News Direct: Media releases
Marae to install emergency pods
20 Dec 2023
Media Release: Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu | As flooding events become more frequent and the threat of an Alpine Fault rupture looms, 24 marae across Te Waipounamu (South Island) are enhancing their emergency preparedness.
First comprehensive survey of electricity consumer behaviour
19 Dec 2023
Media Release | Consumer Advocacy Council - One third of consumers and small businesses are thinking about buying an electric vehicle in the next 12 months, and nearly a third of households on mains gas are likely to switch to electric appliances in the next five to 10 years.
Fifty freshwater experts and leaders urge Christopher Luxon not to make a “terrible mistake” on clean drinking water and healthy rivers
18 Dec 2023
Media release | Fifty freshwater experts and leaders from around the country have sent an open letter to Prime Minister Luxon urging him and his new coalition government not to touch the country’s national freshwater policy.
NZ’s Climate Venture Capital Fund releases inaugural report
12 Dec 2023
Media Release | The Climate Venture Capital Fund has published its inaugural impact report, marking firsts for the VC sector and for climate reporting in New Zealand.
Urine sensors for cattle to reduce nitrogen loss
11 Dec 2023
Media release | It’s a 'wee' issue but with a big environmental impact; and a new award-winning technology developed by AgResearch may help farmers to address it.
'Silent devastation' of drought set to increase globally under climate change
5 Dec 2023
Media Release | Droughts will become more frequent and more severe under climate change, according to a report launched at the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
Progress towards Canterbury's Climate Action Plan
30 Nov 2023
Media release | The Canterbury Mayoral Forum endorsed a collective funding approach to regional climate actions during a meeting on Friday 24 November.
New VCMI guidance opens door for corporate carbon credit claims
29 Nov 2023
Media Release | The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) has today released additional guidance for its Claims Code of Practice (Claims Code), enabling companies to make claims about their use of high-quality carbon credits.
Fly-in fly-out MPs urged to save money and the environment
24 Nov 2023
Media release | Greater Wellington chair Daran Ponter has sent new Members of Parliament a Snapper card, preloaded with $20, to jump on board Metlink’s Airport Express as they travel between the Beehive and boarding gate.
Mercury Kaiwera Downs windfarm opens
22 Nov 2023
Media release | Mercury has cut the ribbon to celebrate stage one of the Kaiwera Downs Windfarm coming online.
Climate adaptation planning: “Strengthen community engagement,” says Helen Clark Foundation and WSP
21 Nov 2023
Media release | A new report from the Helen Clark Foundation and engineering consultants WSP is calling for significant change to the way communities are engaged in climate adaptation planning.
New Zealand’s largest insurer calls on new government to prioritise flood resilience
21 Nov 2023
Media Release | The economic toll of our summer of storms continues to mount, with insurance payouts now topping $1 billion, a number second only to the Christchurch earthquakes, AMI, State and NZI can reveal.
Majority of New Zealanders want public transport discounts to stay
16 Nov 2023
Press release - A new poll has found that 71% of New Zealanders want to keep the current public transport discounts. 50% strongly agree the discounts should be kept.
Forest & Bird backs action to stop mining on Coromandel conservation land
14 Nov 2023
Media release | Coromandel-based anti-mining group Ours Not Mines is in the High Court today challenging the Hauraki District Council’s decision to give OceanaGold – a large international mining company – access into nationally significant Coromandel public conservation land for only $1 per year.
Oxfam joins calls for New Zealand to support fossil fuel free Pacific
9 Nov 2023
Media release | Oxfam is backing calls from Pacific leaders for the New Zealand and Australian governments to endorse the Port Vila Call for a Just Transition to a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific, a top agenda item at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.
Landfill has a new front-end loader – and it’s fully electric
7 Nov 2023
The recently introduced front-end loader at Wellington’s Southern Landfill is the first of its kind at a landfill in New Zealand, and will reduce emissions by up to 15 percent on the site.
New tech to boost emissions reduction effort
6 Nov 2023
Media release | Ground-breaking new portable technology to measure methane emissions from cattle “on farm” will bolster efforts to reduce the climate change impact from livestock in New Zealand and overseas.
Scholarship awarded for world first climate change degree
1 Nov 2023
Media release - A Mount Maunganui-based university student is the first recipient of the Toi Moana Climate Change Scholarship, awarded by Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
‘It’s just how life is here’: Children in Vanuatu devastated by early return of cyclone season
30 Oct 2023
Media release | Category Five Tropical Cyclone Lola in Vanuatu has claimed at least two lives and caused widespread, severe damage to hundreds of homes, schools and food gardens in a country still reeling from the category four twin cyclones that devastated the country in March 2023.
AgriZeroNZ appoints Wayne McNee as chief executive
25 Oct 2023
Media release | AgriZeroNZ, the public-private joint venture helping farmers reduce their emissions, has appointed Wayne McNee as its chief executive.
10% of wilderness outside of Antarctica may be threatened by agriculture as the climate warms
20 Oct 2023
Media release | Expansions in crop farming across the globe are the biggest driving force of biodiversity loss in the wild. Now, in a new study publishing in the journal Current Biology on November 6, researchers have modeled how the world’s agricultural landscape could change over the next 40 years.
Sea-level rise likely to skyrocket if Paris Agreement targets not met
19 Oct 2023
Media release | The Greenland ice sheet is projected to undergo abrupt losses due to melting if global warming exceeds temperatures of around 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures, according to a modelling study published in Nature.
Sustainable Business Network calls on incoming govt to step up
18 Oct 2023
The Sustainable Business Network is calling on the incoming Government to keep up action on sustainability.
Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission encourages regional action to enhance forestry management
9 Oct 2023
Media release | The Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission is calling for regional action to enhance the management of nearly 20% of global forests.
New UN report previews 'blueprint' for decision on global stocktake at COP28
5 Oct 2023
Media release | A new synthesis report designed to help governments reach a decision on the global stocktake at COP28 has been published by UN Climate Change.
New Zealand’s warmest September on record
4 Oct 2023
The nationwide average temperature in September 2023 was 11.9°C. This was 1.3°C above the 1991-2020 September average, making it Aotearoa New Zealand’s warmest September since NIWA’s seven station temperature series began in 1909.
Programme turns slash into cash
3 Oct 2023
Media release - An Edmund Hillary Fellow and Social Entrepreneur from Botswana has teamed up with EIT | Te Pukenga to help the Tairāwhiti and Wairoa communities eliminate slash and create business opportunities.
Eight of 10 warmest years in New Zealand recorded in last decade
28 Sep 2023
Media release - Eight out of the 10 warmest years ever recorded in Aotearoa New Zealand up to 2022 have been within the last decade, according to data released by Stats NZ.
Cyclone impacts on grid highlights importance of resilience planning
27 Sep 2023
Media release - The Commerce Commission says the impacts on households and business customers from electricity outages following Cyclone Gabrielle highlight the need for a ‘new normal’ in asset management planning and investment strategies.
Kāpiti Council sets up climate change and resilience community ‘think tank’
26 Sep 2023
Media release - Kāpiti Coast District Council is setting up a think tank to help develop a climate change and resilience strategy, and is looking for applicants from the community.
Mercury confirms $220m expansion of Ngā Tamariki geothermal station
22 Sep 2023
Media release - Mercury Energy has confirmed a $220 million expansion of its Ngā Tamariki geothermal station, part of its signalled total commitment of up to $1 billion investment in generation expected in the 2024 financial year.
The Warehouse Group and Lodestone Energy sign solar deal
19 Sep 2023
Media release | The Warehouse Group and Lodestone Energy have signed a historic long-term agreement that will see more than 260 sites across Aotearoa New Zealand become powered by Lodestone Energy’s new solar plan as early as 2026.
NZ green investment finance provides $15m debt facility to fund Lightyears Solar’s future farms
18 Sep 2023
Lightyears Solar has received $15 million from New Zealand Green Investment Finance to help finance construction of a pipeline of consented, ground-mounted solar farm projects.
On-farm solar energy could significantly increase profits for sheep farmers
14 Sep 2023
Media release - Adding solar panels to sheep and beef farms could improve their profitability, and environmental and animal welfare outcomes, finds new research.
Ara Ake to administer new $20 million distributed flexibility innovation fund
11 Sep 2023
Media release - Ara Ake, Aotearoa New Zealand's Future Energy Centre, will help run and administer the government’s new Distributed Flexibility Innovation Fund to support the electricity system to manage demand.
European Energy Exchange launches Global Carbon Index Family
7 Sep 2023
Media release | The European Energy Exchange (EEX) has launched its Global Carbon Index (GCI) Family, offering a comprehensive view into the rapidly evolving global carbon markets. The new index bundle will introduce the EEX GCI Core, and the EEX GCI Extended.
RBNZ releases results of industry climate survey
6 Sep 2023
Media release | The Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te Pūtea Matua has published a Bulletin article highlighting high level results from a survey of prudentially regulated entities on climate change.
NIWA forecasts early and long-lasting ozone hole
5 Sep 2023
Media release | NIWA scientists are predicting that this year’s ozone hole will stay around for longer than usual, potentially lasting into early summer.
Government backs climate-resilient pasture programme
31 Aug 2023
Breeding pasture designed to thrive in a changing climate is the focus of a new ‘Pasture Accelerator’ programme backed by the Government, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced.
NZGIF supports Eastland Generation with up to $25m in long term lending
30 Aug 2023
Media Release | NZGIF will supply up to $25m to fund the construction of connection assets for the new ~50MW TOPP2 geothermal plant.
Tackling New Zealand’s 220,000 tonne textile problem
29 Aug 2023
Media release - With New Zealand Fashion Week happening this week, a group of waste and textile experts are calling on the industry to start the conversation about what to do with more than 220,000 tonnes of clothes and textiles thrown out each year.
Emperor penguin colonies experiencing 'complete breeding failure' due to climate change
25 Aug 2023
Media release - Emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica are experiencing complete breeding failure, according to international researchers who say this is a direct consequence of the unprecedented loss of sea ice recorded in the region in recent years due to climate change.
Conservation Authority calls on politicians to address climate and biodiversity crises
22 Aug 2023
Media release - NZ Conservation Authority | In advance of the election, the New Zealand Conservation Authority is challenging political parties to tell New Zealanders how they will be addressing the combined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.
Researchers call for the urgent expansion of Southern Ocean science
21 Aug 2023
Hundreds of international scientists are sounding a clarion call for urgent expansion of Southern Ocean science in the emerging climate crisis.
No battery left behind in NZ’s first nationwide end to end recycling solution
3 Aug 2023
Media release | A one hundred percent Kiwi, privately owned recycling company has become the very first New Zealand business to offer an end-to-end nationwide ‘all waste batteries’ recycling solution.
Over 11 million children born during world’s hottest month on record
2 Aug 2023
Media release - Save The Children | About 11.2 million children were born in July 2023 which is expected to be the hottest month ever recorded on earth, said Save the Children, as the climate crisis threatens to undo decades of progress in children’s rights and wellbeing, including the fight against hunger.
Hottest July ever signals ‘era of global boiling has arrived’ says UN chief
28 Jul 2023
Media release - As wildfires raged across Southern Europe and North Africa, top UN climate scientists said on Thursday that it was “virtually certain” that July 2023 will be the warmest on record.
NZGIF invests $15m in Lodestone Energy for five solar farms
27 Jul 2023
Media release - NZGIF will supply up to $15m in working capital to Lodestone Energy, to further support the construction of five solar farms in New Zealand.
Financial Markets Authority publishes scenario analysis for climate related disclosures regime
20 Jul 2023
Media release - The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko – has released its scenario analysis information sheet to help climate reporting entities (CREs) meet their obligations under the Climate-Related Disclosures (CRD) regime.
Surge in renewable energy deployment puts global power system on track for net-zero
19 Jul 2023
Media release - New analysis reveals surging solar, wind and battery capacity out to 2030 is now in line with the IEA’s ambitious net-zero scenarios.
Legal experts sue Climate minister over ‘glaring holes’ in climate plan
Wed 11 Jun 2025
By Liz Kivi | Legal experts are taking the government to court over its Emissions Reduction Plan, alleging it fails to fulfil basic requirements of the law – with one of the arguments focussing on an over-reliance on tree-planting.
Electric firebricks: decarbonising high-temperature industrial heat
Fri 13 Jun 2025
By Ian Mason | A new technology could offer a more cost-effective solution than hydrogen to decarbonise one ‘hard-to-abate’ sector of New Zealand’s economy, as well as having ample potential for demand response as the electricity grid becomes more renewable.
Flurry of govt announcements at Fieldays
Thu 12 Jun 2025
The government has come up with a solar energy package for farms, a new grass-fed certification scheme for meat and dairy, and a supplier agreement for carpets in new state homes - all part of the annual flurry of politicians’ Fieldays announcements.
Tech alone won’t save us, warns climate expert
4 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Technology alone won't be enough to reach net zero emissions, environmental psychologist Lorraine Whitmarsh told the Carbon and Energy Professionals conference in Auckland last week.
“It’s not the car – it’s how we move” – EECA
3 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams| New Zealand’s transport emissions conversation has focused heavily on electric vehicles – but Richard Briggs, group manager, delivery and partnerships at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, says we’re asking the wrong question.
Forestry consents and relaxed rules in erosion zones sow seeds of future disaster
Fri 13 Jun 2025
OPINION: The government’s move to restrict exotic forestry on our best food-growing soils will push even more forestry investment onto high erosion risk land on the East Coast, with the worst land becoming the only land left for the most intensive and destructive land use, writes Manu Caddie
Kiwi cleantech companies on the world stage
27 May 2025
Six New Zealand 'cleantech' companies were in Singapore earlier this month, along with a venture capital firm and the MacDiarmid Institute, to meet investors and multinational partners.
