New Zealand: All stories
Adopting Paris Agreement could be a year away
13 Apr 2016
It could be year or more before New Zealand ratifies the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Planners getting the climate change message
13 Apr 2016
New Zealand’s planners are starting to get their heads around climate change.
Nine ways steel could build a greener economy
13 Apr 2016
Steel might be the largest industrial carbon dioxide emitter, but Britain’s troubled industry could be a big part of a cleaner, greener future.
Couch potatoes have outsized energy footprints
13 Apr 2016
It is alluringly easy to use averages, but when most of a group is far from average, they can lead us astray. This is no less true in the area of energy consumption.
Climate minister will sign us up to Paris pact
12 Apr 2016
New Zealand will sign the Paris Agreement in New York on April 22.
If our ecosystems are threatened, let’s move them
12 Apr 2016
Picking up and moving entire ecosystems at risk of being wiped out by climate change is a technique that has already been used to deal with other human impacts - at the Stockton mine on the West Coast.
EXPOSED! Our man in Paris comes in from the cold
12 Apr 2016
It seems there was a would-be John le Carre lurking among New Zealand’s diplomatic corps at the Paris climate negotiations in December.
There's a sea of our soil ending up in the ocean
12 Apr 2016
Soil is a farmer’s most precious resource, but, in New Zealand, we lose it to the ocean about 10 times faster than the rest of the world, with between 200 million and 300 million tonnes sliding into the sea every year.
NZ runs global group setting up trading rules
11 Apr 2016
New Zealand is building a “club of countries” to set the rules for international carbon trading.
PARIS PACT: Will we or won't we join the party?
11 Apr 2016
It’s not yet clear whether New Zealand will be among the nations signing the Paris Agreement on climate change later this month.
Why it makes sense for offshore drilling to wait
11 Apr 2016
From chants of “Drill, Baby, Drill” to outrage over the BP oil spill, offshore drilling has been highly controversial in recent years. Some view it as a vastly underused revenue source, while others see it as a grave environmental threat.
We keep flushing valuable energy down the drain
11 Apr 2016
Every time you flush your toilet or drain the bath, you’re losing something surprisingly valuable: heat.
Drought-ravaged California is feeling the pressure
11 Apr 2016
Scientists say that storms carrying desperately needed water to California are being diverted by a band of high pressure that coincides with rainfall and temperature extremes.
Banks threaten to unleash infrastructure tsunami
8 Apr 2016
We are living in the most explosive era of infrastructure expansion in human history. The G20 nations, when they met in Australia in 2014, argued for between US$60 trillion and $70 trillion in new infrastructure investments by 2030, which would more than double the global total value of infrastructure.
Rainfall patterns cloud changes in climate
8 Apr 2016
Analysis of data stretching back 12 centuries reveals questions surrounding climate models that have linked wet and dry weather extremes to current temperature rise.
Green business awards finalists pack energy punch
7 Apr 2016
Clean-energy projects highlighted in this year’s EECA awards will cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions by 120,000 tonnes a year.
Solar energy shines as power business shrinks
7 Apr 2016
The solar energy business was the bright spot in the shrinking global power business last year, a new report says.
Why water footprinting should be used with caution
7 Apr 2016
It seems logical that crops and goods that need lots of water should not be produced in water-scarce countries.
INDEFENSIBLE! Scientists slam Key's climate change attitude
6 Apr 2016
Scientists are calling the Government’s lack of leadership on climate change indefensible, after Prime Minister John Key said that science would solve the problem.
Message to investment managers: Don't get stranded
6 Apr 2016
Sustainable investment is in danger of getting so bogged down in the detail that it loses sight of the epoch-shaping events happening around it, says business commentator Rod Oram.
Students give university the good oil on ethical investing
6 Apr 2016
Auckland University might be promoting the talk on sustainable investment this week, but that doesn’t mean it’s walking the walk itself.
Christchurch gets first fast-charging station
6 Apr 2016
Christchurch has its first rapid-charging station for electric vehicles.
The case for a carbon tax on airline flight tickets
6 Apr 2016
After years of delay, the international aviation industry is inching its way toward bringing its greenhouse emissions under some form of regulation.
Plants find cool response to warming
6 Apr 2016
Everyone can breathe just a little easier about the future according to research predicting that warming may mean plants expel less carbon dioxide.
GET WISE! We have a real carbon exposure risk
5 Apr 2016
New Zealand has a carbon exposure risk whether it likes it or not, says business commentator Rod Oram.
Air NZ emissions move wins global support
5 Apr 2016
Air New Zealand’s move to offset greenhouse gas emissions from its aircraft by supporting the restoration of native forests is picking up international momentum.
Depending on how you do the sums, we could be carbon neutral right now
5 Apr 2016
Restoration ecologist and carbon sequestration expert Dr NEIL MITCHELL expands on his claim that New Zealand should be using native forests to offset greenhouse gas emissions
GM crops can thrive as climate warms
5 Apr 2016
Plants genetically modified to take advantage of hotter temperatures and increased carbon dioxide could cut fertiliser use and raise yields to alleviate global food shortages.
Businesses don't get it, says Bloomberg group
4 Apr 2016
Disclosure of the risks companies face from climate change is fragmented and incomplete, the G20’s Taskforce on Climate-Related Disclosure says in its first report.
SEA-LEVEL WARNING: The Government won't listen
4 Apr 2016
New research suggesting that sea-level rise could be faster and more extreme than currently expected means that a task force to analyse the risk for New Zealand makes even more sense. So why isn’t the Government doing it?
Mighty River snaps up latest from Tesla
4 Apr 2016
Mighty River Power is adding the new Tesla Model 3 to its fleet of electric vehicles.
Antarctic melt could be alarming, say scientists
4 Apr 2016
Scientists in the US predict that the alarming rate at which Antarctica’s ice continues to thaw could be enough to double global sea level rise within this century.
Scientists crack secrets of wood-based glass
4 Apr 2016
Swedish researchers have developed a transparent wood-based material that could be used in future to make biodegradable windows and photovoltaic panels.
WHAT A WASTE! Native forests key to cutting carbon
1 Apr 2016
New Zealand is paying a high cost in carbon for neglecting its native forests, says a carbon sequestration expert.
You're gambling, Greens tell Government
1 Apr 2016
The Government is gambling with our future by not preparing now for rising seas which threaten up to $20 billion worth of New Zealand homes, the Green Party says.
Nasa readies green fuel to drive its spacecraft
1 Apr 2016
Nasa says its first “green” rocket fuel will be ready for use next year.
What does the science really say about sea-level rise?
1 Apr 2016
A recent high-profile study led by US climatologist James Hansen has warned that sea levels could rise by several metres by the end of this century. How realistic is this scenario?
Science grapples with climate conundrums
1 Apr 2016
New research illustrates that reactions of people, plants and animals to the changing climate are a key factor in unravelling the complexities of global warming.
That good addresses might not be so good for solar
31 Mar 2016
Auckland’s better-off suburbs are not as good for solar roof-top electricity generation as many of the city’s poorer suburbs, a computer modelling project by Auckland University school shows.
Beware the Exxon factor, lawyer warns big business
30 Mar 2016
Air New Zealand, Fonterra and other companies operating in heavy-emitting industries should be planning how to deal with their emissions to avoid “becoming an Exxon”, warns a Wellington environmental lawyer.
It wouldn't take much for e-cars to ease our emissions
30 Mar 2016
Replacing just 10 per cent of the cars in New Zealand with electric vehicles would cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by a million tonnes a year.
LanzaTech signs first US biofuels deal
30 Mar 2016
New Zealand-founded LanzaTech has signed its first North American deal, giving United States biofuels and biochemicals maker Aemetis exclusive rights to its patented technology to convert various types of waste gas to ethanol in California.
Clean water our greatest challenge, says tourism industry
30 Mar 2016
The tourism industry has come out in support of the campaign to clean up the country’s rivers, saying the clean-and-green image is too important to risk.
Rising heat brings earlier (and better) vintage
30 Mar 2016
Winegrowers can expect good grape harvests much earlier now, thanks to climate change, but scientists say the effect may not last.
Emitters, you have until Thursday
29 Mar 2016
Emitters have until Thursday to file returns for last year.
Capital plugs in to fast-charge e-car stations
29 Mar 2016
Wellington has its first high-speed electric car charging stations.
'Unless you make the price of fossil fuels honest, people will just keep burning them'
29 Mar 2016
"They talk like they realise there’s a problem, but they’re not taking the only action that would be effective. Unless you make the price of fossil fuels honest, by including their cost to society, people will just keep burning them." That's retired Nasa scientist Dr James Hansen, talking to Radio New Zealand’s Kim Hill on Saturday morning.
Does doing renewable energy demand the undoable?
29 Mar 2016
Switching to renewable energy as fast as the world needs to will require changes so massive that they are unlikely to happen, scientists say.
It looks like Asia is losing its appetite for coal
29 Mar 2016
Many hundreds of planned coal-fired power plants in Asia will probably be shelved as economies slow and climate change and air pollution worsen.
Cuba’s sustainable agriculture at risk in US thaw
29 Mar 2016
President Obama’s trip to Cuba this week accelerated the warming of US-Cuban relations. Many people in both countries believe that normalizing relations will spur investment that can help Cuba to develop its economy and improve life for its citizens. But in agriculture, US investment could cause harm instead.
Pacific Islands call for fossil fuel phase-out, NZ hangs back
Thu 23 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Pacific Islands nations have launched a landmark declaration for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific, calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty and urgent phase-out of fossil fuels, however New Zealand isn’t rushing to join the call.
Going concern status flags depth of Methanex NZ's gas crisis
Tue 21 Apr 2026
Methanex's New Zealand operation is relying on financial support from its Canadian parent to remain a going concern after a second consecutive year of asset impairments left the business with negative equity.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
Climate pollution static but NZ still on track for first emissions budget, says MfE
17 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand is still on track to meet its first emissions budget, according to the Ministry for the Environment, despite the pace of emissions reductions slowing to a standstill.
NZ’s latest push to roll out more EV chargers is a good thing – but can it go the distance?
14 Apr 2026
A $50 million plan to expand New Zealand’s public electric vehicle (EV) charging network marks another step toward a lower-emissions transport system.
Wilding conifers continue to plague Southland
17 Apr 2026
By Matthew Rosenberg, Local Democracy Reporter | Fast-spreading conifer trees are causing headaches in Southland as inconsistent funding continues to hinder control efforts.
Victorian Hydrogen announces Southland urea fertiliser project using coal
Wed 22 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Australian-based Victorian Hydrogen has announced it is developing a new 1.5 million-tonne-a-year urea fertiliser operation in Southland, which it will apply for under fast-track legislation.
