New Zealand: All stories
Contact hopes renewable projects will reduce ‘dry year risk’
20 Nov 2023
Contact Energy’s senior staff seem full of hope that the coming month will bring to an end a few uncertainties in the electricity sector.
We’re burning too much fossil fuel to fix by planting trees – making ‘net zero’ emissions impossible with offsets
20 Nov 2023
By Mike Joy | The idea that we can mitigate current carbon emissions by “offsetting” them with carbon reduction initiatives elsewhere has become central to government and business responses to climate change. But it’s an idea we need to seriously question.
Bottom trawling risks releasing massive ocean CO2 sink: new report
17 Nov 2023
New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone contains about 2,240 million tonnes of organic carbon or 1% of the estimated global carbon stocks in marine sediments, a report commissioned by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has found.
Ministry for the Environment emissions up by 70%
17 Nov 2023
The Ministry for the Environments emitted 752.33 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the 2022/23 financial year - a 69.84% increase on the previous year.
Best by the rest...
17 Nov 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Disclosing your climate risks; NZ could breach European free trade deal; and weaving the harbour back to life.
Auditor-general to assess councils climate action
16 Nov 2023
How four councils are taking action on climate change impacts is under scrutiny from the auditor-general.
ETS participants relying on banked NZUs
16 Nov 2023
NZ ETS participants stockpiling NZUs for future liabilities, uncertainty concerning changes to the regulatory framework, and the looming general election all contributed to ETS auctions failing to clear this year, according to Ministry for the Environment briefing papers released under the OIA.
Energy regulators must consider climate - Transpower
15 Nov 2023
The energy sector’s regulators need to be given explicit requirements to include climate change as part of their regulatory considerations, says Transpower.
Coalition talks should prioritise environment, says Environmental Defence Society
15 Nov 2023
Advocates say the incoming government’s environmental policy could risk increasing pollution and driving up species extinctions.
Kiwi entrepreneur takes aim at plastic and carbon pollution from the global beverage industry
15 Nov 2023
Brianne West, founder of the hugely successful plastic-free beauty brand Ethique, is launching a new company aiming to stop the production of millions of single-use plastic drink bottles every year.
Interactive map targets restoring biodiversity
14 Nov 2023
A new interactive map, launched today, includes information on every ecosystem in every catchment of Aotearoa and includes targets for restoring 15% of biodiversity in each area.
Incoming govt climate policy "troubling" - Environmental Defence Society
13 Nov 2023
The Environmental Defence Society says the prognosis for the incoming government to tackle major environmental issues is troubling.
Climate change a threat to human rights, Court of Appeal told
13 Nov 2023
The Human Rights Commission has argued that climate change impacts raise serious issues of human rights law and te Tiriti o Waitangi, in a case before the Court of Appeal.
Fonterra announces 30% on-farm emissions reduction target
10 Nov 2023
Fonterra has announced it is targeting a 30% intensity reduction in on-farm emissions by 2030 from a 2018 baseline.
Bell Gully on hazard risk management
10 Nov 2023
As New Zealanders face the rising environmental, social and economic costs of severe weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle, a work programme to improve natural hazard risk management under the Resource Management Act 1991 (the RMA) has begun.
Best by the rest...
10 Nov 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Vanuatu urges National not to restart offshore oil and gas; how the ‘policy bonfire’ jeopardised our climate targets; and methane myths against textbook science.
Commerce Commission should expect backlash from lines companies
9 Nov 2023
There is likely to be a strong backlash from the regulated lines companies at the Commerce Commission’s initial views on their revenue path from 2025 to 2030.
Taskforce recommends continuous canopy forestry for Nelson
9 Nov 2023
A taskforce is calling for a halt to clear-felling on Nelson council land, and a transition to a continuous canopy of mixed species to replace the council’s commercial forestry operations, as part of a set of recommendations that will be presented to Nelson City Council today.
Businesses want consistent climate policy from new govt
8 Nov 2023
Businesses are working hard to reduce their carbon emissions, and want the incoming government to step up with consistent legislation and policy, according to the Climate Leaders Coalition.
Contact plans to produce food grade CO2
8 Nov 2023
Contact Energy says it could capture about 65,000 tonnes of CO2 at its Ohaaki geothermal site every year - enough to supply the New Zealand market with food grade CO2.
Climate protestors target dairy, fertiliser, and gas
7 Nov 2023
Climate activists blockaded three targets simultaneously on Sunday - the Whareroa Fonterra Dairy factory, the Kapuni Ballance fertiliser factory, and Todd Energy’s gas plant.
Council threatened with legal action for halting climate work
6 Nov 2023
Climate activist lawyers have put Kaipara District Council on notice that they could face legal challenges for canning key climate work.
RB governor warns of climate change induced supply side shocks
3 Nov 2023
Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr has warned that climate change is likely to cause supply side shocks similar to those of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID pandemic.
NZ’s response to climate change ‘hangs in the balance’: scientists
3 Nov 2023
Scientists are calling on the incoming government to urgently rebuild the country’s research, science and innovation sector - with our climate change response at risk.
Best by the rest...
3 Nov 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: NZ is ‘no longer on track’ to meet climate goals; Pacific youth activists present climate demands; and the financial impacts of climate change are being underestimated by billions each year.
Badly designed biodiversity credit system could impact national grid
2 Nov 2023
Transpower - the state-owned operator of the national grid - has warned that a badly designed biodiversity credit system could pose risks for the country’s power lines.
One winter survived, but the next looks tight as well
2 Nov 2023
A review of Winter 2023 shows how the electricity sector managed to navigate several periods of tight supply and warns similar conditions will prevail next winter in managing peak demand.
Marsden Fund grants for climate research
2 Nov 2023
Research into climate and the energy transition are among 123 projects taking $83.59 million from this year’s Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden, the Marsden Fund, announced today.
Greater Wellington’s emissions down by 5%
1 Nov 2023
Greater Wellington regional council has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 5% but failed to meet some of its climate change targets in part due to severe weather events caused by global warming.
Power between the tracks
31 Oct 2023
The gap between New Zealand’s more than 4000 kilometres of rail tracks could one day be home to solar panels generating up to 0.78 terawatt hours of electricity or 3% of the electricity produced by hydropower last year.
Climate adaptation projects sometimes exacerbate the problems they try to solve – a new tool hopes to correct that
31 Oct 2023
By Ritodhi Chakraborty and Claire Burgess | When United States aid money was used to build a seawall on Fiji’s Vanua Levu island to shield the community from rising tides, it instead acted as a dam, trapping water and debris on its landward side.
Window to avoid 1.5°C of warming will close before 2030 if emissions are not reduced
31 Oct 2023
Without rapid carbon dioxide emission reductions, the world has a 50% chance of locking in 1.5°C of warming before 2030, according to a study led by Imperial College London researchers.
New govt funding for climate research
30 Oct 2023
One third of this year’s Rutherford Fellowships are for climate research, with four of the 12 researchers tackling climate-related projects with $800,000 each from the fund over five years.
Energy companies team up on windfarm ventures
27 Oct 2023
Manawa Energy is teaming up with Pioneer Energy on plans for a new 300 MW wind farm in South Otago, expected to cost $750m to $900m. And Meridian Energy and NZ Windfarms have agreed to a 50-50 joint venture to repower and extend the Te Rere Hau wind farm in Tararua.
Profitability of status quo standing in the way of renewable energy transition
27 Oct 2023
Lack of political leadership and an industry that profits from the status quo are standing in the way of the transition to renewable electricity, according to Octopus Energy chief operating officer Margaret Cooney.
Best by the rest...
27 Oct 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Is a $90m project to cool cow burps working? an East Coast leader argues that indigenous reforestation is a Treaty right; and MetService defends its inability to forecast the extreme rainfall that led to Auckland’s deadly floods.
Kiwi carbon capture company wins place in Bill Gates’ climate tech programme
26 Oct 2023
Christchurch carbon capture company Aspiring Materials has scored a place in Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ climate tech programme.
Demand growth and batteries surge
26 Oct 2023
A significant pipeline of new customer load connections is likely to boost electricity demand following flat demand growth in recent years, according to a new report from Transpower.
Proposal to include non-forestry land in NDC calculation
25 Oct 2023
By Jeremy Rose | A Cabinet minute from July of this year agreed in principle to include non-forest land in New Zealand’s nationally determined contribution.
Over a quarter of a million new plantings in Hawke's Bay
25 Oct 2023
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has overseen more than 268,000 new plantings of trees, shrubs, flaxes and grasses this financial year.
Environment Commissioner suggests forestry levy to tackle wilding pines
24 Oct 2023
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has suggested a levy on forestry companies to fund efforts to combat wilding pines.
Fossil fuels drag down Genesis Energy share price
24 Oct 2023
Genesis Energy told shareholders that its involvement with fossil fuels was a drag on its share price, but the market was slowly realising the role gas had in backing up renewable electricity for a long time to come.
Battle lines drawn over future of fossil fuel exploration
20 Oct 2023
On one side, the oil and gas industry maintains - counter-intuitively - that to continue to electrify transport we need new gas and oil wells. On the other, Greenpeace and the wider environmental movement say that starting oil and gas exploration in a climate crisis is a crime against life on Earth.
Total GHG emissions increase 0.2% in June quarter
20 Oct 2023
New Zealand’s seasonally adjusted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased 0.2% (33 kilotonnes) in the June 2023 quarter, after a 0.1% increase (26 kilotonnes) in the March 2023 quarter, according to figures from Stats NZ.
Best by the rest...
20 Oct 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Is climate change feeding a new round of trade protectionism? The methane target debate heats up; and the founder of School Strike 4 Climate calls for a unified vision to meet climate challenges.
NZ climate-related disasters hit record high in 2023
19 Oct 2023
New Zealand authorities have declared a record 17 weather-related states of emergency so far this year, with insurance payments for climate-related disasters already topping $3.5 billion.
PPA market needed to accelerate decarbonisation - Transpower
19 Oct 2023
Power Purchase Agreements between corporate energy users and renewable energy developers should enable investment in lower cost renewable electricity generation and drive faster electrification, according to Transpower.
NZ needs urgent immigration reform for Pacific climate migrants - researcher
18 Oct 2023
Immigration reforms are urgently needed to allow climate migrants from Tuvalu and Kiribati into New Zealand, according to a researcher.
MBIE proposes energy and emissions reporting scheme
18 Oct 2023
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is proposing that stationary energy users with annual emissions of 2000 tonnes of CO2 or more be required to report on their energy use.
Climate change increases risk of earthquake damage
17 Oct 2023
Climate change not only worsens storms, but also increases the risk of landslides and flooding after earthquakes, according to researchers.
Govt brushes off 'damning' assessment of stalled emissions reductions
Thu 23 Jul 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government is downplaying the Climate Change Commission’s “damning” report on the country’s stalled emission reductions, while experts say policy changes since the Coalition Government came into power are squarely to blame.
Businesses told to plan ahead as energy risks mount
Thu 23 Jul 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Switching to electricity and improving energy efficiency are becoming increasingly attractive investments in the face of rising costs – and companies can no longer afford a "business as usual" attitude to energy, according to a new report.
Study outlines methane-cutting options for NZ livestock
Tue 21 Jul 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Breeding, feed and forage strategies could play a key role in reducing methane emissions from New Zealand's grazing livestock, with researchers concluding that a combination of approaches will be needed to achieve meaningful cuts.
'Terrible result': Emissions barely budged in 2024
5 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions were virtually unchanged in 2024, falling by 0.03%, despite the economy shrinking by ten times that amount during the same period, according to new data.
Weakening Clean Car Standard would hurt EV uptake, industry warns
7 Jul 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Electric vehicle advocates say weakening the Clean Car Standard would reduce access to new EV models, undermining New Zealand's place in global supply chains and slowing the country's transition to lower-emissions transport.
Seymour ‘imploring’ council to go easy on foresters is abuse of authority: EDS
7 Jul 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Environmental Defence Society says that Regulation Minister David Seymour’s attempt to influence Gisborne District Council to ‘go easy’ on forestry companies in enforcing environmental laws is a clear abuse of ministerial authority.
Business leaders say climate report ‘wake-up call’ for NZ
Thu 23 Jul 2026
By Liz Kivi | CEO-led organisations representing 42% of GDP are calling the Climate Change Commission’s latest report “a significant wake-up call for New Zealand.”
