New Zealand: Politics
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.
Tree loss in tropics casts doubt over climate goals
3 May 2022
Tropical regions of the world lost 11.1 million hectares of forest cover in 2021, new data shows, calling into question global pledges to end deforestation by 2030.
ACT takes aim at National's climate policies
4 Apr 2022
The ACT Party is using National's recruitment of the NZ Initiative's former senior economist and leading proponent of the "leave it to the ETS" school of thought, Matt Burgess, to criticise the opposition party's climate policies.
Minister responds to PCE hydrogen letter
25 Mar 2022
Minister for the environment Megan Woods has thanked the parliamentary commissioner for the environment, Simon Upton, for his letter highlighting concerns about the development of a green hydrogen industry but says the government sees real potential for the gas in New Zealand's energy mix.
NZ Green Investment Finance confident it’s not funding muscle cars
9 Mar 2022
The chief executive of the NZ Green Investment Finance told the Finance and Infrastructure Committee, this morning, that the green bank had sufficient safeguards in place to ensure it didn’t end up funding muscle cars instead of EVs.
Tariffs on 290 environmentally beneficial goods flushed down the loo
4 Mar 2022
A 5% tariff on composting toilets is one of more than 290 tariffs on environmentally beneficial goods flushed down the loo in the recently announced free trade agreement between the UK and New Zealand – but will it really make any difference?
Trickle-down carbon savings celebrated with passing of Clean Car Bill
18 Feb 2022
Parliament heard yesterday that the Clean Car Discount Bill was a gift to low-income families, a tax on hardworking families, the cause of a massive uptick in the sales of high polluting vehicles and the means by which 12 megatons of carbon emissions will be avoided.
Tackling climate change at the core of government's economic strategy: PM
9 Feb 2022
Tackling climate change will be at the core of the government's economic strategy, prime minister Jacinda Ardern declared in her first parliamentary speech of the year yesterday.
Government delays one of its “most significant” climate change policy changes
22 Dec 2021
Cabinet agreed on Monday to delay an amendment to the Resource Management Act that was trumpeted by climate change minister James Shaw as “one of the most significant policy changes to address climate change this term” when it was passed in June last year.
Bluegreens co-chair Scott Simpson returns to climate change role
7 Dec 2021
Scott Simpson, the co-chair of the National Party’s Bluegreen advisory group, is back as the party's climate change spokesperson following the reshuffle by new leader Christopher Luxon.
Law changed to avoid public carrying the cost of oil and gas field clean-ups
6 Dec 2021
The Crown Minerals Act has been amended to avoid the public being left with the bill for the decommissioning of oil and gas fields.
Luxon's climate change credentials
1 Dec 2021
The new leader of the National Party, Christopher Luxon, touted his climate change credentials in his maiden speech.
James Shaw's response to Newsweek article
30 Nov 2021
Climate change minister James Shaw has responded to a Newsweek ranking that placed New Zealand 16th on a list of the 20 least ambitious countries in tackling the climate crises.
Experts, activists say health equity needs more emphasis in fight against climate change
30 Nov 2021
Nearly three decades after the world first came together to address climate change, its impact on human health was a focus of talks this month in Glasgow, Scotland.
Corporate net zero targets: Greenwashing or genuine climate action?
24 Nov 2021
From Big Oil to Big Tech, major companies are promising to go net zero and wash away their carbon sins. But critics say the corporate climate pledges are a smokescreen.
Aotearoa first country to pass climate reporting law
22 Oct 2021
AOTEAROA has become the first country in the world to pass a law requiring companies to disclose climate-related risks and opportunities.
Close to 50% of cars will be ICE vehicles in 2050 under current policy settings
28 Sep 2021
Up to 45% of New Zealand’s light vehicle fleet would remain ICE vehicles in 2050 if the government relied on the Clean Car Discount and Standard alone, the minister of transport, Michael Wood, has said in response to a written question from National’s David Bennett.
Is a climate emergency delayed, a climate emergency denied?
16 Sep 2021
The Government has pushed back its Emission Reduction Plan by five months leading to accusations that its declaration of a climate emergency, last year, was “virtue signalling.”
Latest Energy Quarterly sees NZ breaking all the wrong records
10 Sep 2021
MBIE’s latest Energy Quarterly is a litany of negative records, with coal imports and emissions from electricity generation hitting all time highs, and the share of renewable generation the lowest since 2013.
Questions, questions, questions….
26 Aug 2021
Climate change is the existential question of our age, so it’s hardly surprising it generates more than a few parliamentary written questions…. but too often those questions reveal more about the petty political point scoring of New Zealand politics than the climate emergency.
Emissions reduction consultation document on its way
25 Aug 2021
The government is set to launch a consultation document on its emission reduction plan, possibly as soon as next week.
Public sector ill-prepared for climate change
17 Aug 2021
Eighty-five percent of public organisations responding to a Ministry for the Environment survey admitted to not documenting how climate change will impact their ability to carry out their functions.
First six months of rebate scheme to cost up to $57 million
11 Aug 2021
The Government estimates the first six months of its clean car rebate scheme will cost up to $57 million.
Speaker declines motion to debate IPCC report
11 Aug 2021
It may be, in the words of the UN Secretary-General, a “code red” alert for Planet Earth, but the speaker of the House yesterday declined a motion to debate the IPCC’s latest report.
Minister backs ACC on fossil fuel divestment progress
16 Jul 2021
Calls by activist groups for ACC to immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel companies are likely to fall on deaf ears, if the response from ACC Minister Carmel Sepuloni to a written question from Green MP Julie Anne Genter are anything to go by.
Politicians take to podcasting to tackle climate change
13 Jul 2021
In the first episode of his new podcast, the Backroom of Politics, National’s Gerry Brownlee accuses the Climate Change Commission of activism. In the second he’ll be interviewing the Commission’s chair Dr Rod Carr.
Limits could be placed on NZU stockpiles
9 Jul 2021
Participants in the NZ ETS could have limits set on the number NZUs they are holding and be required to disclose their stockpiles under proposals being considered by the Government.
Could halogen lightbulbs be next?
28 Jun 2021
With the Government announcement that single-use plastic packaging is to be phased out, could a British-style ban on halogen lightbulbs be next?
Calls for disclosure Bill to be widened
25 Jun 2021
In its current form the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Bill would see the Ports of Napier required to disclose its climate risks but not the Ports of Otago, a select committee heard yesterday.
Carbon dividend would be “socially progressive”: Shaw
24 Jun 2021
Climate Change Minister James Shaw told this morning’s Environment Select Committee that using revenues from ETS auctions to pay a carbon dividend would be “socially progressive.”
Simon Upton’s spirited defence of a departure tax
6 May 2021
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, gave a spirited defence of his proposal for a departure tax at today’s Environment Select Committee, despite the Government having ruled it out in the near term.
Ardern touts NZ's climate action at summit
23 Apr 2021
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern used her appearance at President Joe Biden’s virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate Change to extol the virtues of New Zealand’s response to the climate crises.
Departure tax not on the cards
21 Apr 2021
The Government is not currently considering the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's proposal for a departure tax.
Minister responds to climate criticism
20 Apr 2021
Climate Change Minister James Shaw says the Government is considering the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's recommendations - which include a call for a departure tax.
Bill requires finance sector to disclose climate risks
13 Apr 2021
A Bill requiring the financial sector to disclose the impact of climate change on their business and explain how they manage climate-related risks has its first reading in Parliament this week.
Call for finance sector regulation
7 Apr 2021
New regulations requiring the financial sector to disclose the greenhouse gas emission of their investment portfolios are needed, the Sustainable Business Network says in its submission to the Climate Change Commission.
NZ Initiative: leave it to the ETS
6 Apr 2021
An NZU price of $50 is all that’s needed to deliver net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the NZ Initiative.
Be careful with price controls, says Z
31 Mar 2021
Fuel retailer Z Energy says the Climate Commission’s advice on raising the cost containment trigger price of NZUs risks participants stockpiling NZU, affecting liquidity.
Reserve Bank calls for Govt lead on green bonds
30 Mar 2021
Government intervention is likely to be needed to encourage greater investment in green bonds, the Reserve Bank says.
Big methane cut and free public transport needed, expert tells ClimCom
29 Mar 2021
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change author Bronwyn Hayward has told the Climate Change Commission its draft recommendations are not ambitious enough and larger cuts need to be made in biogenic methane emissions.
Contact Energy: Hands-off our Ohaaki
26 Mar 2021
Contact Energy wants all revenues from the Emissions Trading Scheme to be ring-fenced for decarbonisation projects.
MERIDIAN: EVs and low-carbon boilers are key
26 Mar 2021
Meridian Energy has come out in favour of a feebate scheme for electric vehicles and government intervention to speed up the conversion of fossil-fuel boilers to electricity.
Submissions flooding in to ClimCom
26 Mar 2021
The Climate Change Commission has already received more than 6000 submissions in response to its draft report with two days to go until the extended deadline on Sunday.
Luxon touts his climate action at Air NZ
25 Mar 2021
Just one of the three MPs giving maiden speeches given in Parliament yesterday mentioned climate change: Christopher Luxon.
ClimCom plan described as lacking in ambition
24 Mar 2021
Wellington City Council says its emissions reduction targets risk being undermined by the Climate Change Commission’s draft carbon budget.
Robertson: Climate change too big for budget
24 Mar 2021
This year’s Budget won’t include any analysis of the impact of Government policies on climate change, finance minister Grant Robertson says.
Govt redirects energy innovation funding to solar on schools
Today 12:15pm
By Liz Kivi | Schools will save money, have greater energy security, and reduce carbon emissions through a $30 million Government initiative to put solar panels on up to 500 schools across New Zealand, say Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Education Minister Erica Stanford.
Greens condemn planned coal mine next to protected wetland
4 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Green Party says a new plan for a coal mine and fertiliser plant next to an internationally significant wetland is “ecological vandalism and climate denial.”
Carbon removal plans falling billions of tonnes short, experts warn
Today 12:15pm
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand needs to look beyond forestry and rapidly expand other forms of carbon removal to help meet global climate goals, according to a major international report.
Rotorua extends diesel bus contract after NZTA declines extra funding
25 May 2026
By Mathew Nash, Local Democracy Reporter | Rotorua is stuck with its diesel-powered public buses after a funding snag played a part in setting back plans for zero-emission buses by years.
Govt ramps up war on wilding pines with $79m boost
25 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government is ramping up efforts to contain the spread of wilding pines with a $79 million funding boost aimed at protecting farmland, biodiversity hotspots, tourism landscapes and water catchments across New Zealand.
Govt’s LNG plan puts trade deals at risk, lawyers warn
26 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action are warning that the government’s plans for an LNG import terminal and to subsidise gas fields are in breach of New Zealand’s free trade agreements with the UK and the EU.
