New Zealand: All stories
Tread carefully with jobs, say unions
30 Apr 2008
Unions are calling for a managed labour-market transition to carbon charging to avoid widespread job losses and pay cuts.
Tesco launches carbon footprint labels
30 Apr 2008
Major UK supermarket chain Tesco overnight launched carbon food labels, in a move which could have long-term implications for New Zealand suppliers.
Hutt hi-tech could ground overhead pylons fears
30 Apr 2008
Super-conducting technologies developed in the Hutt Valley could sidestep popular fears about overhead pylon transmission.
ETS will lead to more forests and cleaner air and water
30 Apr 2008
New Zealand’s emissions-trading and other climate-change laws will lead to more forests, better air and water quality and a slowing of damaging farming and fishing practices, but could also lead to increased pressure on the environment and some initial impacts on human health, according to new advice to the Government.
Leaked report says ETS will cost jobs, cut wages
29 Apr 2008
Wage cuts of $2.30 an hour, 22,000 lost jobs and a cost of households of up to $5000 a year are among the predictions contained in a report into the economic impact of the emissions trading scheme, Carbon News has learnt.
High-powered leadership group endorses emissions trading scheme
29 Apr 2008
A high-powered group of business and community leaders has endorsed the concept of an emissions-trading scheme in New Zealand as a way of managing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saying the impact on the economy will be minimal.
ANALYSIS: At last commonsense leadership on the ETS is heard above vested interest
29 Apr 2008
Did we last night see an agreed whole-of-New Zealand view emerge on the emissions trading scheme?
Work starts to model climate change's impact on NZ fisheries
29 Apr 2008
New Zealand's fisheries managers are keeping a weather eye on the impacts that climate change might have on our oceans and fish stocks.
CarboNZero for small enterprises a hit
29 Apr 2008
Small businesses are as keen - if not keener – than large companies to go carbon neutral, if response to New Zealand’s first internationally-accredited scheme for small businesses is anything to go by.
Wholesale electricity prices fall on last month
29 Apr 2008
Wholesale electricity prices were last week down compared with a month ago.
If you send more e-mail do you produce less carbon?
29 Apr 2008
Research currently underway at Sun Microsystems is trying to measure the carbon footprint of individual e-mails, BusinessGreen reports.
New report: Power utilities could make efficiency impovements of up to 11%
29 Apr 2008
Energy efficiency improvements in the U.S. electric power sector could reduce electricity consumption by 7 to 11 percent more than currently projected over the next two decades.
OptiSolar applies to build world's biggest (16 sq km) solar farm
29 Apr 2008
Solar energy specialist OptiSolar (http://www.optisolar.com/) has revealed plans to build the world's largest solar farm at a site in California stretching over nearly ten square miles (16 sq km).
EMA: "Carbon trade proposals could destroy economy"
29 Apr 2008
For common sense to prevail the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) is urging our law makers to think long and hard about the effects of the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill.
Scientists: Stop doubting and let us all get on with it
28 Apr 2008
Scientists are going on the offensive against climate-change “denialist spin”, saying that too much time is being spent arguing about whether climate change is real when the real effort should be going into finding solutions.
Woodhouse ready for commercialised carbon trade-off
28 Apr 2008
Low-key investor Seeby Woodhouse indicated at several closed-door discussions in Wellington and Auckland last week that he would step into carbon trading as a kind of one-man carbon exchange and clearing house.
NZ companies join UN emissions project
28 Apr 2008
An Auckland-based public relations firm and a Wellington management consultancy have joined a prestigious United Nations programme to slash climate emissions.
The big business question: How do we do it?
28 Apr 2008
New Zealand businesses might know that they need to do something about their environmental performance but most are struggling to know what, says a leading management consultant.
We're five times greener than the Aussies
28 Apr 2008
New Zealand businesses are almost five times "greener" than their Australian counterparts, with a new white paper finding more than half of Australian businesses have no policy to reduce energy use.
Champion farmers: We have to think differently
28 Apr 2008
Award-winning Far North farmers Lindsay and Erica Whyte say that there are many things that New Zealand farmers can do to improve their farms’ environmental impact – it’s just a case of starting to think differently.
City waste handy down on the farm
28 Apr 2008
A plan is being hatched to turn Auckland’s green-waste into valuable farm mulch.
Travelling greens have a new place to stay
28 Apr 2008
Travellers with a green bent will be able to sleep with a clear conscience at an Auckland hotel which opens its doors today.
Greens cool down on coal, but still hot on emissions
24 Apr 2008
The Green Party says that closing down the coal industry will not be a bottom-line issue in post-election coalition talks - but genuine measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions will be.
Power struggle as top energy companies go to war
24 Apr 2008
Two of our biggest power companies are at war for the wallets of the rapidly growing green consumer market.
Welcome to the age of ‘black power’
24 Apr 2008
Genesis Energy might have won a round against rival TrustPower for the hearts and minds of green consumers, but it’s in danger of losing the war, warns long-time social trends analyst Jill Caldwell.
ACT leader dismisses ETS legislation as ‘a rort’
24 Apr 2008
The emissions trading scheme (ETS) is just a government money-making rort, according to ACT Party leader Rodney Hide – and his party members agree.
Christchurch centre starts probing methane absorbing gas molecules on sea floor
24 Apr 2008
The Centre for Advanced Engineering (CAE) in Christchurch has begun looking at the possibilities of methane-absorbing gas hydrates in New Zealand waters.
NZ expert questions US praise of feedlot cattle
24 Apr 2008
An American claim that feedlot cattle are one answer for a world struggling with climate change has been challenged by a leading New Zealand environmentalist.
Deer hunters stalk carbon sink scheme
24 Apr 2008
The Deerstalkers' Association wants to sink a government proposal to wipe out deer from blocks of the Aorangi Forest on the Wairarapa coast.
UN honours climate change ‘trailblazer’ Clark
24 Apr 2008
Prime Minister Helen Clark has been honoured as a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations for her work on climate change.
Carbon storage in soil being researched: Major benefits possible for landowners
23 Apr 2008
A new move to store carbon in New Zealand soil is being formally researched and could be worth hundreds of millions to New Zealand farmers and other landowners.
Green Party pledges to shut Huntly, hobble coal industry
23 Apr 2008
The Green Party is threatening to end thermal coal exports and close the Huntly coal-fired power stations.
ANALYSIS: Potential political fall out from Green’s shock coal policy
23 Apr 2008
The Greens are viewed by many New Zealanders as “extreme” and offering policies which are too restrictive.
UK expert says NZ policy "a brave experiment", warns world not moving fast enough
23 Apr 2008
One of the UK’s leading climate change commentators calls New Zealand’s decision to include agriculture and forest sinks in its emissions trading regime “a brave experiment”.
Small-forest scheme open for business
23 Apr 2008
Applications are now open for the Government's new Afforestation Grant Scheme aimed at getting more trees planted on farms as part of New Zealand's effort to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Farming leadership criticised: industry at enormous risk
22 Apr 2008
New Zealand’s former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is calling for a radical rethink of our farming sector in the face of potential famine from climate change and world shortages of food, water and good-quality soils.
Climate change 'a problem for now'
22 Apr 2008
New Zealanders in the primary production sector believe that climate change is an urgent problem which needs addressing now.
Parker: No emissions credits for new renewable power plant developers
22 Apr 2008
Climate Change Minister David Parker says those building new renewable power stations won’t be rewarded with extra carbon credits under the proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS).
It's not so bad - a Carbon News series on mitigating the impact of emissions trading down on the farm
22 Apr 2008
Fancy a wind turbine in the back paddock? It could be worth about $75,000 a year - a major boost to property profits.
Wanganui firm pioneering organic engineering parts
22 Apr 2008
A quest to substitute naphtha derived plastic production engineering components for organic ones is under way at Axiam, a Wanganui high precision engineer better known internationally than it is here.
Kiwis dither while Aussie farmers pounce on carbon-trading scheme
22 Apr 2008
While New Zealand farming leaders openly question the existence of climate change, Australian landowners are queueing to join a national carbon-trading programme.
Now for the world's first hybrid rubbish truck
22 Apr 2008
Volvo is testing two hybrid refuse trucks in regular daily operations in Sweden by refuse collection firms Renova and Ragn-Sells.
KPMG: Tax consequences of being “green”
22 Apr 2008
When a famous frog sang, “it’s not easy being green …” he could have been referring to the consequences of being green for New Zealand businesses. As far as the IRD is concerned, it’s not going to get any easier.
The other side of the PI story: how environmental extremists are attacking NZ companies
21 Apr 2008
The private investigations firm which tried to recruit an environmentalist to provide information last night revealed to Carbon News that several companies in New Zealand are at significant risk from extremists.
Farm leaders, Agriculture Minister trade words on impact of ETS
21 Apr 2008
A row is brewing over the extent of the impact on farming of the proposed emissions trading scheme.
Farmer leadership slips back into attack on climate change science
21 Apr 2008
Federated Farmers wants the “religion” of climate changed reassessed before an emissions trading scheme is brought in, a stance which has failed to impress the Minister of Agriculture.
Wellington City decides on carbon credit revenue plan from town belts, forests
21 Apr 2008
Wellington City is looking to earn large annual revenues from emission credits by turning its town belts and forests into carbon sinks.
Genesis to build new $420m thermal plant unless regulations say not to
18 Apr 2008
The absence of legal definitions of base-load and peaking power supply is behind Genesis Energy’s seeking resource consent for a new thermal power station north of Auckland, the Government’s planned 10-year ban not withstanding.
Carbon neutrality uncompromised by coal supply, Meridian says
18 Apr 2008
Meridian Energy’s carbon-neutral status is not compromised by its ownership of a coal-fired boiler that supplies heat to several Dunedin businesses, the state-owned company says.
NZIER foreshadows grim ETS study in pre committee publicity flurry
18 Apr 2008
The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research has publicly revealed its plan to produce a study at the ETS bill select committee hearings - and foreshadows it wants an alternative policy.
ETS a ‘broken paradigm’ undercutting biodiversity efforts
Mon 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.
Profound shifts in our changing energy system – new data
Today 10:46am
New Zealand’s energy system is undergoing a profound shift as falling gas production and a dry hydro year reshaped the electricity market in 2024, according to data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Energy in New Zealand 2025.
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
Today 10:46am
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.
Why climate strategy is now central to business success
Tue 26 Aug 2025
SPONSORED CONTENT: Ahead of next month’s Climate Change and Business Conference, New Zealand businesses are being urged to treat climate strategy not as a regulatory burden, but as a core driver of economic competitiveness.
