New Zealand: All stories
Wanganui firm has place among bio pioneers
13 Oct 2014
Calls for New Zealand firms to get into bio-manufacturing omit to mention the fact that we have already been there.
VUW researchers work on better solar systems
13 Oct 2014
Victoria University of Wellington researchers are part of a worldwide effort to design cheaper and more efficient solar energy materials.
We're wrong about waterways, admits Government
6 Oct 2014
The Government has admitted that official information on the state of New Zealand’s waterways is wrong.
QUIET! Climate-cautious Key sends message to ministers
6 Oct 2014
The Government’s new cabinet line-up confirms its lack of interest in climate change.
Medicos inject themselves into climate debate
6 Oct 2014
Health professionals in New Zealand are joining an international call for action on climate change.
Listen to LUCI and keep land use on the level
6 Oct 2014
A computer-modelling programme designed by a Victoria University of Wellington academic is helping to ensure that farming practices here and overseas are as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible.
Sustainability network wins business award
6 Oct 2014
The Sustainable Business Network has won the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation - Not for Profit Award at the 2014 AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards, announced at the Langham Hotel, Auckland on 2 October.
Controlling deforestation will take more than words
6 Oct 2014
There was little at the recent UN Climate Summit in New York in the way of new climate policy announcements, but 27 countries did sign a new forest agreement — the New York Declaration on Forests.
Surfers fear climate will wipe out big waves
6 Oct 2014
Dedicated surfers, deeply involved with monitoring the natural coastal environment around the world, warn that climate change now poses a major threat to this booming leisure industry.
Memo John Key: Look Pacific leaders in the eye
29 Sep 2014
The Government is being challenged to invite the leaders of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati to come and tell Parliament what they think of New Zealand’s climate change policies.
Renewables make mark on emissions figures
29 Sep 2014
Increasing generation from renewables is continuing to drive a massive drop in greenhouse gas emissions from electricity in New Zealand.
Do something, big business warns political leaders
29 Sep 2014
Many of the biggest hitters in the global financial community, together managing an eye-watering $24 trillion of investment funds, have issued a powerful warning to political leaders about the risks of failing to establish clear policy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Unhappy power consumers eye solar generation
29 Sep 2014
Nearly two-thirds of New Zealanders would like to say goodbye to their power companies and generate their own electricity.
Have a say in energy development
29 Sep 2014
New Zealanders can have a say on the type of energy development they want, thanks to a Victoria University summer project.
How to save the planet ... bike, walk or take a bus
29 Sep 2014
Here’s a way to save $100 trillion and stop 1700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from getting into the atmosphere every year by 2050: cycle, walk or take public transport.
Clear skies for aviation industry, says Boeing report
29 Sep 2014
The business outlook for civil aviation is bright thanks mainly to rising Asian demand for aircraft. But airlines are expected to have a harder time, with tougher competition in Europe leading to a consolidation of the sector, according to the latest industry forecast.
Use your phone to report water pollution
29 Sep 2014
Water pollution may soon be reported by the public over a phone app and investigated by an aerial robot.
Win some, lose some ... that's climate change
29 Sep 2014
With climate change, you win some, you lose some. New research shows that suitable new cropland could become available in the high latitudes as the world warms − but tropical regions may become less productive.
Australia seems to be overlooking bioenergy
29 Sep 2014
When we think of renewable energy, it’s easy to picture spinning wind turbines or rooftop solar panels. But what about bioenergy?
Would a climate change treaty be enough?
29 Sep 2014
Do we need a climate treaty, or could a simple political deal based on national pledges work just as well?
WORTH SEEING … Thin Ice
29 Sep 2014
New Zealand scientist Simon Lamb's award-winning film Thin Ice will have a public screening in Hamilton next week. Lamb, a geologist, filmed the documentary himself, with a view to finding out whether his fellow scientists really were involved in some sort of climate change hoax as some were alleging.
Study will reveal our use of water
29 Sep 2014
The nature of domestic water demand is being measured.
Off to the tip ... 33,000 polystyrene cups
29 Sep 2014
Waikato University every year sends 33,000 polystyrene cups to the landfill.
Scientists plead for cuts to ballooning fossil fuel emissions
22 Sep 2014
Scientists are calling for rapid cuts in the use of fossil fuels in the wake of data out today showing we have almost used up our fossil-fuel credit.
Political parties fail to get the sustainability message through
22 Sep 2014
New Zealanders’ support for a shift to a sustainable economy is growing, according to new research from Colmar Brunton.
If the PM doesn't worry about climate change, why should we?
22 Sep 2014
New Zealanders are taking their cue on climate change from the Prime Minister, says social trends researcher Jill Caldwell.
Big business signs up with sustainability driver
22 Sep 2014
Some of New Zealand’s largest companies and organisations have signed up to a new international movement on sustainable business.
Why Kiwibank took its business to the kids
22 Sep 2014
When Kiwibank wanted to know how to move beyond the first stage of being a sustainable business, it asked a bunch of 10-year-olds.
We're spending millions, say green-wise farmers
22 Sep 2014
Manawatu-Whanganui region farmers have spent an average $110,000 each over the past five years on measures to protect the environment, according to a Federated Farmers survey.
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.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
