New Zealand: All stories
Do cows get seasick? Here comes the floating dairy farm
6 Jul 2016
Do cows get seasick? It’s not a question farmers often ask, except in the Dutch city of Rotterdam where a team of developers plans to build a floating dairy.
Global bond market mobilises for climate change
5 Jul 2016
Nearly $NZ100 billion has been invested in climate bonds, a new global report says.
Norway eyes full carbon capture by 2022
5 Jul 2016
Norway says that by 2022 it could realise every step in the development of a technology many see as critical to reducing global carbon emissions, carbon capture and storage.
ETS changes you might not know about ...
4 Jul 2016
The public attention might be on the Government’s review of the Emissions Trading Scheme. But behind the headlines other, quiet, changes are being made.
Energy leaders renew faith in renewables
4 Jul 2016
Energy Ministers and senior officials meeting at the G20 energy ministers’ meeting in Beijing have recognised recent progress to scale up renewable energy and examined opportunities for even greater action today.
Red alert sounds in the Arctic
4 Jul 2016
German scientists have fingered a new suspect in the great glacial melting mystery.
Green and cool roofs provide relief for hot cities
4 Jul 2016
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and the United Nations projects that this share will rise to 70 per cent by 2050.
Clinton's ambitious plan avoids carbon tax
4 Jul 2016
Hillary Clinton has promised to one-up President Obama on climate change, vowing to produce a third of the nation’s electricity from renewable sources by 2027, while spending billions of dollars to transform the energy economy.
Argentina to launch landmark renewables programme
4 Jul 2016
Argentina will launch an innovative renewable energy programme on August 22 with a public auction to buy 1000 MW of renewable energy.
What do you do with 162 million tonnes of manure?
4 Jul 2016
Americans' access to cheap meat comes at a cost: Millions of tonnes of manure and toxic pollutants which threaten some of the nation's most important waterways.
Treasury willing to set up sea-level watchdog group
1 Jul 2016
Treasury has told the Government it is willing to look at setting up a working group on the economic and fiscal impacts of sea-level rise from climate change.
Here's the weather report ... and it's not good
1 Jul 2016
Droughts, floods, storms, cyclones – the latest official predictions of the likely impacts of climate change on New Zealand make alarming reading.
BIKEBAHN: Germany building world’s biggest bicycle highway
1 Jul 2016
With the rise of popularity of e-bikes, Germany is building the world’s biggest bicycle “autobahn” of 62-miles, connecting 10 cities.
Brexit hot air causes climate project problems
1 Jul 2016
The shock waves felt round the world at the UK’s decision in a referendum to leave the European Union will have unexpected consequences for some major projects linked to climate change.
Ozone hole appears to be healing, scientists say
1 Jul 2016
The vast hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica appears to be healing, scientists say, putting the world on track to eventually remedy one of the biggest environmental concerns of the 1980s and 90s.
WEAK WORDS: We need clear advice, says watchdog
30 Jun 2016
New Zealand’s top environmental watchdog says that officials should be issuing clear warnings and advice about the implications of climate change.
Bill and I haven't talked sea level, admits Bennett
30 Jun 2016
Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett says she has not asked Finance Minister Bill English to set up a working group to assess the economic impacts of rising sea levels, as recommended by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Gases tracker tells a tale
30 Jun 2016
Want to get a handle on the nature of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions? Have a look at the Ministry for the Environment’s new emissions tracker.
TRASH TO TREASURE: Mining waste can be mined again
30 Jun 2016
Mines typically follow a set path from prospecting, to development, to extraction and finally closure as the finite resources are exhausted. But does that really need to be the end of the mine’s productive life?
Why electric cars need to boost market share
30 Jun 2016
Electric vehicles will need to increase their combined market share to 16 per cent by 2020 to achieve the aggressive fuel economy standards set by regulators, according to new research by the World Energy Council.
Politicians not helping, says climate academic
29 Jun 2016
Carbon dioxide emissions are rising faster than ever – and political claims that population growth is causing it don’t help, says one of New Zealand’s leading climate scientists.
Government makes energy-use facts available
29 Jun 2016
Three years’ worth of information on New Zealand’s energy use is now available to the public.
How China can harness wind of change
29 Jun 2016
Strategically siting wind turbines where their energy can most easily be fed into the national grid could help to meet more than a quarter of China’s massive electricity demand.
Oakland votes to ban coal shipments
29 Jun 2016
Officials in Oakland, California, have effectively ended proposals to open a new coal export terminal by voting to ban the transport and storage of the fossil fuel within city limits.
Siemens freezes UK wind power investment
29 Jun 2016
Siemens is putting new wind power investment plans in the UK on hold due to uncertainty caused by last week’s Brexit vote.
Rolls-Royce sets 2020 for crewless cargo ships
28 Jun 2016
Massive crewless cargo ships plying the world's oceans may sound far-fetched, but Rolls-Royce has been working on the idea for a number of years and now says it expects the first remotely controlled vessels to be in operation by 2020.
Wind and solar have won – it’s too late for the rest
28 Jun 2016
Across the world, solar photovoltaics and wind are the dominant clean energy technologies. This dominance is likely to become overwhelming over the next few years, preventing other clean energy from growing much.
Germany agrees to ban fracking
28 Jun 2016
German politicians have approved a law that bans fracking, ending years of dispute over the controversial technology to release oil and gas locked deep underground.
Sweden tests world’s first electric road
27 Jun 2016
Sweden just opened a test electric road of two kilometres, which allows electric vehicles to connect to an overhead system similar to light rail.
How science can strengthen endangered plants
27 Jun 2016
As the human population swells – and in the face of a changing and unpredictable climate – the demand for natural resources increases. This leads to distressing rates of deforestation to prepare land for agriculture, medicinal and forestry products. Related to this is an alarming reduction in species worldwide.
Berlin pulls out of fossil fuels
27 Jun 2016
Berlin’s parliament has voted to pull its money out of coal, gas and oil companies.
EMISSIONS EDICT: Time to act, says Toyota chief
24 Jun 2016
New Zealand businesses should now be asking how they are going to cut emissions in line with the country’s international pledges – even if those commitments are not yet going far enough, says Toyota New Zealand managing director Alistair Davis.
A brief history of fossil-fuelled climate denial
24 Jun 2016
The fossil fuel industry has spent many millions of dollars on confusing the public about climate change. But the role of vested interests in climate science denial is only half the picture.
The trouble with concrete ...
24 Jun 2016
By itself, concrete is a very durable construction material. The magnificent Pantheon in Rome, the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, is in excellent condition after nearly 1900 years.
COAL PART 6: Infographic, the state of coal
24 Jun 2016
Coal played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution and continues to fuel some of the world’s largest economies. This is the sixth in a series looks at coal’s past, present and uncertain future.
The race is on to feed a warming world
24 Jun 2016
Scientists warn that plant breeders will need to accelerate development schedules if they are to ensure the ever-growing population can be fed as global temperatures rise
Solar could meet 13% of global power by 2030
24 Jun 2016
The global share of electricity generated from solar power could leap from 2 per cent in 2016 to 13 per cent by the end of the next decade as falling costs drive investments around the world.
Officials tell why we need a carbon price floor
23 Jun 2016
A carbon price floor would be challenging but would give businesses certainty and guarantee foresters a price that made planting trees worthwhile, officials told the Government.
EU smashes 2020 emissions target six years early
23 Jun 2016
The European Union soared past its 2020 carbon cutting goal six years early, according to just-released European Environment Agency data.
Can robots cut farming’s carbon footprint?
23 Jun 2016
Drones, satellites and weed-killing lasers could slash the energy used to grow crops, say experts.
COAL PART 5: China’s future is up in the air
23 Jun 2016
As the world moves to combat climate change, it’s increasingly doubtful that coal will continue to be a viable energy source, because of its high greenhouse gas emissions. Part 5 of a series.
The case for overhead charging of EVs
23 Jun 2016
IDTechEx chair Dr Peter Harrop makes a case for overhead charging for electric vehicles:
Cars buck downward trend of EU carbon emissions
23 Jun 2016
Road transport has bucked a downward trend in European greenhouse gas emissions, growing by 17 per cent between 1990 and 2014, at the same time that emissions from other sectors fell by almost a quarter.
BMW beats Tesla to LAPD electric car contract
23 Jun 2016
German automaker BMW has beaten California-based Tesla Motors by winning a contract to supply the Los Angeles Police Department with 100 electric cars.
PUMP SLUMP: True carbon cost would punish petrol
22 Jun 2016
Pricing the true cost of carbon pollution into fossil fuels would push retail petrol prices up 42 cents a litre, making electric vehicles far more attractive, according to a new report.
NZ unlikely to use banked credits, says minister
22 Jun 2016
The Government is unlikely to use New Zealand’s banked carbon credits to make-good on hot-air credits we have already surrendered internationally, a Parliamentary select committee has heard.
Experts offer help to victims of solar charge
22 Jun 2016
Greenpeace has pooled its renewable energy and legal experts to create a solar hot desk to help people affected by New Zealand’s first charge for using solar energy.
Engineers build tower to power-up phones
22 Jun 2016
Engineers from WelTec’s School of Engineering and the School of Creative Industries have designed and built a solar-powered cell-phone charging tower.
COAL PART 4: Carbon capture unlikely to be the saviour
22 Jun 2016
Coal played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution and continues to fuel some of the world’s largest economies. This series looks at coal’s past, present and uncertain future.
Using CO2 could improve fracking efficiency
22 Jun 2016
Adding carbon dioxide instead of water to fracking fluids could help to fight climate change – and improve fracking efficiency, scientists say.
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.
