New Zealand: All stories
Growth and greening now go together, says Stern study
22 Sep 2014
Governments and businesses can now improve economic growth and reduce their carbon emissions together, says a major new report by a commission of global leaders.
Move over, Queensland, here comes the Great Sydney Reef
22 Sep 2014
Welcome to tropical Sydney, where colourful surgeonfishes and parrotfishes are plentiful, corals have replaced kelp forests, and underwater life seems brighter, more colourful and all-round better. Or is it?
How renewables can lead to prosperity and jobs
22 Sep 2014
A new handbook shows how forward-looking communities around the world are already moving away from reliance on fossil fuels and generating their own power with 100 per cent renewables − while also becoming more prosperous and creating jobs.
LED street lights could be 50% cheaper
22 Sep 2014
Installing LED lights in streets could halve energy consumption from street lighting, the government’s energy efficiency agency says.
Drought now could be drought forever in California
22 Sep 2014
Things could soon get worse for drought-hit California. New research predicts that, by the close of the century, global warming could have reduced the flow of water from the Sierra Nevada mountains by at least a quarter.
We can make a good life for most in the doughnut
22 Sep 2014
Is it possible for humans to fulfil their needs without also destroying the environment? It’s a question we need to find an answer to soon, as the world’s poorer regions demand the same perks that come with development.
Twister terror coming earlier in Tornado Alley
22 Sep 2014
The terrifying whirlwinds that punctuate the mid-Western summer in the United States so frequently as to earn the nickname Tornado Alley for the southern plains region states such as Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and northern Texas, are forming up to two weeks earlier than they did 60 years ago.
And the winner is ...
22 Sep 2014
The winner of a copy of MiStory, Philip Temple's cli-fi story set in a futuristic New Zealand, is the out-going Labour MP and climate change spokesperson Moana Mackey.
Solid Energy needs extension of guarantee
22 Sep 2014
Commercially troubled state coal miner Solid Energy requires an extension of a government guarantee to meet the $103 million future cost of returning mined land to its pre-mined condition in order to maintain positive equity in its balance sheet.
Pumped-up couple win energy award
22 Sep 2014
The switch to a gravity-feed water system has resulted in huge cost-savings for Otago farmers David and Sarah Smith, winners of an energy excellence award in the 2014 Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Want to recycle? Just ask the Garbage Guru
22 Sep 2014
Sydney has launched an app it hopes will drive recycling.
It's simple ... either you believe, or you don't
16 Sep 2014
By editor ADELIA HALLETT.- Voters in this weekend’s general election face a simple choice when it comes to climate change – you either believe it is a real and massive problem requiring transformation of the economy, or you don’t.
NZ scientists line up first lo-gas sheep
16 Sep 2014
Farmers could have access to low-methane-emitting sheep as early as 2016.
Green start-ups eyeball Snowball crowd-funder
16 Sep 2014
Clean-tech start-ups are showing interest in a new crowd-funding platform for business.
Labour vows to build $100m clean-tech fund
16 Sep 2014
A Labour Government would put $100 million a year into clean-tech companies.
Worth reading ... we're giving away a copy of MiStory
16 Sep 2014
With talk of mass surveillance of New Zealanders dominating the news, Philip Temple’s new novel is timely.
Post-Fukushima, Japan's power plans are all at sea
16 Sep 2014
Two companies in Japan recently announced that they are to begin building two huge solar power islands that will float on reservoirs.
It makes no sense to rely on the same few crops
16 Sep 2014
We are in the middle of one of the biggest experiments in human history. At its core is the homogenisation of global food systems, which increasingly must deliver the same products to an expanding population across the world.
Drain the milk lake and create healthier, happier cows
16 Sep 2014
Milk, a precious resource in many parts of the world, has become a throwaway commodity in wealthy countries.
To make this fuel just add water and sunlight
16 Sep 2014
Australian scientists have successfully replicated one of the crucial steps in photosynthesis, opening the way for biological systems powered by sunlight which could manufacture hydrogen as a fuel.
Fossil-free superannuation is an idea that’s going to snowball
16 Sep 2014
The launch of Future Super, which claims to be the first super fund in Australia to exclude fossil fuels and their major supporting companies from its investment portfolio, has drawn significant attention.
There's more to renewable energy than fighting climate change
16 Sep 2014
With the failure of international agreements to fight climate change, the way is open to viewing the role of renewables as more than agents for reducing carbon emissions. Indeed, is it possible for countries to build their manufacturing industries, enhance their energy security — and contribute to reducing carbon emissions?
Water source major challenge for frackers
16 Sep 2014
The vast quantities of water needed to release oil and gas by fracturing rock formations are not available in large areas with the richest deposits – posing major challenges to the future viability of fracking.
Why trade pacts are bad for humankind
16 Sep 2014
The Obama administration has proposed several ad-hoc, multi-country economic agreements, and in doing so has abandoned de facto the World Trade Organisation as insufficiently malleable to its interests.
Beehive buys fight with business climate crusader
8 Sep 2014
The Government has locked horns with one of New Zealand’s leading business people over climate change and the new economy.
Angry green-plan backers desert Horizon council
8 Sep 2014
Every member of the Horizon’s Regional Council that worked on the controversial One Plan has left amid allegations of political interference in implementing the ground-breaking environmental rules.
NZ needs to be in China now, says carbon trader
8 Sep 2014
New Zealand should be knocking on China’s door now if it wants to exploit huge potential from that country’s apparent determination to put a national emissions trading scheme in place in 2016, says a leading local carbon trader.
Are we doing an America's Cup on new-tech, asks investor
8 Sep 2014
New Zealand is in danger of seeing its plans to be a leader of the new technology go the same way as our last America’s Cup challenge, says clean-tech investor Nick Gerritsen.
New-energy groups join up to sell NZ credentials
8 Sep 2014
Renewable energy sectors are joining forces to promote New Zealand’s clean-energy credentials as a new international industry.
We've got the world's lowest carbon prices
8 Sep 2014
New Zealand has the lowest carbon prices in the world, the World Bank says.
China looks like kicking its coal habit
8 Sep 2014
There are still doubts. The statistics might be proved wrong. But it looks as if China might be starting to wean itself off its coal consumption habit.
Worried carmakers force Korea ETS changes
8 Sep 2014
Korea’s booming car industry appears to have won over the government in the country’s latest road map for emissions reduction.
Attention farmers: Stand by for a proliferation of pests
8 Sep 2014
Coming soon to a farm near you: just about every possible type of pest that could take advantage of the ripening harvest in the nearby fields.
Leaders are emerging, says senior scientist
8 Sep 2014
There are prospects of significant progress in the response of world governments to climate change, according to a former British Government chief scientist, Sir David King.
How we tricked bacteria into making renewable propane
8 Sep 2014
Converting renewable energy into electricity is one thing; converting it into fuel is quite another.
Worth listening to ... The Nukes
8 Sep 2014
New Zealand band The Nukes captures the essence of the country's environmental problems in Last Kauri, found on their just-released album Lucky Ones.
Worth reading ... a lucky winner
8 Sep 2014
Our free copy of Dirty Politics, Nicky Hager's expose of how politics is practised in New Zealand, at least by some, goes to Amelia Guy-Meakin. Congratulations - your book is on its way.
Labour vows to scrap emitters' one-for-two deal
1 Sep 2014
The one-for-two deal that halves emitters’ carbon liabilities would be scrapped by a Labour government.
NZ First backs iwi $600m carbon claim
1 Sep 2014
New Zealand First supports an iwi leaders’ bid to raise carbon prices.
Ten more years is too late, says Nobel winner
1 Sep 2014
Negotiating a global agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol at climate change talks in Paris next year is critical to the survival of society, a visiting Nobel Prize-winning scientist says.
Forest owners welcome return of grant scheme
1 Sep 2014
Forest owners are welcoming the reinstatement of the Afforestation Grant Scheme – but say that lifting carbon prices would reverse deforestation overnight.
Foresters like look of climate commission
1 Sep 2014
Forest owners like the Labour Party's plan to set up an independent climate commission.
We're going off grid ... surely but slowly
1 Sep 2014
New Zealanders might be slow at adopting alternative electricity generation, but it does threaten the existing centralised model, a new report says.
Policy wobbles could slow renewable energy growth
1 Sep 2014
Power generation from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydro grew strongly last year, reaching almost 22 per cent of global generation, says the International Energy Agency.
Worldwide, public shows its support for renewables
1 Sep 2014
Public support for renewable energies across the world continues to grow, particularly in more advanced economies − with solar power being especially popular.
Sarawak’s logging roads would go round the Earth … twice
1 Sep 2014
Sarawak’s logging companies, known for their unsustainable practices, have created a road network 88,111 km long in the Malaysian state’s rainforest, says a protest group.
Australian transport stuck in the energy queue
1 Sep 2014
Australia has scored poorly in the energy efficiency of its land transport, and is well behind other major economies, a recent international scorecard has revealed.
The fact is we're making the emissions problem worse
1 Sep 2014
Challenging news for those climate campaigners who believe that renewable sources of energy are on the increase: they may be, but so are carbon dioxide emissions.
Aviation a microcosm of the emissions problem
1 Sep 2014
No matter what the aviation industry does to reduce emissions, it will be outweighed by growth in air travel, according to a new analysis.
ETS a ‘broken paradigm’ undercutting biodiversity efforts
25 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Pure Advantage is calling on the government to reform the Emissions Trading Scheme, with a new policy briefing saying that New Zealand’s offset-heavy approach is a “broken paradigm” undermining biodiversity and shifting risk to communities.
Transpower on track to meet core emissions targets
Mon 1 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transpower’s total greenhouse gas footprint increased year-on-year due to higher emissions from its value chain, but the company says that making sure infrastructure is in place to enable the country's energy transition is the biggest contribution it can make to reducing emissions.
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
Fund for low emissions transport winds up
31 Jul 2025
New Zealand’s Low Emission Transport Fund has officially wrapped up, ending a nine-year programme that put hundreds of millions of dollars towards accelerating the country’s shift to cleaner transport.
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.
