New Zealand: All stories
China builds world's biggest solar farm
26 Jan 2017
High on the Tibetan plateau, a giant poster of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, guards the entrance to one of the greatest monuments to Beijing’s quest to become a clean energy colossus.
US faces ‘abrupt and substantial’ crop losses
26 Jan 2017
Harvests in the United States are liable to shrink by between a fifth and a half of their present size because of rising temperatures, an international scientific team has found.
Why do the ecosystems we depend on collapse?
26 Jan 2017
People collapse, buildings collapse, economies collapse and even entire human civilizations collapse. Collapse is also common in the natural world – animal populations and ecosystems collapse.
UAE to spend billions on clean energy
26 Jan 2017
The United Arab Emirates has announced plans to invest $US163 billion in clean energy sources by 2050.
POWER CUTS: Our electricity is producing fewer emissions
25 Jan 2017
The emissions intensity of New Zealand’s electricity dropped to almost record lows at the end of last year.
Deadline looms for say on energy strategy
25 Jan 2017
Anyone with a view on how New Zealand should manage energy production and use has just under two weeks left to have a say.
Paris rolls out driverless bus service to fight pollution
25 Jan 2017
Paris has launched its first driverless electric shuttle bus service, aiming to curb congestion and pollution that many Parisians blame for a whole raft of health complaints.
Exxon predicts 25% rise in energy demand
25 Jan 2017
The world’s biggest oil conglomerate says it expects global energy demand to increase by a quarter in the next 23 years.
Electric vehicles drive to overtake biofuels
25 Jan 2017
By 2040, the number of electric cars in the world could have reached 715 million, says the International Energy Agency.
Toyota dealership strikes diamonds
25 Jan 2017
North Shore Toyota has joined Waikato Toyota to become just the second motor vehicle dealer in New Zealand to gain Enviro-Mark Diamond certification.
Science loses out to uninformed opinion – again
25 Jan 2017
Ocean acidification is an inevitable consequence of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That’s a matter of fact. We don’t know exactly what will happen to complex marine ecosystems when faced with the additional stress of falling pH, but we do know those changes are happening and that they won’t be good news.
Scotland pulls out all stops to hit 66% target
25 Jan 2017
Scotland is seeking to dramatically cut its reliance on fossil fuels for cars, energy and homes after setting a radical target to cut total climate emissions by 66 per cent within 15 years.
MORGAN'S MESSAGE: You pollute, you pay
24 Jan 2017
POLLUTERS will pay under Gareth Morgan’s TOP party. And it will be good for business, he says.
ROBOT REVOLUTION: Boss' job will go, not the gardener's
24 Jan 2017
Advances in artificial intelligence mean a second wave of change is approaching – and it is not the low-paid service sector where jobs are most at risk.
Cities unite to price cars for electric fleet
24 Jan 2017
Four of the largest US West Coast cities are asking carmakers whether they can produce "a potentially record-breaking order" of 24,000 electric vehicles.
Big carmakers lead $10b hydrogen investment
24 Jan 2017
Daimler, BMW, and Toyota are leading a group of 13 companies pledging to invest more than $10 billion during the next five years to spur public interest in buying hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
Congo peatland packs massive amount of carbon
24 Jan 2017
Scientists have discovered the world’s largest tropical peatland in the remote Congo swamps, estimated to store the equivalent of three year’s worth of the world’s total fossil fuel emissions.
Global warming already causing local extinctions
21 Dec 2016
Climate change is already beginning to alter the natural world. A study of 976 plant and animal species worldwide – freshwater, terrestrial and marine – reveals that local extinctions have happened in 47 per cent of their natural ranges.
Officials eye impact of carbon exposure on investments
20 Dec 2016
Government officials are talking about the potential impact of carbon exposure on investments.
Our scientists have had a busy year
20 Dec 2016
A year is a short time in science but a lot happened in 2016.
Scientists confirm Antarctic glacier is melting
20 Dec 2016
Scientists have published a set of unprecedented ocean observations near the largest glacier of the largest ice sheet in the world: Totten glacier, East Antarctica. And the result was a troubling confirmation that Totten is melting from below.
New ways are Labour's way, says Little
19 Dec 2016
Labour Party leader Andrew Little says he’s backing the low-carbon economy as the future for New Zealand.
Bennett stands alone in climate change portfolio
19 Dec 2016
The climate portfolio is now held by the deputy prime minister – the highest ranking it has ever had in New Zealand.
Queensland gets serious about waste-to-fuel
19 Dec 2016
The emerging biofuel industry is casting the net wide to find solutions to two environmental problems: reducing waste and increasing fuel production.
China’s electric vehicles set for bumpy ride
19 Dec 2016
The statistics are impressive: sales of electric vehicles in China are likely to reach 400,000 this year, a more than 150 per cent increase on the figure for 2015.
Green buildings make you work smarter and sleep sounder
19 Dec 2016
People working in green buildings think better in the office and sleep better when they get home, a new study has revealed.
California adopts energy rules for computers
19 Dec 2016
The California Energy Commission has passed sweeping energy-efficiency standards for computers and monitors in an effort to reduce power costs.
Farming faces pressure from global methane rise
16 Dec 2016
A rapid increase in global methane emissions could put New Zealand under renewed international pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
Hybrid cars join emissions reporting regime
16 Dec 2016
Hybrid cars have been brought into the voluntary greenhouse gas report regime for the first time.
New study reveals shattering effect of roads on nature
16 Dec 2016
Rampant road building has shattered the Earth’s land into 600,000 fragments, most of which are too tiny to support significant wildlife, a new study has revealed.
Solar nearly level with wind in developing world
16 Dec 2016
Solar is now on a par with wind energy and will soon become the cheapest form of energy in developing nations, says a new report.
New emissions reduction plan business as usual
15 Dec 2016
The Government’s plan to cut the emissions intensity from industrial heat generation by 1 per cent a year is just business as usual, and will do little to achieve New Zealand’s Paris Agreement commitment.
Now it's Caseley to head energy authority
15 Dec 2016
Andrew Caseley is to head the government’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, after the person who got the job turned it down.
The stuff we've put on Earth weighs 30 trillion tonnes
15 Dec 2016
Scientists have calculated the mass of that unnatural achievement called the “technosphere”, demonstrating the scale of human activity that drives climate change.
One answer could be to build more highways
15 Dec 2016
Many innovations aimed at reducing carbon dioxide have been put forward. Now, a California entrepreneur is proposing a more practical solution.
THE HEAT GOES ON: This year will be our hottest
14 Dec 2016
This year is set to be New Zealand’s hottest on record, confirming the long-term trend of global warming and prompting calls for tougher action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Earthquake delays emissions inventory
14 Dec 2016
Last month’s 7.8 earthquake will delay the publication of New Zealand’s next Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
Energy industry welcomes national strategy plan
14 Dec 2016
A proposed national strategy to convert industrial heat processes to renewable energy is being welcomed by the sector.
Citizen power big help in the battle to protect water
14 Dec 2016
Citizen-science monitoring of water is a win-win for scientists and volunteers – one gains access to new data, and the other the skills and confidence to become involved in discussions over what is happening to their streams, new research shows.
Govt targets industrial sector in new energy strategy
13 Dec 2016
The Government has unveiled plans to cut the emissions intensity of the country’s industrial sector by 1 per cent a year.
Gates and the world's wealthy backing $1b energy fund
13 Dec 2016
Bill Gates and more than a dozen of the world’s wealthiest individuals have revealed a new $1 billion investment fund to foster major advances in clean-energy production.
Fossil fuel divestment funds double to $5 trillion in a year
13 Dec 2016
The value of investment funds committed to selling off fossil fuel assets has jumped to $5.2 trillion, doubling in just over a year.
Vehicles in Paris must have 'clean stickers'
13 Dec 2016
Paris has passed a new regulation which requires vehicles to display a “clean sticker” indicating the cleanliness of the vehicle in high pollution areas.
Greens' bill calls for sustainability reporting
12 Dec 2016
A proposal to make the Government report on environmental and social progress alongside economic performance is to go before Parliament.
Unhealthy forests affect distant ecosystems
12 Dec 2016
Ecologists have demonstrated, once again, the global importance of healthy forests.
Tinkering with plants helps to boost crop yields
12 Dec 2016
Plant scientists in the US have devised a new way to enhance the efficiency of crops: tune up the biochemical machinery of plants such as wheat, rice, maize, or even cabbages, to make the best of the available light and so increase yields.
ZERO EMISSIONS: Study will show us how to do it
9 Dec 2016
An international economist is in New Zealand preparing a report on how the country can cut all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Takanini joins e-charger network
9 Dec 2016
Auckland’s southern-most public electric vehicle charger has opened in Takanini.
Jellyfisheries are booming, but perhaps they're not a good idea
9 Dec 2016
Georgia fisherman Wynn Gale lifts a massive net over his boat, where it bobs and bounces when it hits the deck. That’s because it’s not filled with the rigid bodies of shrimp or fish, but thousands of jellyfish.
Sort out bioenergy, industry tells Government
8 Dec 2016
The ditching of plans for a large geothermally driven wood-processing plant in Northland shows why the Government must sort out New Zealand’s bioenergy plan, the industry says.
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.
