New Zealand: All stories
Consortium plans carbon-capture projects
29 Oct 2020
After decades spent extracting fossil fuels from the UK’s North Sea, a consortium of oil companies is preparing to pump Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions back beneath the seabed to help meet the government’s climate ambitions.
New threat to prices from Govt auction
28 Oct 2020
The Government’s decision to auction large amounts of carbon credits without a technical reserve price in place poses a new downside risk to prices, warns the founder of one of New Zealand’s carbon-trading platforms.
Sleeping giant' Arctic methane deposits starting to release
28 Oct 2020
Scientists have found evidence that frozen methane deposits in the Arctic Ocean – known as the “sleeping giants of the carbon cycle” – have started to be released over a large area of the continental slope off the East Siberian coast, the Guardian reveals.
2020 on course to be warmest year on record
28 Oct 2020
While this year will be memorable for many reasons, it is now more likely than not that 2020 will also be the warmest year for the Earth’s surface since reliable records began in the mid-1800s.
Dust threatens Western US and Southeast Asia
28 Oct 2020
Half a planet apart, one low-lying and the other on the roof of the world, two huge regions confront an increasing dust risk − a menace to jobs, to food and to lives.
Get reserve in place to protect taxpayers, says Simpson
27 Oct 2020
The Government can and should pass legislation allowing it to set reserve prices when it auctions carbon credits, National says.
Shaw 'odds-on' as minister, says Simpson
27 Oct 2020
National’s climate spokesperson is picking Green Party co-leader James Shaw will stay on as climate minister.
FRIDAY POLITICS: A potentially costly hole in the Government's carbon-auctioning plan
23 Oct 2020
Green Party co-leader James Shaw is still in the running to retain his role as the country’s climate minister – but that might mean clearing up a bit of a mess of his own making.
World Bank branch backs coal megaproject
23 Oct 2020
The World Bank’s private lending branch is indirectly backing one of the world’s biggest new coal complexes, despite a new green policy.
Electric cars 'as cheap to manufacture' as regular models by 2024
23 Oct 2020
Electric cars will cost the same to make as conventional cars, with internal combustion engines, by 2024, according to new research.
Forestry’s climate impact ‘invisible’ under UN rules, experts say
23 Oct 2020
Forests are the planet’s biggest carbon “sink” – absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they emit – but their contribution to cooling the earth’s climate is currently not fully accounted for under UN rules, experts say.
Business makes bid for $7.23 billion
22 Oct 2020
Businesses want the new Government to back $7.23 billion worth of projects they say will cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 5.5 per cent over the next decade.
Geology’s human footprint is enough to spur rage
22 Oct 2020
Once again science has presented evidence that a new geological epoch is here. This human footprint is all our own work.
Businesses talking sustainable procurement
21 Oct 2020
Some of the country’s biggest organisations are working together to figure out how to drive sustainable purchasing by businesses.
Rising heat means more heat and more methane
21 Oct 2020
Nights are warmer. So are northern lakes. And farm livestock are at greater risk of disease, thanks to rising heat.
We need to solve the dry-year problem, says Carr
20 Oct 2020
Electrification of more of the economy to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions will require a resolution to the risk posed by dry years to the hydro-electricity system, says Climate Change Commission chair Dr Rod Carr.
The four who could be our next climate minister
19 Oct 2020
Who will be New Zealand’s next climate minister? Carbon News canvasses the options and comes up with four names.
Delivering credit for carbon storage
19 Oct 2020
In 1915, Mike Gibbs’ ancestors made their way from the flat, agricultural plains of Southland to the wild, steep, forested edge of Eastern Fiordland.
World makes haste too slowly on cutting energy use
19 Oct 2020
The world is dragging its feet on efforts to tackle the climate crisis by reducing its energy use, according to a global watchdog.
Carbon tariffs for steel, aluminium, on the table
16 Oct 2020
A new Labour Government could bring in carbon tariffs at the border, says Trade Minister David Parker.
AGRICULTURE: Sage confirms Cabinet vetoed carbon pricing from next year
16 Oct 2020
Climate Minister James Shaw tried to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture from next year, according to fellow Green Cabinet minister Eugenie Sage.
National releases its climate policy - at last
15 Oct 2020
Forestry's role under the Emissions Trading Scheme would be reviewed under a National Government and agricultural emissions would not face a carbon price until other countries do the same.
Our greenhouse gas emissions are being pushed by growth
15 Oct 2020
Economic growth is driving New Zealand’s rising greenhouse gas emissions, a new report confirms.
EDITORIAL: An end to endless growth
14 Oct 2020
Earlier this year, two economists warned that meeting the Paris Agreement was likely to require negative economic growth.
IEA outlines how world can reach net-zero emissions by 2050
14 Oct 2020
For the first time, the International Energy Agency has set out what would need to happen this decade to reach net-zero emissions globally by 2050.
Business, experts, brief PM in secret meeting
13 Oct 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and three of her Cabinet heavyweights have been briefed on what experts and business leaders see as the real issues in dealing with climate change.
Sharp rise is extreme weather, says UN
13 Oct 2020
Extreme weather events have increased dramatically in the past 20 years, taking a heavy human and economic toll worldwide, and are likely to wreak further havoc, the UN has said.
Steel giant joins growing list of companies aiming for net-zero
13 Oct 2020
Luxembourg company ArcelorMittal produces more steel than any other company. It is also taking a leading role in developing technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from steel-making.
Ending hunger: science must stop neglecting smallholder farmers
13 Oct 2020
Policymakers urgently need ideas on ways to end hunger. But a global review of the literature finds that most researchers have had the wrong priorities.
Want some eco-friendly tips? A new study says no, you don’t
13 Oct 2020
Hearing eco-friendly tips such as riding bikes instead of driving and going vegan to save the planet actually makes people less likely to do anything about climate change, new research shows.
Parker pushes back against pumped-hydro critics
12 Oct 2020
Environment and former climate and energy minister David Parker says he is backing investigations into a pumped-hydro scheme because it has the potential to slash the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Is New Zealand merely a climate-follower?
12 Oct 2020
Back in pre-COVID times last year, when New Zealand passed the Zero Carbon Act, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern insisted “New Zealand will not be a slow-follower” on climate change. But how has she performed?
Exxon’s leaked documents reveal pollution plan
12 Oct 2020
Leaded documents show Exxon plans to increase its carbon production by 17 per cent by 2025 - an increase equivalent to the total annual emissions of Greece.
Lines project first to try covid consent process
9 Oct 2020
A project that could form part of the Government’s pumped-hydro electricity scheme is the first to be considered by an expert panel set up under the Government’s covid-19 fast-tracking consenting process.
Biorefinery boost to forestry
9 Oct 2020
A venture pushing to develop a $160 million biorefinery near Gisborne believes the project can help fill a long-standing gap in the country’s forestry research sector.
Rising fertiliser use could cost Paris target
8 Oct 2020
Global growth in nitrous oxide emissions from intensive farming is jeopardising climate goals, scientists say in a major new paper.
Labour targets transport and heat in climate policy
8 Oct 2020
A re-elected Labour Government would ban the installation of most new coal-fired industrial boilers and decarbonise the public transport fleet by 2035, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday.
Carbon capture 'moonshot' moves closer, as billions of dollars pour in
8 Oct 2020
As the world dices with the climate emergency, businesses and governments are starting to push funding towards technology that aims to trap planet-heating gases rather than let them saturate the atmosphere.
Ministry mum on who will run carbon auction
7 Oct 2020
New Zealand’s first auction of carbon credits will take place on March 17, but there is no word yet on who will be running it.
How the Greens changed the language of economics
7 Oct 2020
When Health Minister Chris Hipkins recently quipped that the Green Party is “to some extent the conscience of the Labour Party” he was not simply referring to polls suggesting Labour may need the Greens’ support to form a government.
Scientists didn’t expect wildfires this terrible for another 30 years
7 Oct 2020
This year has been hell on earth, in more ways than one. Catastrophic blazes have spanned the planet from Australia to the Arctic, and wildfires have torched large swaths of the western United States, all fulfilling forecasts much faster than scientists had predicted. It’s as if the wildfires of 2050 are already here.
Nuclear power hinders fight against climate change
7 Oct 2020
Countries wishing to reduce carbon emissions should invest in renewables, abandoning any plans for nuclear power stations because they can no longer be considered a low-carbon option.
The young and Green voters still hot on climate
6 Oct 2020
Climate change remains the country’s biggest issue for young voters, despite the covid-19 pandemic, a new independent political poll shows.
Government subsidies to cut emissions in public buildings
6 Oct 2020
Lincoln and Auckland universities and hospitals in Invercargill, New Plymouth and South Auckland are the latest public facilities to get a slice of the Government’s Clean-Powered Public Service Fund.
Green hydrogen could be cheap transformative fuel within a decade
6 Oct 2020
Chinese manufacturers have reported making systems to create hydrogen with renewable energy for up to 80 per cent less than official Australian estimates from just two years ago.
Refinery closure could boost global emissions
5 Oct 2020
Refining New Zealand has confirmed cost-cutting measures for next year, but says a decision on whether to stop refining operations altogether is still a while away.
Covid crisis not affecting climate investment drive
2 Oct 2020
Investors representing more $1.5 trillion in funds say their enthusiasm for low-carbon strategies hasn’t been dented by the economic impacts of the covid-19 pandemic.
Voters divided over climate policy and action
2 Oct 2020
New Zealanders are polarised on climate-change policy, putting the two major political parties in a difficult position.
M&S cuts soya from its milk supply chain
2 Oct 2020
British food retailer Marks & Spencer eliminated soya from the production of all its milk as part of its commitment to end deforestation in its supply chain.
Policy could prevent shift to low-emissions tech, says Genesis
1 Oct 2020
The Labour Government’s plan to bring forward its 100 per cent renewable electricity generation target to 2030 is an example of siloed thinking and is likely to be self-defeating, Genesis Energy has told shareholders.
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.
