News Direct: All stories
10 YEARS AGO...
7 Sep 2021
Ten years ago, the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, congratulated New Zealand on its ETS saying it was one of the first countries outside of Europe to take action on climate change.
Coal will wreck havoc on Australian economy: UN
7 Sep 2021
Climate change will “wreak havoc” across the Australian economy if coal is not rapidly phased out, a senior UN official warned on Monday.
10 YEARS AGO...
6 Sep 2021
Ten years ago, the decision by Australian police not to charge an MP with fraud over the use of a work credit card to hire a prostitute was reported to have saved a proposed carbon tax.
Indigenous peoples call for an end to "fortress conservation"
6 Sep 2021
Media Release - The world’s first Congress to decolonize conservation has ended with a series of speakers calling for an end to “fortress conservation,” and for full recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Air quality improvements from COVID lockdowns confirmed
6 Sep 2021
Media Release - COVID-19 lockdowns brought rapid and “unprecedented” improvements in air quality in some parts of the world - but not enough to halt climate change caused by global warming, UN weather experts said on Friday.
10 YEARS AGO...
3 Sep 2021
Ten years ago, Waikato University opened its Environmental Research Institute. (Today it's launching the country's first undergraduate degree in climate change.)
10 YEARS AGO...
2 Sep 2021
Ten years ago, the Australian Government announced $35.2 million in funding to green-up 90 buildings across the nation. The money came from the Gillard government's Green Building Fund and the Tax Breaks for Green Buildings Program.
10 YEARS AGO...
1 Sep 2021
Ten years ago, new rules for measuring the carbon stored in forests came into force.
10 YEARS AGO...
30 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, Genesis Energy was reporting it was ahead of schedule in cutting greenhouse gases from its emissions with a 30% reduction on the year before.
10 YEARS AGO...
27 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, scientists revealed that climate change was leading to animals and plant habitats moving from the equator towards the poles at the equivalent of around 20cm per hour, for every hour of the day, for every day of the year.
Hamilton to spend $50 million to slash car reliance
27 Aug 2021
A startling 64% of Hamilton’s carbon emissions come from transport, and Hamilton City Council has a plan to change that.
10 YEARS AGO...
26 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, Australia passed legislation establishing a regulated market for carbon offsets.
10 YEARS AGO...
25 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, the UN released a report saying investing in ecosystems woud boost food security, improve resilience to climate change and provide economic benefits for poor communities. (Not sure whether anyone listened.)
New electric buses for Wellington
25 Aug 2021
Metlink is on track to becoming the lowest carbon emissions network in the country, as a new tranche of 10 electric vehicles (EVs) started rolling out on the road this week.
10 YEARS AGO...
24 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, a local manufacturer of wind turbines said the decision of state-owned energy companies to buy subsidised wind turbines from offshore had killed off local manufacturing.
10 YEARS AGO...
20 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, NZ carbon emitters went on a buying spree as prices tumbled following a big fall in the price of European credits.
10 YEARS AGO...
19 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, the editor of a building research magazine, Richard Lorch, predicted greenhouse gas emissions from buildings would be a key battleground in the fight against climate change.
10 YEARS AGO...
18 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, with agricultural scheduled to join the ETS in four years time, the then minister in charge of climate negotiations said measuring greenhouse gas emissions on an intensity basis was an attractive idea.
10 YEARS AGO...
17 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation were at their lowest in a decade, and the then Climate Issues minister, Nick Smith, claimed it due to the ETS.
Canterbury offers NZ's first undergraduate sustainability degree
17 Aug 2021
Media Release - Business leaders are welcoming Aotearoa New Zealand’s first undergraduate sustainability degree, saying the sector is crying out for more expertise as it faces new targets and competing goals.
10 YEARS AGO...
16 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, the Green Party was criticising the then National Government for not attending a forum on smart transport for Auckland.
10 YEARS AGO...
13 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority said driving the first mass-produced EV on sale in New Zealand was like buying petrol at 26 cents a litre.
Auckland Council endorses fossil fuel divestment policy
13 Aug 2021
Media Release - Auckland Council's Environment and Climate Change Committee yesterday unanimously endorsed the C40 Cities Divest/Invest Declaration, reaffirming its policy of not investing in companies involved in the production of fossil fuels and committing to championing investments in the green economy
Auckland Universtiiy building project tops green ratings
13 Aug 2021
The University of Auckland’s Social Sciences Building has been awarded 93 points by the New Zealand Green Building Council achieving a 6 Green Star Design rating. This is the highest score awarded since the inception of the rating, putting the building in the ‘world leadership’ category.
10 YEARS AGO...
12 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, the then acting minister of energy Hekia Parata announced an increase to the number of homes that could be fitted with clean heating devices under the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart and Clean Heat scheme.
Genesis to add solar power to energy portfolio
12 Aug 2021
Media Release - Genesis Energy has signalled its intent to develop solar as part its renewable generation programme.
Contact and Genesis announce long-term renewable electricity agreement
12 Aug 2021
Media Release - Contact Energy is set to supply Genesis Energy with renewable electricity for 15 years from 2025, as part of a new, long-term power purchase agreement after key terms were signed yesterday.
10 YEARS AGO...
11 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, carbon was selling for $15 a tonne on the New Zealand secondary market.
Growing number of Wellingtonians going by bike
11 Aug 2021
Media Release - The number of Wellingtonians commuting by bike continues to grow with the latest data showing more people than ever riding into the central city during the busy morning peak
10 YEARS AGO...
10 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, Japanese businessmen started ditching their ties in a climate change inspired effort to reduce the use of air conditioning.
Climate change policy farmers' number one concern
10 Aug 2021
Media Release - Asked to identify their three greatest concerns in a recent survey, farmers listed climate change policy and the ETS (chosen by 18.5% of respondents), followed by regulation and compliance costs (17.1%), and freshwater policy (11.0%).
10 YEARS AGO...
9 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, one of the discoverers of plate tectonics, Professor Peter Barrett, said the public was having a harder time accepting the reality of climate change than they had accepting his ground-shifting research on the cause of earthquakes.
Greater Wellington welcomes free bus proposal
9 Aug 2021
Media Release - Greater Wellington councillors welcomed strong representation from Pôneke Collective, a broad coalition of students and welfare groups seeking more equitable access to public transport, at last week's Transport Committee meeting.
10 YEARS AGO...
6 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, the price of CERs (Certified Emissions Reduction certificate) tumbled from 13 Euros to just nine in under a week.
Aussie Govt allows renewable energy agency to invest in fossil fuels
6 Aug 2021
Media Release - The Federal Government has damaged the integrity of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) by changing its remit so that it can invest in fossil fuels.
10 YEARS AGO...
5 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, 67% of businesses making submissions to a review of the ETS were supportive of the scheme. Just two years earlier 78% of businesses had opposed the introduction of the ETS.
NZ's only climate venture fund makes first investment ...in Australia
5 Aug 2021
Media Release - Climate Venture Capital Fund, New Zealand’s only dedicated climate-change venture capital fund, has made its first investment.
Climate change with a supernatural twist
5 Aug 2021
Media Release - The Forgotten Ones is a new series of novels that imagines our children’s children’s future. Climate change has dramatically altered the entire earth and humans are on the verge of extinction. Heeding the call of a mysterious force, Maia must make her way from Aotearoa to the Arctic Circle in search of a better future.
10 YEARS AGO...
4 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, the then climate change minister Nick Smith asked officials to take another look at the New Zealand's ETS in response to news that Australia was about to introduce a carbon tax followed by its own ETS in 2015.
Climate change business conference announced
4 Aug 2021
Media Release - The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and the Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) have joined forces with the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) to take the 2021 Climate Change and Business Conference - Now to Net Zero, to a new level.
Investors sought for carbon cutting cooling technology
4 Aug 2021
Introducing Eco2Dairy; Cold Energy Technology’s latest piece of innovative cooling technology, capable of reducing New Zealand’s dairy farming carbon footprint by 263,250 tonnes of CO2e per year.
10 YEARS AGO...
3 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, British electricity generators were paying 16 pounds a tonne for carbon – nearly twice the then price of carbon in New Zealand.
Kapiti embeds climate into decsion making
3 Aug 2021
Media Release - Kapiti Coast District Council’s adoption of a Climate Emergency Action Framework means thinking about climate change will be even more firmly embedded in all Council decisions.
10 YEARS AGO...
2 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, government officials were reporting that emitters had responded well to the first round of returns under the ETS.
Hamilton cyclists in for a smoother ride
2 Aug 2021
Media Release - People on bikes are set for a smoother ride through the city with the introduction of specialist sweeping machines, made specifically for cycle lanes.
Two new cycle bridges over Northern Motorway
2 Aug 2021
Media Release - The opening of two bridges over Auckland’s Northern Motorway is the last link of a cycling and walking route which provides a safe, active alternative for students and commuters, Transport Minister Michael Wood said yesterday.
10 YEARS AGO...
30 Jul 2021
Ten years ago, the then UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon officially started the one-year countdown clock for the following year's Olympic Games in London - dedicated to the goal of sustainability.
IGCC 2021 Climate Awards entries are open
30 Jul 2021
Media Release - The Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) is excited to announce the Climate Awards are now open for entries.
10 YEARS AGO...
29 Jul 2021
Ten years ago, climate change denier Viscount Christopher Monckton announced he had sold out a talk at the Northern Club in Auckland.
New courses focus on climate action, activism and creating vision
Fri 12 Sep 2025
Media release | Dark Times Academy’s final lineup of courses for 2025, launching in mid-September, will focus on taking action on climate, learning about practical activism, and creating visions for the future.
