New Zealand: All stories
Officials vow to step up work on climate change
13 Oct 2017
New Zealand might not have an elected government just now, but officials are promising to step up on climate change.
Is your Auckland rooftop suitable for solar?
13 Oct 2017
Got a roof in Auckland? A new computer tool will help you to figure out how many solar panels will fit on it and the economics of installing the system.
Fossil fuels win billions in public money after Paris pact
13 Oct 2017
Billions of dollars of public money was sunk in new fossil fuel projects by the world’s major development banks in the year after the Paris climate change deal was agreed, according to campaigners.
UK and Canada lay down coal power challenge
13 Oct 2017
The UK and Canada challenge other nations to join them in committing to end coal power generation, saying “we are doing our part”.
SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY: Many uses of captured CO2
13 Oct 2017
When you get into bed tonight, curling up on your memory foam mattress and fluffy pillows, you could be helping to reduce climate change.
You can put a price on a tree (even though it's priceless)
13 Oct 2017
What is something worth? How do you put a dollar value on something like a river, a forest or a reef?
MEMO MPs: The country needs a climate commission
12 Oct 2017
Politicians negotiating to form a new government have again been told that action on climate change is a priority for business and society.
NZ all talk on farm emissions, says UK climate chief
12 Oct 2017
New Zealand is not playing the leading role in research into reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture that it says it is, says the head of the United Kingdom’s Climate Committee.
'Carbon sucking' technology a must by 2030s
12 Oct 2017
Large-scale projects to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere will be needed by the 2030s to hold the line against climate change, scientists have said.
BLOWN AWAY: It could be one wind farm to rule them all
12 Oct 2017
The entire world could be powered by one deep-sea wind farm stretching across the North Atlantic.
Why National should lead on climate commission
11 Oct 2017
The National Party should support a climate commission, says a former Conservative British Cabinet minister.
Westpac backs climate commission and budget
11 Oct 2017
Westpac supports New Zealand adopting a United Kingdom-style climate commission and budget setting.
EY finds smart investors dodging carbon exposure
11 Oct 2017
Two-thirds of the investors surveyed by international accountancy company EY have already changed their investments because of carbon exposure.
Big banks slow to track emissions portfolios
11 Oct 2017
The World Bank is aiming to put 28 per cent of its funding into climate-related projects by 2020. But it does not track the greenhouse gas emissions of its portfolio, let alone have a target to reduce them.
FIRE FACT: Heat goes on the East Coast
10 Oct 2017
A large swathe of the East Coast will be at risk of fire for at least half of the year by the end of the century, a conference in Auckland has heard.
Toyota urges NZ to get out of big-emitting cars
10 Oct 2017
New Zealanders are buying bigger cars, damaging the country’s chances of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, say Toyota New Zealand chief Alistair Davis.
Jobs, tax and politics ... three ways e-cars will change us
10 Oct 2017
Vehicle manufacturers, the oil industry and governments are starting to wake up to the disruption that electric cars could bring about.
Six Nobel prizes – what’s the fascination with the fruit fly?
10 Oct 2017
Drosophila share 60 per cent of human DNA, making them perfect for research that has led to vital strides in treating many ills. Now, scientists in the field have won yet another Nobel.
Climatecoin lines up the carbon markets
9 Oct 2017
Blockchain – the technology developed by cryptocurrency pioneer Bitcoin to knock financial intermediaries out of transactions – has the carbon markets in its sights.
Emissions from warming soils could trigger disaster
9 Oct 2017
Warming soils are releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than previously thought, suggesting a potentially disastrous feedback mechanism.
Feeding grain to farm animals to hit $1tn a year
9 Oct 2017
The global practice of feeding human foods, such as grain and soya, to farm animals will cost us $1.32 trillion a year by 2050, according to environmental campaigners.
My company's carbon footprint is the size of a small country
9 Oct 2017
Global businesses are, quite rightly, under scrutiny for what they are doing to tackle challenges such as climate change and poverty, writes STEPHEN BADGER, chairman of Mars Inc.
NZ cuts climate aid to Pacific, says report
6 Oct 2017
New Zealand is being accused of cutting climate finance to the Pacific.
SHINING EXAMPLE: Solar power fastest-growing energy source
6 Oct 2017
Solar power was the fastest-growing source of new energy worldwide last year, outstripping the growth in all other forms of power generation for the first time.
Ford to cut costs and back trucks and electric cars
6 Oct 2017
Ford plans to slash $14 billion in costs over the next five years and shift capital investment away from sedans and internal combustion engines to develop more trucks and electric and hybrid cars.
Stormy outlook for insurance-linked securities
6 Oct 2017
Recent extreme weather events highlight the significant changes have taken place in the insurance and reinsurance sectors to cope with the mounting exposure of private and public sectors to disaster risk.
Why we need a carbon price of $100 ... or more
5 Oct 2017
Carbon prices of $100 a tonne - and possibly as high as $225 – are being foreshadowed in a new report.
WATCHDOG WARNS: Act now or face 'great risk'
5 Oct 2017
New Zealand will be stuck with high-emitting technologies if it doesn’t move to cut emissions soon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is warning.
Factory farming is a threat to all life on the planet
5 Oct 2017
The world desperately needs joined-up action on industrial farming if it is to avoid catastrophic impacts on life on earth, according to the head of one of the world’s most highly regarded animal campaign groups.
Why eating grass-fed beef isn’t going to help fight climate
5 Oct 2017
Beef gets a bad press, environmentally speaking. We’re bombarded with reports of its high carbon footprint accompanied by images of belching cows and devastated rainforests.
Plant pines on public land, says Bluegreens chief
4 Oct 2017
The head of the National Party’s Bluegreens policy advisory group says pine trees should be planted on Department of Conservation land to offset New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
How we can meet food demand and still hit 1.5deg target
4 Oct 2017
Carbon emissions from agriculture can be significantly cut while still meeting the food demands of the world’s growing population, a new study says.
FASHION FUTURE: Polyester will just keep on keeping on
4 Oct 2017
Scientists in Hong Kong have developed new technology that enables polyester to be harvested from unwanted textiles and recycled into new clothes.
Dairy group backs big climate change targets
3 Oct 2017
A dairy industry group supports carbon budgeting and the concept of a climate commission, and says New Zealand should be carbon neutral.
It's a big task keeping aircraft running in a warming world
3 Oct 2017
Climate change is forcing airport planners to rethink plane and runway design, since many of them are susceptible to excessive heat and at risk of sea level rise from coasts and rivers.
How electric cars can be recharged for free
3 Oct 2017
Electric car owners in the UK will be paid for letting an energy company use their vehicle’s battery.
E-vehicles could lead to more use of fossil fuels
2 Oct 2017
New Zealand will have to use fossil fuel-generated electricity to charge electric cars if it’s not careful, Canterbury electricity distribution company Orion is warning.
NZ safe from global animal emissions discovery
2 Oct 2017
New research showing the impact of methane from agriculture has been under-estimated doesn’t affect New Zealand greenhouse gas measurements.
Livestock emit more methane than we thought
2 Oct 2017
Global emissions of methane from livestock are larger than previously thought, scientists have said.
The Plutocene is waiting ... and it isn't pretty
2 Oct 2017
Beyond the Anthropocene – the geological epoch marked by humankind’s fingerprint on the planet – lies an even more hostile era of our own making.
It's about more than politics
29 Sep 2017
The next three years are more than an electoral cycle; they make up the period that could determine – quite literally – what sort of world we live in. And that’s what should be on the minds of politicians jockeying to form the next government.
Z Energy backs car-sharing company
29 Sep 2017
Z Energy is investing in the carbon-positive car-sharing company Mevo.
CARBON CALM: Worldwide emissions stood still in 2016
29 Sep 2017
Global emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide remained static in 2016, a welcome sign that the world is making at least some progress in the battle against global warming.
Tropical forests no longer doing the carbon job
29 Sep 2017
Tropical forests now emit more carbon than they are able to absorb from the atmosphere as a result of the dual effects of deforestation and land degradation, a new study says.
Europe gives diesel $11bn a year in tax breaks
29 Sep 2017
Diesel fuel, a major cause of toxic air pollution in cities, was handed $NZ34 billion in tax breaks in the EU between 2014 and 2016, new research has found.
E-vehicle policy lacking, say transport officials
28 Sep 2017
A second government department has said New Zealand’s current electric vehicle policy won’t get people out of fossil fuel-driven cars.
CUTTING EDGE: Meet the mean, green (electric) mower
28 Sep 2017
Carbon South director BRUCE SCOTT featured in yesterday’s Carbon News calling for carbon credits to be issued for projects that cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. He’s got other ideas, too, about ways to cut emissions, including mowing public parks with electric mowers.
EasyJet backs plans for electric planes
28 Sep 2017
EasyJet is backing plans to develop commercial passenger aircraft powered by electric batteries instead of conventional aero engines.
Carbon credits key to finding project capital
27 Sep 2017
Issuing carbon credits for schemes that cut greenhouse gas emissions could tip the balance in favour of projects like public transport, a consultant says.
Getting energy from water evaporation is not just hot air
27 Sep 2017
Harvesting power from naturally evaporating water could become a new form of renewable energy, according to an American study.
Local govt shake-up risks weakened environmental outcomes – Commissioner
Fri 27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s push to simplify local government is "deeply flawed" and has been launched without a clear understanding of which functions must remain regional, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Govt plan to encourage new energy investment won’t cut costs for ordinary Kiwis
Thu 26 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | While gentailers and major energy users have welcomed the Government’s plan to leverage public sector demand to drive new energy projects, an expert says it is unlikely to reduce prices for ordinary people.
Govt's solar on farms initiative to cut costs, boost resilience
17 Feb 2026
Farms across Aotearoa will begin installing solar panels and battery systems as part of a government-backed demonstration programme designed to test whether on-farm renewable energy can reduce electricity costs and improve energy security for the food and fibre sector.
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.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
Today 12:30pm
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Tairāwhiti needs proper Govt support to heal the land – not empty announcements for political optics
24 Feb 2026
OPINION: The Government’s answer to Tairāwhiti’s severe erosion crisis – that the region apply for modest, contestable funding rounds – while rejecting the region's own land transition business case, leaves our long-term resilience hanging in the balance, writes Manu Caddie.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
