New Zealand: All stories
Is that lithium or methane on the Govt’s breath?
21 May 2021
In 1985, then prime minister, David Lange, memorably quipped that he could smell the uranium on the pro-nuclear televangelist Jerry Falwell’s breath during an Oxford Union debate.
"Wrongheaded" obsession with balance a threat to the climate
21 May 2021
Former Treasury chief economist Girol Karacaoglu told a post budget breakfast this morning that the Government’s “wrongheaded” obsession with balance was preventing it from dealing adequately with poverty and climate change.
Auckland to spend $21 a year per household on climate change
20 May 2021
Auckland City’s proposed $160 million of spending on climate change over the next 10 years, announced in this week’s “recovery budget,” will add just $21 to the annual rates bill of residential property owners.
Search for burpless cows continues
20 May 2021
This week the minister of agriculture Damien O’Connor put out a press release touting the “promising new technologies” that have resulted from research funded by the Agriculture and Greenhouse Gases alliance.
Public to see ClimCom’s final advice next month
18 May 2021
The public will get to see the Climate Change Commission’s final advice to the Government by the middle of next month.
Climate change takes backseat in opposition parties’ alternative budgets
18 May 2021
The ACT Party says its supports reducing New Zealand’s emissions but the ETS is all that’s needed to do it.
The winding road to decarbonising transport
17 May 2021
With yesterday’s pre-budget announcement of $41.8 million for the state sector to lease low emissions vehicles, and last week’s release of a Ministry of Transport green paper on transitioning to net zero by 2050 a map of how New Zealand could decarbonise its transport sector is emerging.
Capital a step closer to fossil-fuel free CBD
14 May 2021
The Wellington City Council yesterday voted to direct staff to investigate the Wellington Fossil-Fuel Free Central City 2025 proposal put forward by councillor Tamatha Paul.
Victoria University's emissions plummet thanks to Covid
14 May 2021
A dramatic drop in air travel due to Covid-19 contributed to a 32 per cent drop in Victoria University’s carbon emissions in 2020 compared to 2019.
Best by the rest...
14 May 2021
Our weekly roundup of notable climate change stories featured in local media incudes: a compelling case for meatless meat, a survey showing times up for gas guzzlers, and the tipping point looming for business.
Climate change takes centre stage in infrastructure proposals
13 May 2021
Cheaper public transport, congestion charges, centralising the waste and recycling sectors, off-shore wind farms and up to a 10-fold increase in the price of carbon used to calculate the cost-benefit ratio of new projects are some of the ideas put forward in the infrastructure Commission’s 30 year draft strategy released yesterday.
422 new EVs added to government fleet
13 May 2021
The government has committed $13.1 million to buy state sector agencies 422 electric vehicles and install charging infrastructure.
Five new solar farms announced
12 May 2021
Auckland-based Lodestone Energy today announced plans to construct five solar power farms across the top of the North Island generating enough electricity to power a city the size of Hamilton.
Petition calls on TVNZ to ditch fossil fuel sponsors
12 May 2021
A Generation Zero petition calling on TVNZ to ditch Mobil as a sponsor of its sports bulletin has gathered more than 1300 signatures in its first week.
NZU price tipped to cross $40 mark before the end of the year
11 May 2021
Seven out of nine respondents to an international carbon market survey believe the price of NZUs will cross the $40 mark before the end of the year.
$800 per tonne methane tax floated in UN report
7 May 2021
A major UN study on methane, released today, calls for a cut in the consumption of meat and dairy products of up to 50 per cent and observes that a global tax of $US800 per tonne of methane would result in a 75 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050.
Rail plan lacks climate ambition
6 May 2021
The Government has highlighted the 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases New Zealand Rail prevents from entering the atmosphere each year, in its just released NZ Rail Plan, but a climate change expert says the plan is disappointing in its lack of ambition.
Simon Upton’s spirited defence of a departure tax
6 May 2021
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, gave a spirited defence of his proposal for a departure tax at today’s Environment Select Committee, despite the Government having ruled it out in the near term.
10 YEARS AGO...
6 May 2021
Ten years ago, Dr James Hansen was in New Zealand talking to business leaders.
Is this the beginning of a “barrage of climate litigation”?
5 May 2021
Lawyers for Climate Action have warned Auckland Council that without a “radical overhaul” its current draft Regional Land Transport Plan risks landing it in court.
Reserve Bank warns of climate induced financial instability
5 May 2021
In its latest six-monthly Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Banks notes that climate change presents a longer-term risk to financial stability with physical impacts of climate change likely to increase.
Certification system for renewable gas proposed
4 May 2021
Certified Energy an issuer of certificates for 100 per cent renewable or zero-carbon electricity is proposing a similar system for renewable gas.
Niwa beefing up its climate research capability
4 May 2021
NIWA is on a global hunt for eight new data scientists to join its growing team of AI experts working on climate change related research.
Low carbon indices launched
3 May 2021
The NZX and S&P Dow Jones today launched the country’s first carbon efficient indices.
Building material suppliers may have to provide embodied carbon information
30 Apr 2021
In future, building material suppliers could be required to include information on the embodied carbon in the products they’re selling.
Decarbonising grog’s own country
30 Apr 2021
With Lion and DB seemingly engaged in a PR battle for the title of the country’s greenest beer, Jeremy Rose takes a look what the country’s largest brewers are doing to decarbonise grog’s own country.
The beer diaries: the greening of your lager
29 Apr 2021
A couple of months back, Lion declared, in an advert wrapped around the NZ Herald, that it had gone zero carbon. Last week, its major rival, DB, announced “an array of bold new sustainability targets” including transitioning to 100 per cent renewable energy.
OPINION: NZ needs financial strategies to deal with climate crises
29 Apr 2021
By DAVID HALL | When it comes to climate change, money talks. Climate finance is critical for enabling a low-emissions transition. This involves investment and expenditure — public, private, domestic and transnational — that demonstrably contributes to climate mitigation, adaptation or both.
Best by the rest...
29 Apr 2021
Our weekly roundup of notable climate change stories featured in the local media, includes: a survey that shows most Kiwis back the ClimCom recommendations; an call for indigenous people to lead the way in climate talks, and a deep dive into Fonterra's emissions.
Is NZ’s carbon price too low?
28 Apr 2021
With Europe’s ETS price per unit hitting an all-time high of €47.30, or NZ$79.36, yesterday, New Zealand’s current price of under $40 a tonne is looking on the low side.
NZ's first carbon positive farm
28 Apr 2021
MEDIA RELEASE - Lake Hawea Station has been named as the first farm in New Zealand to have a carbon footprint certified by leading environmental certifications provider Toitû Envirocare, proving that farming can be a pathway to healing the planet.
Ardern touts NZ's climate action at summit
23 Apr 2021
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern used her appearance at President Joe Biden’s virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate Change to extol the virtues of New Zealand’s response to the climate crises.
Spying will have chilling effect on democracy
23 Apr 2021
The spying on school-aged climate change activists, revealed by RNZ yesterday, will have a chilling effect on young people’s engagement with democratic politics, says professor of politics and IPCC author Bronwyn Hayward.
Carbon footprint of an ANZAC biscuit
23 Apr 2021
Ever wondered what the carbon footprint of an ANZAC biscuit is? Didn't think so. But Planetary Ecology's Mary Morgan-Richards did and she's gone to extraordinary lengths to answer the question.
Current NZU trigger price risks $500m bill
22 Apr 2021
The Government could find itself having to buy carbon credits to the tune of half a billion dollars on the international market if the current $50 trigger price for releasing additional NZUs at auction isn’t increased.
Best by the rest...
22 Apr 2021
In our weekly round up of the best climate coverage in the local media, we include items by Jim Salinger on over fishing's mammoth threat to the climate, former PM Helen Clark on her vision of a green NZ, and talk of a night train between Auckland and Wellington.
Fonterra rejects climate claims
21 Apr 2021
Fonterra is dismissing a claim in Climatic Change – a leading academic journal – that it is the world’s second highest dairy emitter and is responsible for emissions equal to New Zealand’s total emissions target for the coming decade.
Departure tax not on the cards
21 Apr 2021
The Government is not currently considering the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's proposal for a departure tax.
Minister responds to climate criticism
20 Apr 2021
Climate Change Minister James Shaw says the Government is considering the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's recommendations - which include a call for a departure tax.
New book explores climate change in Aotearoa
20 Apr 2021
In the final chapter of the just released Climate Aotearoa, Adelia Hallett argues that there are two things that we need to do urgently: “stop burning fossil fuels, and look after nature. Because there are no technological silver bullets on the horizon to save us. We have to work with what we’ve got in front of us now.”
Bursting the climate bubble
19 Apr 2021
The government missed an opportunity to transition to a more sustainable future with the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble today, according to two academics.
Call to return one million hectares of marginal land to native bush
16 Apr 2021
Forest and Bird is calling on the government to return a million hectares of marginal land to native bush in the wake a Ministry of the Environment report showing native eco-systems continuing to shrink.
Best by the rest...
16 Apr 2021
The New Zealand Herald has published a series of articles in recent days as its contribution to Covering Climate Now's "Living Through the Climate Emergency" week of coverage in the lead up to Earth Day.
Sparkie on an e-bike
15 Apr 2021
BY JEREMY ROSE - When Andy Dynan set himself up as an independent electrician, just over a year ago, he did what most tradies do and bought himself a 4 x 4 Toyota Hilux. The ute – New Zealand’s most popular vehicle - is now on TradeMe and Andy’s getting around on an e-bike.
Organic dairy less emissions more moolah
14 Apr 2021
Landcorp dairy farms that have gone organic have made big cuts to their GHG emissions and increased their profitability.
Agriculture and energy sector account for 90 per cent of emissions
13 Apr 2021
Agriculture and the energy sector accounted for 90 per cent of New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, according to the Ministry of the Environment’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990 – 2019 released today.
Bill requires finance sector to disclose climate risks
13 Apr 2021
A Bill requiring the financial sector to disclose the impact of climate change on their business and explain how they manage climate-related risks has its first reading in Parliament this week.
AA calls for ETS revenues to be spent on green transport solutions
13 Apr 2021
The AA has called on the government to spend revenue raised from the ETS on reducing transport emissions or mitigating the effects of climate change.
Unions call for a just transition
12 Apr 2021
Unions are calling for large-scale public investment as part of a “just transition” to a carbon-zero future in their submissions to the Climate Commission’s draft report.
NZ emissions down, household emissions up
9 Apr 2021
The good news is that New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions were down in the year to December 2020, the not so good news is that that same month saw household emissions reach their highest ever level.
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.
Govt resilience plan 'dangerous fantasy' - thinktank
Fri 29 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | An independent thinktank, whose members include former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer and multiple academics, is warning that the government’s long-term resilience strategy ignores physical and energy realities and exposes Kiwi households and businesses to systemic failure.
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.
