New Zealand: Politics
Budget fund boost for ETS another sign it will stay
29 May 2009
A massive Budget boost in funding for the emissions trading scheme is being seen as a sign that the ETS is here to stay.
Climate change outburst embarrasses Act
29 May 2009
The Act Party is distancing itself from a statement made in its name yesterday in which National Party MPs were told they would “introduce an emissions trading scheme at their peril."
Act must back ETS, says forest owner
29 May 2009
The Act Party must embrace the emissions trading scheme, says Malborough forest owner and ex-Act supporter Michael Cambridge.
$470 million NZ Units spend in the next year
29 May 2009
The Government is providing to boost spending on allocating New Zealand Units from $22 million to more than $470 million in the next financial year.
Business amoral on climate change, says Morgan
26 May 2009
New Zealand cannot rely on business to take a moral position on climate change because it is motivated by optimising profit, says economist Gareth Morgan.
Academic slams our lack of climate research
26 May 2009
New Zealand needs to invest in economic analysis if it is to keep up with climate change research being done offshore, says one of our leading climate scientists.
Business group's climate change voice remains hushed
26 May 2009
The Stephen Tindall–led Climate Change Leadership Forum’s bid to keep working seems to have sunk like a stone.
Our ETS already up and running, says law firm
26 May 2009
A publicly issued backgrounder on the emissions trading scheme by a top-tier law firm is being taken by some to represent a semi-official policy statement to the effect that the ETS is long past the point of no return.
Smith delivers significant pro-ETS policy steer
22 May 2009
National still prefers an emissions trading scheme and has hinted at ways in which the scheme can be ‘harmonised’ with Australia’s.
New book, new challenge to climate change
22 May 2009
A book to be launched in Wellington at the end of the month is expected to challenge conventional wisdom about the applied politics of climate change.
GREENS 1: New Deal creates 42,000 jobs
15 May 2009
At least 42,000 jobs could be created under a Green New Deal proposal just released by the Greens.
GREENS 2: 6000 state houses, planting waterways
15 May 2009
The Green Party’s Green Stimulus Package involves building 6000 new state houses, fencing off and planting rural waterways, initiatives to improve the energy efficiency of homes, schools and businesses, waste reduction schemes, and improved public transport.
GREENS 3: Business leaders welcome package
15 May 2009
The Green Party’s Green Stimulus Package is being welcomed by business and union leaders.
ETS reviewers eye June date for report
15 May 2009
The emissions trading scheme review committee could report back to Parliament by the end of next month.
Forum voices opposition to ETS
15 May 2009
The Sustainable Energy Forum is being seen as a surprise opponent of the emissions trading scheme.
No special deals for NZ, Australian climate officials say
12 May 2009
Australian officials warned the emissions trading scheme review committee yesterday that were no special deals for New Zealand if it sought to align itself with the Australian carbon pollution reduction scheme.
Coal’s idea for tiny tax and trees given solid debunking
12 May 2009
Business leaders have debunked Solid Energy’s proposal for a small new carbon tax.
Air NZ wants carbon price cap in ETS
12 May 2009
Air New Zealand wants the emissions trading scheme review committee to consider including a price cap for carbon liability.
Emissions trading wrong route, say AA members
12 May 2009
Automobile Association members oppose the emissions trading scheme.
Solid Energy pushes new 'tax and plant' emissions strategy
8 May 2009
State coal producer Solid Energy is pushing an alternative policy to the emissions trading scheme which will see the Government raise new taxes and regulations.
Aussie officials to visit amid calls to end NZ policy 'chaos'
8 May 2009
Australian officials will brief New Zealand MPs about their new emissions trading plans next week.
Landfill operator wants ETS delay for waste
8 May 2009
Delaying the solid waste sector’s entry into the emissions trading scheme until 2018 and increasing the scope of the existing environmental standard for landfill gas is the way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from New Zealand’s landfills, Envirowaste told the ETS review committee yesterday.
R&D vital to success of ETS, says Landcare
8 May 2009
Investment in research and development, particularly in New Zealand-specific climate change research, is pivotal to the success of an emissions trading scheme, Landcare Research has told the ETS review committee.
We still want to harmonise, says Smith
5 May 2009
Talks on harmonising the New Zealand and Australian emissions trading schemes will continue, despite Australia’s decision to delay the start of its scheme.
Farming groups split on need for ETS
5 May 2009
Federated Farmers continued its call for the emissions trading scheme to be scrapped when it appeared before the emission trading scheme review committee yesterday - but not everyone in the agriculture sector agrees.
Ngai Tahu faces bill of millions in clawbacks
5 May 2009
Ngai Tahu has become an early example of the peril of ETS clawbacks, with tribal authorities indicating that it might have to pay anything between $40 million and $120 million in clawbacks, depending on the price of carbon at the time.
US climate deniers push views of Kiwi academic
5 May 2009
Auckland University climate figure Chris de Freitas put New Zealand into the top slot over the weekend in what is emerging as the United States’ leading denier forum.
ETS should be suspended, says coalition
5 May 2009
Greenhouse Policy Coalition executive director Catherine Beard, representing the energy-intensive sector on climate change issues, is calling on the select committee reviewing the emissions trading scheme to suspend the introduction of the industrial sector into the scheme until such time as the "flawed legislation has been properly reviewed and fixed".
Business leaders: emissions trading policy delays causing major investment blight
5 May 2009
Business leaders told the Parliamentary select committee reviewing the emissions trading scheme yesterday that indecision is stalling hundreds of millions in investments in sectors which will both benefit from or fear having a price of carbon.
Gull wants fixed carbon price after ETS
1 May 2009
Independent oil company Gull has asked the emissions trading scheme review committee to set the price of carbon for at least the first 18 months after the liquid fuel sector enters the ETS.
Smith still quiet on Labour ETS offer
1 May 2009
The Government has not yet responded to Labour's offer to work with it on an emissions trading scheme.
Fifty years of work under threat, says Oxfam
1 May 2009
Climate change could reverse all the international development work of the past 50 years, the emissions trading scheme review committee heard yesterday.
Minister delays release of ETS risk report
28 Apr 2009
A new report into the economic risks of the emissions trading scheme has not yet been made public amid concerns that it does not adequately cover the potential benefits.
NZ scientists: We're being gagged
28 Apr 2009
New Zealand’s public science institutes are “rife” with cases of scientists being gagged, Carbon News has been told.
Labour expects ETS answer this week
28 Apr 2009
The Labour Party expects a formal response from the Government this week on its offer to co-operate on an emissions trading scheme.
Forest focus wrong, institute tells ETS hearing
28 Apr 2009
New Zealand should focus on the role that forests play in mitigation of climate change - and not just on forestry emissions, says the Institute of Forestry.
Climate deal fraught with problems, says EU envoy
21 Apr 2009
An address by David Daly, the new head of the European Union delegation to Australia, to the recent Greenhouse 2009 conference in Western Australia is being carefully scrutinised by his counterparts throughout Oceania - especially in New Zealand.
Wellington shelves 'green capital' plans
21 Apr 2009
A forecast that Wellington city ratepayers would have to shoulder a stiff annual additional cost has prompted the city council to shelve plans that, in the words of Mayor Kerry Prendergast, would have made Wellington the “first green capital in the world.”
Most Kiwis want climate deal at Copenhagen
14 Apr 2009
New Zealanders support signing up to a new international agreement requiring countries to limit greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2013, a new survey shows.
Foresters get carbon credits ... but what now?
14 Apr 2009
Forest owners have received their first batch of carbon credits but are unsure about insuring and on-selling them.
Uncertainty keeps NZUs volatile, says trader
14 Apr 2009
The price of New Zealand Units is likely to remain volatile for another six months, says a leading trader.
Cross-party pact vital for ETS, says Vector
9 Apr 2009
A strong cross-party agreement on durable climate change policy is the single most important thing that the emissions trading scheme review committee must deliver, the committee is being told this morning.
Energy leaders have big day out at ETS hearings
9 Apr 2009
The energy sector gets its chance to be heard by the ETS review committee this morning.
HFCs clampdown could backfire, company warns
9 Apr 2009
Clamping down on the so-called “bad boys” of human-induced climate change -hydroflourocarbons (HFCs) - in the emissions trading scheme could backfire and actually lead to increased emissions, warns an air conditioning company.
Labour: We're ready to start work on joint ETS
7 Apr 2009
Work on a joint National/Labour emissions trading scheme could start as early as this week, says Labour climate change spokesman Charles Chauvel.
NZ Steel seeks suspension of ETS
7 Apr 2009
The stakes are high for NZ Steel as it contemplates the impact that its presentation to the ETS review committee last week might have had.
Concrete plant swings on ETS, says manufacturer
7 Apr 2009
The axe could fall on plans for a major new concrete manufacturing plant if the emissions trading scheme review committee does not heed industry warnings.
Dunne: With Labour, we'll reach ETS agreement
3 Apr 2009
The chairman of the emissions trading scheme review committee is predicting that Labour and National will reach agreement over a scheme which will have some degree of harmonisation with Australia.
US cap-and-trade bill may pose problems for NZ large emitters
3 Apr 2009
The latest cap-and-trade bill introduced in Congress offers the United States’ large emitters less transitional assistance than their New Zealand counterparts.
NZUs allocation clear sign of future ETS plans
3 Apr 2009
The Government’s allocation of eight million NZUs to the Crown’s holding account on Wednesday is a clear sign that the emissions trading scheme is here to stay.
Fast, sustained phase-out of fossil fuels: best-performing countries in coal and transport sectors
Thu 10 Jul 2025
By Robert McLachlan | It’s true that climate change is getting worse – it will continue to get worse until emissions fall to near zero. But is action on phasing out fossil fuels really stalling?
Clear-sighted view to trade-offs crucial to reimagining our relationship with the land
Mon 7 Jul 2025
By Nick Swallow | COMMENT: New Zealand could see a 70% drop in the value of dairy land if we pursue our emissions targets for agriculture, according to a new report.
Mangroves' overlooked climate role
30 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s mangrove forests are pulling tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year, yet their climate benefits remain unrecognised in national emissions reporting.
How flying can be a climate solution
16 Jun 2025
By Paul Callister and Robert McLachlan - Planetary Ecology | How can aviation contribute to tackling climate change when no practicable technology-based solutions are on the horizon?
Emissions Trading Scheme needs deep reform - commissioner
Fri 11 Jul 2025
The government’s attempt to limit forestry conversions on rural land is unlikely to lead to meaningful change, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
Tue 8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
