New Zealand: All stories
10 things you should know about climate change
6 Oct 2016
No 8: The Paris Agreement target is pretty hard to meet.
Pacific garbage patch far bigger than imagined
6 Oct 2016
The vast patch of garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean is far worse than previously thought, with an aerial survey finding a much larger mass of fishing nets, plastic containers and other discarded items than imagined.
Brazil shifts funds from coal to solar power
6 Oct 2016
Brazil’s mighty National Development Bank is boosting solar funds while cutting credit for fossil fuels and large hydro.
Trendy foods should come with a recipe for sustainability
6 Oct 2016
The soft creamy flesh of a ripe avocado makes an attractive and healthy addition to many of our shopping baskets.
World's largest carbon-capture plant opening soon
6 Oct 2016
It’s a tall order for any new technology, but for a commercial carbon capture and storage system, it might be the start of a revolution.
Fossil fuel investors seek risks disclosure
5 Oct 2016
On one side are the big oil and gas companies. On the other is an increasingly vocal group of investors – both big and small – who are worried about the declining value of billions of dollars’ worth of shares they hold in these mighty conglomerates.
Global energy graphs that might surprise you ...
5 Oct 2016
Love data? Care about the energy transition? Here's the story in a nutshell ...
Six billion plastic bags saved since 5p charge
5 Oct 2016
Just six months after the introduction of the 5p plastic bag charge in England, the amount of plastic bags handed out by supermarkets has decreased by more than 85 per cent.
Freight operators can make huge savings, says expert
4 Oct 2016
Planning and co-operation could see the freight sector cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent, says an international expert.
PM's adviser has swing at climate policymakers
4 Oct 2016
The Prime Minister’s science adviser has taken a swipe at policymakers’ reluctance to take action in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence on issues like climate change and obesity.
Minister wants a clean-tech 'second revolution'
4 Oct 2016
The environment minister wants a “second revolution” in clean technologies to reduce the use of synthetic gases that cause climate warming.
10 things you should know about climate change
4 Oct 2016
No 7: The tropics are expanding toward us.
What on earth is happening to Antarctica’s sea ice?
4 Oct 2016
This year continues to be a momentous one for the climate, on track to be the new hottest year on record.
Greenland up in the air over melting ice sheets
4 Oct 2016
Greenland is going up in the world. As the biggest lump of ice in the northern hemisphere melts ever more swiftly, so the bedrock of the enormous island is rising in response to this weight loss at rates of up to 12mm a year.
Propaganda masks global climate warnings
4 Oct 2016
A rise in world temperatures of 1.5deg degrees can no longer be avoided, according to the world’s leading climate scientists, who say that the majority of people have yet to wake up to the stark realities and dangers of climate change.
Airline emissions deal could boost offset bills
3 Oct 2016
A new global market-based measure for aviation emissions could see New Zealand having to offset 3 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year.
We've pumped out an extra 500,000 tonnes of gases
3 Oct 2016
Last year’s jump in New Zealand's fossil-fuel consumption from transport probably put an extra 500,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, an expert says.
UN close to landmark deal on aircraft emissions
3 Oct 2016
A UN negotiation is inching towards a landmark deal to curb emissions from airplanes, although environmental groups have warned that the plan will not go far enough to help slow climate change.
10 things you should know about climate change
3 Oct 2016
No 6: Two hundred million people live within one vertical metre of present-day sea-level, and current estimates about future sea-level rise might be on the low side.
Nation still dining out on fossil fuels, report shows
30 Sep 2016
New Zealanders continue to guzzle fossil fuels, with 76 per cent of the country’s energy last year coming from oil, gas and coal, Government figures show.
Ten things you should know about climate change ...
30 Sep 2016
No 5: Why are scientists are so sure that the warming is human-induced?
Every future Prius might be a plug-in hybrid
30 Sep 2016
Toyota is considering making every future Prius a plug-in hybrid.
Farewell to green movement's prince of permaculture
30 Sep 2016
Permaculture pioneer Bill Mollison, who died last weekend, was one of the true heroes of the modern environmental movement.
Rising emissions mean NZ will miss Paris targets
29 Sep 2016
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions are set to double between 1990 and 2030 – and even with a carbon price of $50 a tonne, we could still be short of our Paris Agreement pledge by 143 million tonnes.
Failing RMA needs better tools, says environment report
29 Sep 2016
Greater use of market instruments could be good for the environment, says a new report on the Resource Management Act.
Ten things you should know about climate change …
29 Sep 2016
No 4: The poles are warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet.
China vows cuts at home, but grows coal abroad
29 Sep 2016
Chinese companies and banks are continuing to drive global coal expansion, as state owned companies backed by state loans build coal-fired power plants across the world.
Govt learns we can't cut emissions and sell more milk
28 Sep 2016
The Government knows its economic strategy of increasing agricultural exports cannot go on if New Zealand is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a confidential paper shows.
Food supply fears spark China's global land grab
28 Sep 2016
China is protecting itself against future food supply problems caused by climate change by buying or leasing large tracts of land in Africa and South America, a leading UK climate scientist says.
Ten things you should know about climate change …
28 Sep 2016
No 3: The year 2015 was the warmest on record, but the last record cold year was more than a century ago, in 1909.
Farming mega-mergers threaten food security
28 Sep 2016
Proposed new deals would put the majority of seeds, chemicals and GM traits in the hands of three companies, deepening poverty for small-scale farmers.
Voluntary actions have role, says carbon certifier
27 Sep 2016
Voluntary carbon credits can help to meet New Zealand’s Paris Agreement target, Parliament has been told.
Are we finally about to get an aviation emissions deal?
27 Sep 2016
Delegates from more than 190 nations today will begin an 11-day meeting in Montreal to determine the final form of a scheme to reduce greenhouse emissions from the aviation industry.
Ten things you should know about climate change …
27 Sep 2016
No 2: Ninety-three per cent of the heat from humans’ global warming has gone into the ocean, along with 25 per cent of the carbon dioxide.
Burning existing fossil fuels will break the Paris bank
27 Sep 2016
Burning all the carbon in existing coal mines and developed oil and gas fields will push the world past the Paris Agreement climate limit.
Name your price at market stacked with waste food
27 Sep 2016
Customers pay what they like at the first waste food supermarket to open in the UK.
Scientists find better way to run gas turbines
27 Sep 2016
Molybdenum silicides can improve the efficiency of turbine blades in ultra-high-temperature combustion systems, researchers at Kyoto University have found.
SCIENCE AT WORK: Measuring the meltwater
27 Sep 2016
During the past decade, American scientist Joel Harper has spent nearly a year of his life on the Greenland ice sheet to study how meltwater impacts the movement of the ice.
France bans plastic plates, cups, cutlery
27 Sep 2016
France has become the world’s first country to pass a law banning plastic plates, cups and utensils unless they contain a large proportion of compostable or biologically sourced materials.
Why NZ doesn't need foreign carbon credits
26 Sep 2016
New Zealand could meet its Paris Agreement pledge without using foreign carbon credits and develop a $6 billion industry at the same time, says the Bioenergy Association.
Ten things you should know about climate change …
26 Sep 2016
No 1: New Zealand has the longest carbon dioxide record in the Southern Hemisphere.
US students pressure Auckland to divest
26 Sep 2016
Auckland University is now under pressure from students at US university Yale to get out of fossil-fuel investments.
Polluted rivers become deadly threat to millions
26 Sep 2016
More than half the rivers of Asia, Africa and Latin America have become more dangerous in the past 20 years, with steep rises in organic and pathogen pollution.
China to slow green growth after boom
26 Sep 2016
After installing more wind and solar farms than anywhere else on the planet, China is ratcheting back the pace of growth in an industry that’s helped lower the costs of green energy worldwide.
Sometimes the research doesn't do the job
26 Sep 2016
Research has shown that models used by economists to calculate the effects of climate change policies can produce polar opposite recommendations.
Why we might have trouble phasing out HFCs
23 Sep 2016
New Zealand is among more than 100 countries calling for an early phase-out of use of the potent greenhouse gas hydroflourocarbon – which could be a challenge, because this country’s use of it appears to be rising.
NZ will join aviation emissions agreement
23 Sep 2016
New Zealand will join an international market-based system to reduce aviation emissions, the Government has just announced.
Soil carbon storage not the fix we thought
23 Sep 2016
Hopes that large amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide could be buried in soils appear to be grossly misplaced, with new research finding that the ground will soak up far less carbon over the coming century than previously thought.
What we can do about threats to our food security and feed nine billion people
23 Sep 2016
Can we really feed nine billion people? That’s the estimated global population in the year 2050.
Dire climate impacts go unheeded
23 Sep 2016
The social and economic impacts of climate change have already begun to take their toll – but most people do not yet know this.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
