New Zealand: All stories
Minister reports on second stage of ETS review
20 Jul 2016
Climate change minister Paula Bennett has reported to her colleagues on the second stage of the Emissions Trading Scheme review.
Offshore windfarms power ahead in Europe
20 Jul 2016
Falling costs mean that power generated by offshore wind farms is becoming increasingly competitive with other fuels – and that’s good news for the climate.
Drones set to play big role in change to renewables
20 Jul 2016
Energy providers are looking at the emergent technology of drones to help them with their day-to-day maintenance of renewables installations and to decrease their costs.
America's booming marijuana industry is an energy hog
20 Jul 2016
As Americans go to the polls in November, at least four states will consider ballot questions on marijuana legalisation.
Carbon policy proposals fail to impress Beehive
19 Jul 2016
Two policy proposals floated in Carbon News yesterday – a Climate Responsibility Act, and combining carbon trading with a carbon tax and a cut in the goods and services tax – have not impressed the Government.
Humans leave greater green fingerprints
19 Jul 2016
Evidence of increased greening of the northern hemisphere over the past half-century points to the dominant effect human-induced greenhouse gases have on climate.
Solar farms offer bonus for tropical crops
19 Jul 2016
Research in England shows that solar farms reduce local temperature and provide shade, enabling crops in hot and desert climates to flourish.
Why we need a carbon tax ... as well as an ETS
18 Jul 2016
New Zealand needs a carbon tax as well as the Emissions Trading Scheme if it is to meet its promise to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, new research shows.
CLIMATE COSTS: Someone needs to be responsible
18 Jul 2016
A Climate Responsibility Act is being mooted to protect New Zealand from irresponsible environmental management in the same way the Fiscal Responsibility Act protects it from irresponsible financial management.
DROUGHT-DODGER: Let's hear it for the humble bean
18 Jul 2016
Scientists have found that some varieties of beans − a vital food crop grown on every continent except Antarctica − have developed ways of coping with the climate-related droughts that threaten them.
Major nations spend billions saving forests
18 Jul 2016
Forests straddling the equator are critical to a stable climate because they store vast amounts of carbon, and a new study finds that five developed countries are spending billions of dollars to keep those forests intact.
Monkey business threatening India's solar development
18 Jul 2016
Indian officials are looking into offering insurance for solar panel owners that would cover natural disasters, extreme weather, theft ... and monkey damage.
Subsidy loss will cost dairy farmers a 'low' $4588
15 Jul 2016
Removal of the one-for-two carbon subsidy will cost dairy farmers $4588 and households between $66 and $99 - costs that Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett says are “relatively low”.
Firms made closure threats over 1:2 subsidy change
15 Jul 2016
Four companies threatened to close if the Government removed the one-for-two carbon subsidy.
POWER STRUGGLE: Why the energy market doesn't work
15 Jul 2016
The energy market must be fundamentally redesigned to deal with climate change, say the authors of two studies comparing the impacts of photovoltaics and fossil fuels supply chains.
New energy putting a dent in emissions
15 Jul 2016
Americans are using less electricity as buildings become more energy-efficient and industrial power demand weakens.
POWER SHOCK: Just how climate friendly are we?
14 Jul 2016
New Zealand’s electricity generation might not be as climate friendly as we think.
LanzaTech accumulates losses of $166m
14 Jul 2016
LanzaTech, the New Zealand-founded carbon recycling company, has widened its annual loss on falling revenue as it gears up for full commercialisation of its innovative technology.
Three reasons to be cheerful about the 1.5deg target
14 Jul 2016
The recent streak of record-breaking temperatures has shown that climate change is not waiting for the world to take decisive action.
Aviation industry preparing for ‘eleventh hour’ deal
14 Jul 2016
An agreement on curbing emissions from international flights will be reached at the ICAO general assembly this year, according to industry sources, while biofuels continue to struggle to emerge as a long-term solution for greening the sector.
Hotel installs biggest rooftop solar array in US
14 Jul 2016
The largest rooftop solar array in the United States has been installed on top of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Toyota to import used hybrids to fill market gap
13 Jul 2016
Toyota says it will import second-hand Prius plug-in hybrids to meet what it sees as a gap in the market for “reasonably priced” low-emissions vehicles.
ETS REVIEW: Plenty are talking about agriculture
13 Jul 2016
The Government might have wanted agriculture kept out of the current review of the Emissions Trading Scheme, but that hasn’t stopped scores of people, ranging from Air New Zealand to the country’s Catholic bishops, talking about it anyway.
No worries, says Republican Party, coal is clean
13 Jul 2016
The Republican National Convention's draft platform officially describes coal as "an abundant, clean, affordable, reliable domestic energy resource."
Forester urges Govt to remove carbon market risks
12 Jul 2016
New Zealand will not get forestry investment on the scale needed to tackle climate change unless it cuts risk associated with the carbon market, says a company that planted 6500 hectares of carbon forests in the heyday of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
How a single word sparked a four-year saga of climate fact-checking and blog backlash
12 Jul 2016
By JOELLE GERGIS | In May 2012, my colleagues and I had a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Climate, showing that temperatures recorded in New Zealand and Australia since 1950 were warmer than at any time in the past 1000 years.
Meet the woman who took on Canada’s tar sand barons
12 Jul 2016
Canada’s tar sand fields remind environmentalist Tzeporah Berman of Mordor, the evil land of fire and death in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
Disturbing forests damages natural diversity
12 Jul 2016
By TIM RADFORD | It is not enough just to conserve forest. It may be just as important not to disturb any of it.
BONUS BILLION: Our untouched energy potential
11 Jul 2016
New Zealand businesses have a billion dollars worth of unrealised energy efficiency potential, says the head of the country’s energy conservation authority.
VW emissions scandal fuels corporate doubts
11 Jul 2016
Volkswagen has told the US Department of Justice that it will be paying nearly $15 billion in an effort to settle claims made by motorists in the US following the scandal over vehicle emissions.
Reducing water pollution with microbes and wood chips
11 Jul 2016
New Zealand scientists have played an important part in international efforts to develop systems that clean water flowing from farm tile drains.
World's largest storage battery will power LA
11 Jul 2016
More than 18,000 lithium ion battery packs could replace a gas-fired power plant used to meet peak demand in Los Angeles.
Electric Highway to expand in UK
11 Jul 2016
Ecotricity will start charging electric car drivers for using its British Electric Highway – Europe’s most comprehensive car charging network.
Road emissions rising ... at just the wrong time
8 Jul 2016
New Zealand’s transport emissions are expected to increase at the very time they need to fall to meet the country’s Paris Agreement target, a new analysis shows.
Bennett keen to talk with opposition parties
8 Jul 2016
Climate change minister Paula Bennett says she wants to talk to other political parties.
Fonterra signs on as biodiesel pioneer
8 Jul 2016
Dairy co-operative Fonterra has signed up as the first customer for Z Energy’s new biodiesel.
Climate change website dries up
8 Jul 2016
The Government’s climate change website – a one-stop shop for all climate-related Government business– is no more.
More companies looking beyond lightbulbs
8 Jul 2016
More companies are showing an interest in generating all of their energy and installing microgrids for the best available resiliency.
CLIMATE CRUNCH: Is the political ice beginning to melt?
7 Jul 2016
Cross-party political agreement on climate change action might have come a step closer.
How nuclear records paper over the flaws
7 Jul 2016
The nuclear industry is celebrating breaking records that have stood for a quarter of a century − but a new update on its successes still fails to disperse the clouds over its future.
FULL OF BEANS: Pulses should fill the food basket
7 Jul 2016
Three years ago, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring 2016 the International Year of the Pulse.
London to make dirty cars pay
7 Jul 2016
Older, dirtier cars will have to pay a £10 pollution charge to drive in central London, according to plans set out by Lord Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Piles of dirty secrets behind clean coal project
7 Jul 2016
A Mississippi project, a centerpiece of President Obama’s climate plan, has been plagued by problems that managers tried to conceal, and by cost overruns and questions of who will pay.
US farmers turn their tobacco into jet fuel
7 Jul 2016
As the demand for tobacco declines in the US, farmers in Virginia are experimenting with turning the crop into viable biofuel.
Greens slam Government for climate failures
6 Jul 2016
The Government is failing to prepare New Zealand for the impacts of climate change – and has slashed millions of dollars of funding for domestic policy advice on the issue, the Green Party says.
BURNING ISSUE: One fire service way to go, say Greens
6 Jul 2016
Amalgamation of the country’s two fire services should help them to prepare for the impacts of climate change – more fires and floods, says Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage.
Vector adds up benefits of charging stations
6 Jul 2016
Vector says its seven electric vehicle charging stations in Auckland have potentially prevented 29,000 kilograms of carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere.
Humans drive evolution, creating and destroying species
6 Jul 2016
Researchers increasingly are looking at the idea that humans, through animal domestication, relocation and hunting, have become an evolutionary driving force that has led to new species, new traits and novel ecosystems.
Paris bans old polluting cars
6 Jul 2016
Paris has banned old polluting cars from the streets as part of its efforts to combat air pollution.
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
Tue 3 Mar 2026
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.
