New Zealand: All stories
Scientists study slow-burning trees
29 Feb 2016
Planting less-flammable trees on farms might help to stop the spread of wildfires in New Zealand as the planet warms.
US uses trade rules to hinder India’s solar hopes
29 Feb 2016
World trade regulations have been invoked by the US to challenge India’s ambitious programme to expand massively its renewable energy capacity and provide local jobs.
Will self-driving cars make the world a better place?
29 Feb 2016
By ZIA WADUD.- I started learning to drive only three years ago and – inevitably – failed my first test. Naturally, I was disappointed: but then it occurred to me that I could avoid the whole issue, if only I could get my hands on a driverless car.
Runaway emissions could make Earth uninhabitable
29 Feb 2016
Researchers predict that the hothouse effect of runaway greenhouse gases would ultimately boil our planet dry and make it incapable of sustaining life.
WARNING: Why we must slash emissions now
26 Feb 2016
News that the world’s remaining carbon budget is half the size it was thought to be should have us drastically cutting carbon emissions now, says a top New Zealand climate scientist.
ETS uncertainty is a worry, says Meridian
26 Feb 2016
Uncertainty over the Emissions Trading Scheme is affecting the way Meridian Energy does business.
Carbon budget is only half as big as we thought
26 Feb 2016
Fossil fuel use will have to fall twice as fast as predicted if global warming is to be kept within the 2deg limit agreed internationally as being the point of no return, researchers say.
2040 will see electric-car sales in the millions, says report
26 Feb 2016
A quarter of the vehicles on the road in 2040 will be electric, forecasters say in a new report.
Scientists calculate our debt to the Earth
26 Feb 2016
Researchers in the US have found a way to put a monetary value on the multitude of vital services and assets we rely on nature to provide us cost-free.
NZ and China best friends under carbon pact
25 Feb 2016
New Zealand and China are working together closely on carbon trading, after signing a bilateral agreement on carbon markets.
Z Energy wishlist: Everybody must be in ETS
25 Feb 2016
Fuel retailer Z Energy wants every sector in the Emissions Trading Scheme, a realistic price on carbon, political stability and an end to carbon subsidies.
Stand by for a miracle, says billionaire Bill
25 Feb 2016
The world will have a “miracle” new clean energy within 15 years that will save the planet, Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates is predicting.
Beehive shows signs of hearing business call
24 Feb 2016
The Government might be about to open the door more widely for business and other groups to have a bigger say in climate change policy.
If you don't like your power, turn it off
24 Feb 2016
A new app is encouraging New Zealand electricity users to turn off when the country is running on carbon-emitting power.
New study finds Antarctic ice sheets vulnerable
24 Feb 2016
Antarctica’s ice sheets are more sensitive to climate change than previously thought, says a team of scientists from New Zealand, the United States, Italy and Germany.
To meet Paris goals, do we need to engineer the climate?
24 Feb 2016
The climate talks that convened in Paris at the end of 2015 produced a historic agreement, giving negotiators and climate activists good reason to celebrate. Now the task is to ensure that the ambition shown in Paris is matched by action.
Why Paris should make us feel a whole lot better
24 Feb 2016
Implementing the Paris Agreement will be good for our health. Researchers say that 295,000 premature deaths a year could be prevented in the United States alone if emissions are cut in line with the Paris targets.
How ‘greenhouse century’ has pushed up sea levels
24 Feb 2016
Geological data reveals that humans have contributed to rising sea levels since the Bronze Age, but fossil fuel emissions have led to the current record-breaking increases.
Angry foresters want end to 1:2 subsidy
23 Feb 2016
Forest owners want the one-for-two subsidy gone – and are angry that the Government is likely to give heavy emitters extra free credits to cushion the blow.
ETS key is clear direction, say officials
23 Feb 2016
Officials have told new Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett that if the Emissions Trading Scheme is going to work it must have a clear, long-term direction.
We're streets ahead on renewables, says Mighty River
23 Feb 2016
Mighty River Power says it has gone “beyond 100 per cent renewable” generation.
OPINION: Our forest industry is heading south
23 Feb 2016
New Zealand’s third-largest export industry, forestry, is steadily shrinking.
Vector increases charging points at Auckland e-car station
23 Feb 2016
Vector says its Auckland city electric vehicle charging stations are getting busy.
British power stations burning biomass from America
23 Feb 2016
Last year, 6m tonnes of wood pellets harvested from forests in Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Virginia were shipped across the Atlantic, to be burnt in renewable biomass power plants.
Climate change is killing off India’s giant bees
23 Feb 2016
A warming climate and the loss of natural areas to meet the demands of tourism are driving Indian bee colonies to the brink, imperilling an essential food source.
New minister pushes for carbon price rise
22 Feb 2016
Carbon prices must rise, says new Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett.
NZ to promote international markets idea at UN
22 Feb 2016
A push by New Zealand to develop credible international carbon markets will take a step forward when United Nations climate change negotiators meet in May.
Late flurry lifts ETS submissions
22 Feb 2016
A last-minute flurry has seen submissions flooding in to the Emissions Trading Scheme review.
Why ETS examination should take the long view
22 Feb 2016
Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust senior fellow SUZI KERR answers the key question posed in the Emissions Trading Scheme Review – should the carbon price cap and the one-for-two provisional measures be scrapped?
ETS ... we're hitting the target but missing the point
22 Feb 2016
Ministry for the Environment officials have been blunt about the Emissions Trading Scheme’s impact to date: “Research for this evaluation, and evidence from the interviews, found no sector other than forestry made emissions reductions over the Kyoto Protocol Commitment Period One (2008-12) that were directly caused by NZ ETS obligations.”
Carbon capture could be costly and risky
22 Feb 2016
Attempts to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it safely are all potentially costly gambles with the current technology, scientists say.
Better water use can cut global food gap
22 Feb 2016
Scientists say that forecasts of a world food shortage need not prove as disastrous as previously thought if humans learn to use water more effectively.
Ethical shoppers scorned – and the headlines don’t help
22 Feb 2016
If we want more people to shop ethically, it’s not very helpful to cast judgement on the “ordinary” shopping public whom ethical campaigners are trying to reach.
There's nothing silly about photovoltaics in roads
22 Feb 2016
Installing photovoltaics in roads isn’t as daft as it sounds – especially if they are supported by roadside wind turbines and tethered multicopters, says IDTechEx chair Dr Peter Harrop.
Liquidity will return when prices push up again
16 Feb 2016
Spot NZUs closed yesterday at $9.25. OMFinancial reports:
Fund managers could face climate backlash
15 Feb 2016
New Zealand fund managers who fail to take the risks associated with climate change into account when making investments face a real possibility of legal action, says Bell Gully partner and climate change specialist Simon Watt.
We're looking for friends in the carbon market
15 Feb 2016
New Zealand is once again actively pursuing linkages with other carbon markets.
Planting rate drops by a million seedlings
15 Feb 2016
Latest Government figures show that planting rates of exotic forests last year were even lower than they were in 2014, when nurseries destroyed hundreds of thousands of seedlings because foresters weren’t planting.
Forest owners eye manuka as crop of future
15 Feb 2016
Forest owners battered by low carbon prices and volatile log prices are thinking manuka as a potentially lucrative environmental crop.
MPs back cross-party consensus
15 Feb 2016
Twenty New Zealand MPs from six parties have joined an international organisation aiming for cross-party consensus on climate change policy.
Solid Energy might be short of fix-it funds
15 Feb 2016
Solid Energy’s liability for future environmental remediation could be larger than expected.
Time running out for ETS submissions
15 Feb 2016
The public has just four more days to have a say on whether emitters should be held liable for a greater chunk of their emissions.
Bill puts the environment in its place
15 Feb 2016
A bill putting the environment back into environmental protection is back before Parliament this week.
World energy leaders pack bags for the capital
15 Feb 2016
Government and private-sector leaders from across Asia and the Pacific will gather in Wellington next month to talk about energy resilience to climate change and other threats.
Businesses keen to save on energy use
15 Feb 2016
More than 60 of New Zealand’s largest energy-using businesses are now working with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to save on energy use – representing around 40 per cent of the country’s total business energy use.
Organic farmers win better base for milk price
15 Feb 2016
Fonterra is offering organic farmers an independent milk price reflecting consumer demand.
Effluent reduction model could change dairying
15 Feb 2016
A Northland farmer's determination to secure the resource consent compliance that had been eluding him has seen him play a key role in a potentially game-changing effluent reduction model for the dairy industry.
Worth listening to …
15 Feb 2016
The In The Eye of the Storm: Pacific Climate Change Conference gets under way in Wellington today. Radio New Zealand's Colin Peacock spoke to Kiribati president Anote Tong yesterday about what the Pacific is facing, and what countries like New Zealand should be doing.
How a phosphorus shortage could leave us short of food
15 Feb 2016
It’s not as well-known as the other issues, but phosphorus depletion is no less significant. We could live without cars or unusual species, but if phosphorus ran out we’d have to live without food.
Our thirst for gadgets has created an empire of e-waste
15 Feb 2016
Technological improvements mean that the phones, tablets, computers and other electric devices we find so essential are cheaper and more powerful than ever.
'Atrocious' and 'bizarre': experts slam Act Party's climate policy
Wed 3 Sep 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Act Party is promising to challenge New Zealand’s Paris Agreement climate target, while the coalition Government’s other minor partner, NZ First, also says it wants to reevaluate the country’s commitment to the international treaty.
Meridian reports worst earnings in a decade
Wed 3 Sep 2025
Meridian Energy has posted its weakest result in 10 years, with earnings hit by a combination of droughts, low wind and declining gas supply.
International scientists slam NZ govt's proposed approach to methane
13 Aug 2025
New Zealand's proposed approach to methane emissions has again been attacked by international climate scientists, with a new study saying the attempt to redefine climate target-setting by livestock-exporting countries undermines the transition to a sustainable and equitable food system
Marginal drop in last year's regional emissions
27 Aug 2025
Regional greenhouse gas emissions were down slightly last year, with a fall in gas supply leading to a big drop in Taranaki, but more coal burnt leading to higher emissions in Waikato, according to new figures from Stats NZ
Air NZ declares surprisingly low SAF prices
Wed 3 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand is able to source sustainable aviation fuel at between 1.5 and 2.5 times the price of conventional fossil fuels used for flying, all sourced from the US.
Certainty crucial to emissions cuts – Watts
20 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says that policy certainty is the Government’s primary lever for unlocking private capital and meeting climate targets, telling a carbon forestry conference that ETS settings are 'locked' through 2030.
Climate-friendly investment still lagging in NZ
Tue 2 Sep 2025
While local financial firms have made recent strides in climate governance and emissions reporting, New Zealand’s institutional investors are still missing in action when it comes to backing clean technologies and climate solutions, according to a new report.
