New Zealand: Politics
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.
Banks add climate clause to new loan agreements
3 Apr 2009
Banks are writing climate change clauses into their loan agreements.
Business leaders welcome multi-party deal talks on ETS
3 Apr 2009
Business leaders are welcoming statements by the National, Labour and Green parties that they are prepared to discuss a multi-party deal on an emissions trading law.
NZ carbon price cap backward step, says trader
31 Mar 2009
Capping New Zealand carbon prices as part of harmonising an emissions trading scheme with Australia would be a backward step, says a leading trader.
No hurry on methane emissions, says Groser
31 Mar 2009
Trade and Associate Climate Change Minister Tim Groser says that with no technology available to counter agricultural methane emissions, New Zealand will not push the case just for a 'first' on emissions trading.
ETS review hearings start on Thursday
31 Mar 2009
The ETS review committee will begin hearing submissions on Thursday morning, with the list of those who will be presenting being provided to committee members tonight.
National-Labour-Green deal possible on ETS
27 Mar 2009
The National Government could have a majority for a revised emissions trading scheme without the Act Party.
Energy leader backs cross-party action on ETS
27 Mar 2009
The prospect of cross-party support for an emissions trading scheme is being welcomed by energy infrastructure company Vector.
ETS hearings timetable out today
27 Mar 2009
Submitters to the ETS review committee should know later today the timetable for submission hearings.
Insurers work through climate disasters liability
27 Mar 2009
The insurance industry is grappling with the issue of how to insure against carbon lost through fires, biosecurity breaches, cyclones and other disasters.
Energy leader calls for carbon tax solution
24 Mar 2009
New Zealand’s largest domestically owned and operated energy company is calling for the government to postpone the emissions trading scheme and reconsider a carbon tax.
Harmonising Tasman emissions schemes could mean massive losses
24 Mar 2009
Harmonising the Australian and New Zealand emissions trading schemes could cause massive losses for forestry firms here and bring fuels into the scheme six months early.
NZ business leaders slow on carbon market uptake
24 Mar 2009
TZ1 chief Mark Franklin says that New Zealand businesses are slow at coming to terms with carbon markets.
Bill to ban new coal mines fails at first reading
Fri 24 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A bid to outlaw new coal mines was defeated at its first hurdle in Parliament this week, after a heated debate pitting climate imperatives against energy security and affordability.
Council buys dairy farm to help clean up Lake Rotorua
Tue 21 Oct 2025
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has bought a 266-hectare dairy farm in the Lake Rotorua catchment and plans to retire it from production to reduce nitrogen entering the lake.
Emissions down slightly - Stats NZ
Fri 24 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Greenhouse gas emissions fell 1.5% in the June 2025 quarter, although the decline seems to reflect the economy continuing to contract rather than Aoteoroa inching towards decarbonisation goals.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
Wed 22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
Emails show forestry lobby fought Gisborne crackdown as slash clean-up drags on
26 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Sustainable land use advocates are accusing Eastland Wood Council of stonewalling efforts to tighten forestry rules, after correspondence between the group and the local council was released under the Official Information Act.
Govt to ease climate reporting thresholds, water down liability
Wed 22 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The rollback of climate change reporting requirements has produced a wave of relief in corporate New Zealand as managed investment funds and listed companies with annual revenue under $1 billion are exempted.
