business >
Speakers at last year's Climate Change and Business Conference

Why climate strategy is now central to business success

Tue 26 Aug 2025

SPONSORED CONTENT: Ahead of next month’s Climate Change and Business Conference, New Zealand businesses are being urged to treat climate strategy not as a regulatory burden, but as a core driver of economic competitiveness.

More in New Zealand: Politics
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