New Zealand: All stories
Commission consults on reduction targets, budgets, and international transport emissions
3 Apr 2023
The Climate Change Commission is calling for evidence to support its work on Aotearoa New Zealand’s emissions reduction targets and emissions budgets.
Build Aotearoa’s circular marine bioeconomy for sustainable growth: expert
3 Apr 2023
New Zealand should be building a circular marine bioeconomy to leverage the country's abundant marine resources for sustainable economic growth, according to the project lead for the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge.
The oceans just reached their hottest temperature on record
3 Apr 2023
Scientists have watched in astonishment as ocean temperatures have steadily risen over the past several years – even as the cooling La Niña phenomenon had a firm grip on the Pacific.
National Party promises to double renewables
31 Mar 2023
The National Party today announced a new energy policy that it says will double renewable energy growth.
British author and climate activist accuses Silver Fern Farms of greenwashing
31 Mar 2023
British author and climate activist George Monbiot has hit out at what he calls “meatwashing” by New Zealand’s Silver Fern Farms.
Best by the rest...
31 Mar 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Stuff’s Forever Project magazine looks at climate progress from some of our biggest emitters; the government’s approval of new oil and gas exploration conflicts with goals to limit warming; and Auckland harbour crossing options explained.
Govt announces new waste strategy will cut emissions
30 Mar 2023
The government announced a new waste strategy yesterday that it says will cut tens of thousands of CO2-equivalent emissions with kerbside food scrap collection.
Reserve Bank seeks feedback on managing climate-related risks
30 Mar 2023
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is seeking feedback on proposed new guidance for the financial sector on managing climate-related risks.
Price of NZUs at 18-month low
29 Mar 2023
The price of NZUs has dropped to an 18-month low after a short-lived jump following the failed carbon auction on March 15.
Methane cools even as it heats
29 Mar 2023
Most climate models do not yet account for a new UC Riverside discovery: methane traps a great deal of heat in Earth's atmosphere, but also creates cooling clouds that offset 30% of the heat.
Trees grow for extra month as planet warms: study
29 Mar 2023
Researchers studying hardwoods in northwest Ohio say a century of warming has extended their annual growing season by a month on average.
Nearly a quarter of Auckland’s mortgaged homes at risk from 1-in-100 year floods
28 Mar 2023
Nearly a quarter of New Zealand banks’ residential mortgage exposures in Auckland are ‘at-risk’ to a 1-in-100 year rainfall flood event, according to new data from the Reserve Bank.
Climate action on the ballot paper: Shaw
27 Mar 2023
The IPCC’s latest blunt warning on climate change came shortly after James Shaw's own warning that the Greens would not be pushed around on climate change policy in the future.
Climate change minister to meet with leading MMT economist
27 Mar 2023
By Jeremy Rose | Climate Change Minister James Shaw is to hold a virtual meeting with leading modern monetary theorist Stephanie Kelton.
Ditched container return scheme means ordinary Kiwis pay for pollution
24 Mar 2023
Prime minister Chris Hipkins ditched a planned container return scheme as part of his “bread and butter” policy reset - a mistake that has left society picking up the tab for industry pollution, according to a waste and policy expert.
Best by the rest...
24 Mar 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: the Climate Change Commision wants the Government to explain why it rejected advice; meanwhile, the commission failed to win legal costs from Lawyers for Climate Action NZ; and the Labour-Green coalition is under pressure as Labour dumps climate policies.
Wind farm noise not harmful to health: New study finds no evidence of wind turbine syndrome
24 Mar 2023
A new scientific study has become the latest to debunk the theory that infrasound generated by wind farms can be harmful to human health, finding no evidence at all for the existence of what has become known as wind turbine syndrome.
Govt announces review of the ETS
23 Mar 2023
The government has announced it is reviewing the Emissions Trading Scheme to see whether it can play a stronger role in driving New Zealand’s climate response.
Taiwan diary: Getting there
23 Mar 2023
Carbon News editor Jeremy Rose is in Taiwan attending the Taipei Cycle show and talking to thought leaders in the climate change space. Over the next week he’ll be filing a regular diary updating us what’s he’s seen and learnt.
Lake Onslow pumped hydro doomed to fall by the wayside
22 Mar 2023
It is becoming increasingly likely the Onslow pumped hydro scheme will never even break ground.
Climate resilient vertical farming gets govt funding boost
22 Mar 2023
The government is investing $3.53 million in a vertical farming venture that uses up to 95% less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free.
Massive jump in ETS forestry land registrations
21 Mar 2023
Jeremy Rose | More than 221,000 hectares of forest land was registered in the ETS last year - not far off half of the total 500,000 plus hectares registered since the scheme came into force in 2008.
Climate change: “It’s here, it's now, it’s us” - local experts on IPCC report
21 Mar 2023
The IPCC's latest report pulls no punches: “Climate change is here, it’s now, it’s us,” says Nick Cradock-Henry, GNS Science and IPCC contributing author.
Underwater turbulence revealed as a key factor in climate change
21 Mar 2023
When someone mentions waves, we are most likely to think of the beach and surfers riding breaks to shore, not the waves deep beneath the ocean's surface. Now, new research has shed light on the important role underwater waves play in climate change
Resource consents must speed up to meet climate change targets
20 Mar 2023
New research shows that a 50% improvement in resource consent processing times could be needed for New Zealand to meet its 2050 emissions target.
National's revolving door for climate change portfolio
20 Mar 2023
Todd Muller’s resignation continues the National Party’s revolving door of climate change spokespeople, with North Shore MP Simon Watts now taking on the role.
Climate crisis worsens health disparities
17 Mar 2023
Climate change is already exacerbating health disparities for isolated communities and rural Māori - and we must prepare now for future disasters, rural doctors say.
Iwi groups throw support behind seabed mining ban
17 Mar 2023
More than 20 marae, hapū, iwi and environmental groups are calling on Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to support a bill to ban seabed mining.
We’re building harder, hotter cities: it’s vital we protect and grow urban green spaces – new report
17 Mar 2023
By Timothy Welch - The Conversation | Recent extreme weather events have provided a foretaste of how supercharged storms might threaten our future. So the release today of a new report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) is very good timing.
Best by the rest...
17 Mar 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Commentators say Wednesday’s failed carbon auction may mean the Emissions Trading Scheme is in tatters; the Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme’s budget blowout; and why good climate policy is good mental health policy.
Failed ETS auction sees slight bump in price of NZUs on secondary market
16 Mar 2023
Yesterday’s failed ETS auction saw the price of NZUs jump by a few dollars on the secondary market.
Marx and the Paris model of transportation
16 Mar 2023
Paris Marx is the author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation.
Floods, cyclones, thunderstorms: is climate change to blame for New Zealand’s summer of extreme weather?
16 Mar 2023
By James Renwick - The Conversation | The final months of New Zealand’s summer carried a massive sting, bringing “unprecedented” rainfalls several times over, from widespread flooding in Auckland at the end of January to ex-tropical Cyclone Gabrielle dumping record rains and causing devastating floods across the east coast of the North Island.
Lodestone starts Edgecumbe solar farm construction
16 Mar 2023
Lodestone Energy has started construction of a 32MW farm in the Bay of Plenty town of Edgecumbe - the New Zealand-owned company's second solar farm in Aotearoa.
Generators latest to take aim at RMA reform
15 Mar 2023
Electricity generators have joined those attacking proposed RMA reforms with most concerns about the consenting process for renewable generation and in particular the short-term nature of consents for assets with a long life.
Tax change makes micromobility more accessible for commuters
15 Mar 2023
Commuters will soon be able to access e-bikes more cheaply, thanks to an amendment to tax rules.
Global ecosystems are at risk of losing carbon storage ability: study
15 Mar 2023
Several regions of the world are at risk of losing their ability to store carbon, which could result in the drastic transformation of ecosystems and accelerated climate change, one recent study has found.
Climate emergency postponed
14 Mar 2023
The government has slashed a raft of emissions curbing policies, including the clean car upgrade and transport programmes, in a bid to reallocate $1 billion to support New Zealanders with the cost of living.
NZ fund buys Aussie carbon generation business
14 Mar 2023
New Zealand-owned Morrison & Co has acquired an Australian carbon generation business, the Financial Review is reporting.
Hydrogen aircraft: Fool me once?
14 Mar 2023
By Robert McLachan- Planet Ecology | NEW YORK TIMES – Virtually unnoticed abroad except by aviation experts, a recent broadcast by Russian television showed an ordinary-looking airliner roaring aloft from a Moscow-area airport, trailing a stream of condensing steam instead of the usual kerosene smoke.
Our radioactive moment continues
13 Mar 2023
New Zealand has once again been ranked among the world’s climate change laggards - alongside the likes of Saudi Arabia - by Climate Action Tracker.
Trees can only partly offset agricultural emissions: Environment commissioner
13 Mar 2023
Environment Commissioner Simon Upton has outlined the mammoth task facing the agriculture sector in reducing biological methane emissions to meet targets.
Government planning bus service upgrades for Christchurch
13 Mar 2023
The government has announced a $78 million boost for public transport in Greater Christchurch, aiming for more frequent and reliable bus services.
Why saving the whales means saving ourselves
13 Mar 2023
In 2016, disturbing footage captured on a sunny beach in Argentina went viral. The video appeared in news outlets around the world under variations of a disquieting headline: “Baby dolphin dies after a mob of tourists pass it around to pose for selfies.”
Renewables at record share of electricity generation
10 Mar 2023
The renewable share of electricity generation is at its highest level on record, with greenhouse gas emissions from electricity also at a low, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Dairy-alternative Kiwi start-up raises $1.5 million in seed funding round
10 Mar 2023
Daisy Lab, a precision fermentation start up, has successfully closed an oversubscribed $1.5 million seed funding round.
Coal still being burnt in DOC huts
10 Mar 2023
The ACT Party is claiming that the continued use of coal in some Department of Conservation huts is proof of the “craziness” of the government’s climate targets.
Best by the rest...
10 Mar 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Why the returns on strong climate strategies eclipse the savings on inaction; climate change minister James Shaw on why choosing adaptation over mitigation is dangerous; and TVNZ correspondent John Campbell takes a long hard look at the issue of forestry slash.
New idea for sucking up CO2 from air shows promise
10 Mar 2023
A new way of sucking carbon dioxide from the air and storing it in the sea has been outlined by scientists.
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
Wed 27 Aug 2025
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
Wed 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.
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.
