New Zealand: All stories
Govt reverses decision on technical reserve
21 Dec 2020
The first Government auction of carbon credits, scheduled for March 17, will take place with a technical reserve price in place after all.
Holiday publishing
21 Dec 2020
Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all our readers. Carbon News publishes daily market updates over the summer break and will cover any major breaking stories. We will return to full production in late January.
EDITORIAL: 202O - the year we got serious?
14 Dec 2020
Believe it or not, a 54 per cent rise in the price of NZUs this year does not make 2020 the year of the biggest gains.
WORTH NOTING ...
14 Dec 2020
A training course on how to take part in the first Government auction of carbon credits will be held on Thursday.
Help us make Marsden a renewables hub, says Z
11 Dec 2020
A major shareholder in New Zealand’s only oil refinery says it should be converted to producing renewable fuels.
Our sustainability - ranked!
11 Dec 2020
New Zealand has again come in at 11th place overall in an international ranking of the environmental and social sustainability of countries.
WORTH NOTING ...
11 Dec 2020
The Government is expected to update Southland today on talks to stop – or at least delay – the closing of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.
WELLINGTON: Give us carbon credits for our wetlands
10 Dec 2020
A second regional authority is calling for non-forestry carbon sequestration like wetland restoration to earn carbon credits.
Global emissions at new record
10 Dec 2020
Greenhouse gas emissions reached a new high last year, putting the world on track for an average temperature rise of 3deg, a new United Nations report shows.
Research spending doesn't match priorities - report
10 Dec 2020
There’s a serious mismatch between what New Zealand’s Government identifies as the most pressing environmental issues, including climate change and freshwater quality, and the investments in environmental research it actually makes.
WORTH NOTING ...
10 Dec 2020
A training course on how to take part in the first Government auction of carbon credits will be held next Thursday.
Genesis says it will slash emissions
9 Dec 2020
The operator of the Huntly coal-and-gas-fired power station says it will cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
Z tells Govt how to cut transport emissions
9 Dec 2020
Z Energy is sticking with its dream of selling low-emissions biodiesel, albeit with an Australian product because its own production plant has been mothballed.
SYNLAIT: Food giants ready to pay for sustainable products
9 Dec 2020
New Zealand dairy producers and food processors have a great opportunity to benefit from recent emission-reduction pledges by global brands, Synlait Milk said.
WORTH NOTING ...
9 Dec 2020
Today is the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change – an event being marked by the group Parents for Climate Aotearoa (formerly Millions of Mothers) with a lunchtime toy picnic at Parliament.
WELLINGTON: Should we hold 'em?
8 Dec 2020
Greater Wellington Regional Council will debate today whether it should sell millions of dollars worth of carbon credits or hold them and wait for prices to go higher.
Sage heads new environment committee
8 Dec 2020
Former conservation and associate environment minister Eugenie Sage will chair Parliament’s environment committee.
Biogas plans from livestock called greenwashing by environmentalists
8 Dec 2020
Corporate pork and dairy producers are producing biogas to reduce methane emissions. But the actual climate benefits are unclear, and often overstated.
Cutting emissions and making fertiliser from beer-and-chip waste
8 Dec 2020
The much-loved combination of beer and chips is being harnessed to tackle climate change.
Biogas study: could we be running on waste?
7 Dec 2020
Gas suppliers, users and consultants are joining forces to assess the potential to use biogas to power industry and homes.
2020 one of the hottest on record
4 Dec 2020
This year is on track to be one of New Zealand’s hottest on record, meaning five of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 2013, scientists say.
How heat threatens global health
4 Dec 2020
Heat-related deaths are surging around the world, particularly among older people, scientists say, warning of growing pressure on health systems hit hard by covid-19.
WORTH NOTING ...
4 Dec 2020
The Christchurch office of the Accident Compensation Corporation is the target of 350 Aotearoa’s fossil fuel-divestment campaign today.
Carbon-zero public sector could include State investments
3 Dec 2020
The Government will decide in March whether a carbon-neutral public service will include the State’s investment portfolios.
Yes, we shall (virtually) go to Glasgow next week
3 Dec 2020
Speculation New Zealand will be excluded from global climate talks next week appears to have been premature.
WORTH NOTING ...
3 Dec 2020
Climate activists from 350 Aotearoa take their action to the Accident Compensation Corporation’s head office in Molesworth St, Wellington today, as they try to convince the State-owned insurer to stop investing in fossil fuels.
Climate change threatens insurance on thousands of homes - report
2 Dec 2020
Insurance could be hard to get by mid-century on at least 10,000 homes vulnerable to flooding and storm surges, a new report shows.
OPINION: Time to 'fess-up on our climate record
2 Dec 2020
Following today's planned climate emergency declaration, New Zealand will have to face up to the fact it has one of the worst climate records of industrialised nations.
WORTH NOTING ...
2 Dec 2020
Today is climate emergency day, when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will move in Parliament that New Zealand declares a climate emergency.
Emergency means more action, business tells Govt
1 Dec 2020
Tomorrow’s expected declaration by Parliament of a climate emergency in New Zealand should see an immediate scaling-up of investment in climate change funding and policies, businesses are telling the Government.
WORTH NOTING ...
1 Dec 2020
Climate activist organisation 350 Aotearoa will perform street theatre in the Octagon at lunchtime today in a bid to get the government-owned Accident Compensation Corporation to stop investing in fossil fuels.
NZ to push carbon trade deal to Europe and UK
30 Nov 2020
Joining a New Zealand-led trade pact on climate change could be more effective than putting up trade barriers on carbon, New Zealand will tell Europe and the United Kingdom.
Don't be too quick to dismiss the 'emergency'
30 Nov 2020
By PATTRICK SMELLIE | There was an outburst of skeptical tongue-clicking last Thursday when Climate Change Minister James Shaw announced New Zealand will this week declare a state of ‘climate emergency’.
Climate ‘apocalypse’ fears stopping people having children
30 Nov 2020
People worried about the climate crisis are deciding not to have children because of fears that their offspring would have to struggle through a climate apocalypse, according to the first academic study of the issue.
Ammonia – a fuel of the future?
30 Nov 2020
Like hydrogen, ammonia can play a key role in decarbonising Europe’s heavy industry and transport. So why isn’t it grabbing the headlines in the same way?
WORTH NOTING ...
30 Nov 2020
Parliament sits this week, with the James Shaw’s climate emergency declaration expected in the House on Wednesday.
Large slice of Kupe gas could be up for sale
27 Nov 2020
Genesis Energy – one of the country’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases – is considering selling its stake in the Kupe oil and gas field, freeing up money it could invest in renewable generation.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Tough-talking Shaw
27 Nov 2020
Climate minister James Shaw appears to be sticking with the new bullish approach he’s adopted since the election.
EU urged to address aviation’s full climate impact, including non-CO2 emissions
27 Nov 2020
The aviation sector’s climate impact is three times bigger than the effect of its carbon dioxide emissions alone, a new study shows, prompting calls for action.
Western Europe cools on plans for nuclear power
27 Nov 2020
News that two more reactors in the United Kingdom are to shut down on safety grounds earlier than planned has capped a depressing month for nuclear power in Europe.
Fletcher Building cracks Asia-Pacific DJSI
26 Nov 2020
One of New Zealand’s largest emitters has made it on to the Dow Jones Asia-Pacific Sustainability Index.
Gas, carbon capture key to emissions cut - BP
26 Nov 2020
By GAVIN EVANS | Natural gas, especially when combined with carbon capture use and storage, can play a critical role meeting the world’s net-zero carbon targets, BP economist Michael Cohen says.
'Jet-zero' green flight goal dismissed as a gimmick
26 Nov 2020
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “jet-zero” goal of a commercial transatlantic flight producing no carbon emissions by 2025 is a gimmick, according to experts, who say technology alone cannot solve the impact of global aviation on the climate crisis.
Norway hikes cash for rainforests, seeking corporate help to slow losses
26 Nov 2020
Norway is doubling the price it guarantees developing nations to keep their tropical forests standing, in a step to slow catastrophic losses and encourage big companies to invest far more in nature to combat climate change.
WORTH NOTING ...
26 Nov 2020
The Sustainable Business Network’s Convergence Conference on transitioning to a low-carbon economy over the next decade is on today in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and online.
Dairy company says it's well on the way to measuring farm emissions
25 Nov 2020
Fonterra is optimistic it will find a way to accurately measure the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being produced by each dairy farm in time to meet a Government deadline of 2022.
WORTH NOTING ...
25 Nov 2020
Parliament opens today, with the swearing in of new MPs and the election of a Speaker. The formal Speech from the Throne, outlining the Government’s plans, will be made tomorrow.
Govt promises ‘earlier action’ in response to Commission’s warning climate targets at risk
Fri 17 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government says it will “explore opportunities for earlier action” ahead of the third Emissions Reduction Plan, and has committed to looking at ways to stop the system of free carbon credits for industrial polluters from disincentivising industrial decarbonisation.
Transpower tracks more than 100 new grid projects
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Transpower’s latest connection data show more than 100 generation, storage and load projects in its pipeline, reflecting the rapid pace of electrification across the country.
All carrot, no stick for farmers on methane
Fri 17 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: The abandonment of methane emissions pricing and the adoption of a weaker target is effectively the last nail in the coffin of the historic cross-parliamentary consensus embedded in the Zero Carbon Act 2019.
Govt releases updated emissions projections
13 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Ministry for the Environment has released updated emissions projections to 2050, which show significant differences to the Climate Change Commission's recent projections for the same period.
Air NZ inks deal for its first internationally verified carbon credits
9 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Air New Zealand has committed to buying 8000 tonnes of carbon removals by 2030, in partnership with local native forest investment platform My Native Forest.
Emails show forestry lobby fought Gisborne crackdown as slash clean-up drags on
26 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Sustainable land use advocates are accusing Eastland Wood Council of stonewalling efforts to tighten forestry rules, after correspondence between the group and the local council was released under the Official Information Act.
Climate credibility gap widening for Aussie firms
1 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Australian public companies’ climate change commitments are in retreat, reflecting difficulty in achieving stated targets and increased fossil use, but not because of any pressure to make less effort, according to a study of major companies’ ESG reporting.
