New Zealand: Politics
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.
Lobby adds voice to call for ClimCom's economic modelling
24 Mar 2021
The Taxpayers' Union lobby group has gone to the Ombudsman over access to economic modelling underlying the Climate Change Commission’s draft recommendations.
What lobby groups are asking supporters to say
23 Mar 2021
Lobby groups from Greenpeace to the Taxpayers’ Union are encouraging supporters to make submissions on the ClimCom draft report by using their templates and suggested talking points.
SHAW: No point ignoring ClimCom's views on prices
22 Mar 2021
Climate Minister James Shaw appears likely to back any recommendation from the Climate Change Commission to increase price controls in Government auctions of carbon credits.
Covid knocks climate off Kiwis' priority list
11 Mar 2021
New Zealanders are significantly less concerned about the impact of climate change than they were a year ago, according to a Colmar Brunton survey.
Parliament passes reserve price provision
10 Mar 2021
The first Government auction of carbon credits will go ahead next week with a confidential reserve price in place.
GENESIS: Reserve price will distort the market
9 Mar 2021
Including a confidential reserve price in next week’s Government auction of carbon credits could distort the carbon market, says one of the country’s largest emitters.
Reserve-price bill back before Parliament
8 Mar 2021
The Environment Committee has sent a bill to include a confidential reserve price in the upcoming carbon auction back to Parliament without an amendment asked for by several major market players.
NZUs should be more than $100, MPs told
8 Mar 2021
An umbrella group representing more than 50 environmental organisations says NZUs would trading at more than $100 if the Government set more environmentally realistic limits on the number of units available.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Collins embraces the ETS
26 Feb 2021
National Party leader Judith Collins seems to have abandoned her dismissal of the need for urgent action on climate change – and found a love for the Emissions Trading Scheme.
ClimCom in the hotseat over cost models
25 Feb 2021
The Climate Change Commission’s failure to release all aspects of the models underlying its draft budget dominated Parliament’s Environment Committee this morning.
Don't get this wrong, Contact tells Government
24 Feb 2021
A major emitter wants the country’s first carbon auction delayed, warning that a botched auction could leave the market scrambling for credits.
ClimCom extends submission deadline
24 Feb 2021
The deadline for submissions on the Climate Change Commission’s draft recommendations is being extended.
Ardern takes charge on climate change
12 Feb 2021
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will lead a special ministerial group that will oversee New Zealand’s climate change response.
Action on auction bill
11 Feb 2021
Carbon market participants have 10 days to have a say on plans to include a confidential price reserve in the country’s new auctioning regime.
Nats to Shaw: Why the late change, Minister?
10 Feb 2021
The National Party says it will support sending a law to stop gaming of the carbon markets to a select committee, but wants to know how the Government got itself in such a pickle.
Watts’s last stand: Simeon Brown takes energy portfolio
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Energy Minister Simon Watts has lost the portfolio to Cabinet fixer Simeon Brown in a reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this morning.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
Annual emissions fell to lowest in 15 years in Sept 2025
5 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to their lowest annual total in the year to September 2025 since records began 2010, according to Statistics New Zealand data published this morning.
Momentum speeds up for low-emissions heavy transport
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s heavy vehicle sector is starting to move toward lower-emissions alternatives, with electric vehicles now delivering cost savings as well as lower emissions.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Businesses look for ways to cut costs in response to oil shock
Wed 1 Apr 2026
New Zealand’s small and medium-sized businesses are looking for ways to ease the pressure as global tensions see rising fossil fuel prices and diminishing supply, with decision-makers mulling measures including work-from-home polices and transport or logistics changes.
