New Zealand: All stories
So, what is this thing called perovskite?
18 Aug 2014
By JON MAJOR.- Whenever I tell people I work with solar cells, I am asked the same two questions: are they ever going to be really cheap? And can you get me some?
The climate change world according to Piketty
18 Aug 2014
French economist widely debated Thomas Piketty and his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century are a global publishing phenomenon. But while Piketty’s writing on wealth inequality has been widely debated, far fewer people know that he has some useful things to say about climate change and public capital.
Who has the courage to take on transport taboos?
18 Aug 2014
Transportation continues to generate a large proportion of emissions worldwide, even as emissions from other areas of the economy fall.
Debate heats up as US looks at gas emissions
18 Aug 2014
Groups for and against US government plans for new regulations aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions have been slugging it out at a series of heated debates across America.
Flower power one way to bring new life to broken mill town
11 Aug 2014
Kawerau might have a new future as a flower town as part of a drive by Maori to build sustainable green businesses on their land.
Our leaders missing as world talks climate tactics
11 Aug 2014
Xi Jinping is going, and so is Barack Obama, but John Key is staying home.
Gases importers pay $1.5m carbon taxes
11 Aug 2014
Importers of synthetic greenhouse gases paid nearly $1.5 million in carbon taxes in the past financial year.
Greens have a tempting carbon tax idea
11 Aug 2014
A carbon price is still the best and fairest way to achieve emissions cuts, but as Australia and New Zealand show, it’s not easy to get it right. How could carbon pricing be improved?
Is natural gas fracking the answer to our energy problems?
11 Aug 2014
FEATURE: As climate talks heat up, experts debate whether natural gas fracking will turn brown economies green.
Fishers waking up to dangers of acidic oceans
11 Aug 2014
Research has highlighted the negative effect acidification of oceans can have on marine life, but now fishing communities are waking up to the big threat it poses to their livelihoods.
It looks like air fares will have to rise ... and rise ... and rise
11 Aug 2014
Researchers warn that the cost of airline tickets will need to rise steadily to decrease demand and counteract the effects of aviation’s growing carbon emissions.
Airports super-inefficient, says emissions study
11 Aug 2014
Airports are disastrously inefficient buildings which belch greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contribute hugely to climate change, a European study has found.
Science eyes role of water in beating climate change
11 Aug 2014
Should we pick and choose our climate strategies based on how water-wise they are?
Pure Advantage has new man at the helm
11 Aug 2014
Sustainable business lobby group Pure Advantage has a new man at the helm.
Scientists warn of biofuel plant dangers
11 Aug 2014
Researchers in the United States have warned those anxious to cut greenhouse emissions to make quite sure that the cure they choose will not turn out worse than the disease.
NZ gifts Rio Tinto $6m free carbon credits bonus
4 Aug 2014
The company that threatened to leave New Zealand if it introduced the Emissions Trading Scheme has had a $6 million windfall from taxpayers in the form of free carbon credits.
Frustrated forest owners quit trading scheme
4 Aug 2014
More than 750 owners of post-1989 forests left the Emissions Trading Scheme over the past year as New Zealand’s net forestation rate plummeted.
Economist rubbishes Govt's $500 power cost claim
4 Aug 2014
Government claims that lifting carbon prices would cost householders $500 more a year in electricity bills have been debunked.
WORTH WATCHING: New film shows up our sorry climate change story
4 Aug 2014
New Zealand’s tortuously slow reaction to the threats of climate change has been documented.
Green economy key to change, says Labour
4 Aug 2014
Labour says it will embrace the green economy by moving away from reliance on extractive industries and primary production toward low-carbon, high-value goods and services.
Smartphone could be way of beating the traffic jam
4 Aug 2014
Forward-thinking Finland plans to change the way Europe goes about urban travel using a novel system, based on a smartphone app, to help people to get the most out of public transport.
Pacific leaders call for tougher UN ocean laws
4 Aug 2014
Pacific Islands leaders say they will push for an agreement on ocean conservation at UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s climate summit in September.
Former Shell chief here to talk about drilling
4 Aug 2014
Shell Australia former chief Dr Roland Williams will front up to the people of Hawke’s Bay tomorrow to talk about oil and gas drilling.
Wastewater system earns environment award
4 Aug 2014
Watercare’s Kawakawa Bay wastewater system has received one of three Environment and Sustainability Awards for large projects presented by IPENZ, Auckland Branch at the prestigious Arthur Mead Awards function.
Climate change increases the odds of a hungry world
4 Aug 2014
The odds on food production being unable to meet the needs of an expanding population are hard to predict, but a new study shows that the risk increases dramatically when man-made climate change is factored in.
Fishing crackdown could save the oceans
4 Aug 2014
Tighter bag limits for fishing could be the key to ocean conservation, according to new research showing that limiting fishing across entire regions can offer better protection than using marine reserves.
NZ ups spending on Pacific new-energy projects
4 Aug 2014
New Zealand is boosting its funding of renewable energy projects in the Pacific.
Foreign foresters might sue over ETS changes
1 Aug 2014
New Zealand might face claims under free-trade agreements for losses caused as a result of changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Carbon axe will boost renewables, says Trustpower
1 Aug 2014
Electricity generator Trustpower believes the repeal of Australia's carbon tax will be great for renewable energy, which is likely to be heavily favoured under the federal government's Renewable Energy Targets scheme.
Divers vote to increase paua minimum size
1 Aug 2014
Commercial paua divers in Marlborough are voluntarily increasing the minimum size they may take.
Why swimmable rivers are a bridge too far
1 Aug 2014
Federated Farmers environment spokesman IAN MACKENZIE on why making rivers swimmable isn't practical.
New marine reserves laws set mark, says industry
1 Aug 2014
A new marine reserve and management law for Marlborough passed by Parliament is a template for seafood and environment conservation measures throughout New Zealand, says Seafood New Zealand.
If the Southern Alps look different, it's because they're losing snow and ice
1 Aug 2014
A third of the permanent snow and ice of Southern Alps has disappeared, according to aerial surveys.
How the Rock got on a climate change roll
1 Aug 2014
The Pacific island of Niue has its own plastic-manufacturing plant, enabling it to produce its own water tanks?
Nuclear power champions paint rosy picture
1 Aug 2014
The nuclear industry remains remarkably optimistic about its future, despite evidence that it is a shrinking source of power as renewables increasingly compete to fill the energy gap.
Organic farming growing rapidly, says EU
1 Aug 2014
The organic farming sector has grown rapidly over the past 10 years, to about 500,000 new hectares every year, according to European Union statistics.
Warming world wake-up call for Asia
1 Aug 2014
Researchers in the UK have established a link between changing climate and agriculture that could have significant consequences for food supplies in South Asia.
Business begins to adopt the circular economy
1 Aug 2014
The concept of the circular economy has left the realm of academic theory and entered the world of business.
Canberra gives go-ahead to massive coal mine
1 Aug 2014
Australia’s biggest coal mine, the Carmichael Coal and Rail Project this week received the go-ahead from the federal government.
Worth listening to ...
1 Aug 2014
New Zealand-based international engineering company Aurecon is involved in renewable energy projects around this world. But it is pessimistic about the outlook for renewables in New Zealand.
Iwi appoints new environment chief
1 Aug 2014
Ngâti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated has a new director of environment and natural resources.
Glass is the game for biggest manufacturer
1 Aug 2014
O-I Glass is New Zealand’s only glass-container manufacturer and is the country’s largest user of recycled glass.
Morgan makes a splash with private water report
25 Jul 2014
Philanthropist Gareth Morgan has followed through on his promise and thrown a large rock into the Government’s water-policy pool.
Scientist sees smart farmers already changing systems
25 Jul 2014
Smart farmers are already adapting to climate change, says the Professor of Dairying Systems at Massey University, Dr Danny Donaghy.
We must learn to live with floods, says river expert
25 Jul 2014
People are going to have to learn to live with floods like those that have shut down large parts of Northland over the past two weeks, says an expert in river channel dynamics.
Shorten pleads for G20 to talk climate crisis
25 Jul 2014
Australian Opposition leader Bill Shorten has taken his battle with Prime Minister Tony Abbott over climate policy to an international stage, saying the issue should be a priority for the G20 leaders' meeting in Brisbane.
PHEW! We sweated it out last winter, the hottest on record
25 Jul 2014
Last winter was New Zealand's warmest on record, says the latest international report on global climate.
Germany and Britain top the Dirty 30
25 Jul 2014
By KIERAN COOKE.- It’s not the sort of league table that anyone is proud of leading, but a new report on the European Union’s power sector lists the EU’s 30 most polluting energy plants – all powered by coal.
Greening needs workers, says UN labour chief
25 Jul 2014
The world does not have to choose between job creation and preserving the environment, says a senior United Nations labour official.
Big thinking, fresh thinking key to our future
25 Jul 2014
Imagine being able to contain greenhouse gas emissions, make fertiliser use more efficient, keep water waste to a minimum, and put food on the table for the 10 billion people crowded into the planet’s cities, towns and villages by the end of the century.
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.
