New Zealand: All stories
Using microbes to clean up electronic waste
20 Aug 2020
If you were to stack up all the electronic waste produced annually around the world it would weigh as much as all the commercial aircrafts ever produced, or 5000 Eiffel towers.
ConocoPhillips trying to freeze permafrost to drill more oil
20 Aug 2020
Melting permafrost is stymying ConocoPhillips' plans to drill 590 million barrels of oil from a reserve in Alaska, so it's trying to refreeze the ground.
Australian hydrogen company launches IPO
20 Aug 2020
Green hydrogen company Infinite Blue Energy is looking for $A2 million in investment before launching on the Australian stock exchange.
Net Zero: How we stop causing climate change
20 Aug 2020
The world is nowhere near tackling the climate crisis, says a new book by an Oxford scholar, Net Zero: How we stop causing climate change. But at least we know how to.
ON THE BALL: Provincial pride could drive emissions goal
19 Aug 2020
Ranfurly Shield-style competition between provinces could get New Zealanders to finally cut greenhouse gas emissions, provincial local councils say.
Tsunami risk grows as sea-levels rise
19 Aug 2020
Nine per cent of New Zealanders live in a tsunami zone – and the threat will increase as the climate warms, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says.
New EV is a 'loft on wheels'
19 Aug 2020
With start-up electric vehicle companies coming thick and fast, California's Canoo is targeting its broke, urban Millennial market by putting a couch in the back of its prototypes.
Helping Chile cut emissions could help us
18 Aug 2020
New Zealand and Switzerland are helping Chile develop an emissions reduction programme that could pay dividends for this country.
DISHING THE DIRT: Why biochar isn't the answer
18 Aug 2020
Australia’s move to store carbon in soil is a problem for tackling climate change, agricultural scientists say.
Synethic gases net taxpayers $12 million
17 Aug 2020
The Government has collected nearly $12 million in levies for synthetic greenhouse gases imported into the country over the past year.
Covid-19 pushes back global overshoot day
17 Aug 2020
Earth Overshoot Day – the day each year on which human activity has used up all the resources the planet generates in a year and is moving into debt – has been pushed back by the covid-19 pandemic shutdown.
Woolly rhinos wiped out by climate change
14 Aug 2020
Although overhunting led to the demise of some prehistoric megafauna after the last ice age, a new study found that the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros may have been caused by climate change.
REPORT: Climate change will mean we get more diseases from animals
14 Aug 2020
As the new coronavirus continues to turn the world upside down, crashing economies and overextending health care systems, epidemiologists and infectious disease experts are increasingly focusing on how to prevent the next pandemic, rather than solely reacting to the current one.
Global offshore wind industry takes huge strides
14 Aug 2020
Despite covid-19’s grim effects on many industries, the orders for the global offshore wind industry have increased dramatically in the first half of 2020, totalling $US35 billion, up 319 per cent on last year.
UPTON: Coastal retreat the only sensible option
13 Aug 2020
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton is calling for fast, orderly retreat from coastal areas vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
CLIMATE CRISIS: Last decade was the hottest on record
13 Aug 2020
The past decade was the hottest ever recorded globally, with 2019 either the second or third warmest year on record, as the climate crisis accelerated temperatures upwards worldwide, scientists have confirmed.
Cod are disappearing because of global warming
13 Aug 2020
PEOPLE who love eating cod might have to change their preferences soon - according to new research published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, global warming may cause a decline in cod populations.
Nanotech turns bricks into batteries
13 Aug 2020
The humble house brick has been turned into a battery that can store electricity, raising the possibility that buildings could one day become literal powerhouses
SHAW: Next government all about emissions cuts
12 Aug 2020
Climate policy in the next government will focus on tangible ways to cut emissions, Green Party co-leader James Shaw says.
Ban looming for more plastic things
12 Aug 2020
Plastic items including straws, plates and branding stickers on fruit are likely to go the way of single-use plastic bags and be banned.
WORTH NOTING ...
12 Aug 2020
The dissolution of Parliament today has been postponed until at least Monday because of the new covid-19 pandemic lockdown imposed last night.
Gene manipulation using algae could grow more crops with less water
12 Aug 2020
Tobacco plants have been modified with a protein found in algae to improve their photosynthesis and increase growth, while using less water, in a new advance that could point the way to higher-yielding crops in a drought-afflicted future.
Native species key to cutting emissions
11 Aug 2020
Restoration of New Zealand’s wild places should count towards the country’s emissions reduction targets, the Government says.
Shining a spotlight on managed funds
11 Aug 2020
The ethics of all 390 managed funds operating in New Zealand are about to be opened up to public scrutiny.
Climate science’s worst case is today’s reality
11 Aug 2020
A trio of US researchers has grim news for people worried about climate science’s worst case outcome. Forget about the other options. The worst case is already happening.
Hyundai expands electric fleet
11 Aug 2020
Hyundai to build three new EV models - including two new electric SUVs - under revamped and expanded Ioniq electric brand.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Let's back buffalo
10 Aug 2020
Waikato farmers could be replacing dairy cows with buffalo if the region goes ahead with a plan to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions.
WORTH NOTING ...
10 Aug 2020
Parliament’s Environment Select Committee meets today to hear submissions on the Building (Building Products and Methods, Modular Components, and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
South Africa tightens restrictions for new coal power in landmark ruling
10 Aug 2020
South Africa is tightening environmental demands for new coal-fired power plants, after a ‘landmark’ ruling that licences for water use should consider the risks of climate change.
Is this the end for King Coal in Britain?
10 Aug 2020
As the black stuff burnt in the United Kingdom plummets to a level not seen since the early steam age, The Guardian traces its long, deep history and the problems left in its wake.
India plans to fell ancient forest to create 40 new coalfields
10 Aug 2020
Narendra Modi’s dream of a "self-reliant India" comes at a terrible price for its indigenous population
NZ and Ireland talk trade over ag emissions
7 Aug 2020
New Zealand is working with Ireland on trade solutions to the problem of carbon leakage in the agricultural sector.
FRIDAY POLITICS: It's a choice of slow or slower
7 Aug 2020
Young protesters are targeting both Labour and National with sit-ins in Dunedin today, saying both have failed to address the climate crisis.
Hydrogen stations on the way
7 Aug 2020
The Government is putting $20 million into establishing a national network of hydrogen fuelling-stations.
BP cuts oil production in favour of green energy
7 Aug 2020
BP is taking its business in a new direction, announcing it will slash its oil and gas production by 40 per cent and increase its annual investment in low-carbon technology to $5 billion, a 10-fold increase over its current level.
Business risk and covid-19 are pushing Asian financiers away from coal
7 Aug 2020
The use of coal as an energy source is steadily declining in the US and Europe, but coal mining and the construction of coal-fired power plants continues across South and Southeast Asia.
Europe is going all-in on hydrogen power - why isn’t the US?
7 Aug 2020
Once upon a time, hydrogen was supposed to be the future of energy. The possibilities for hydrogen power seemed endless: it could fuel our cars, heat our homes, and even power our airplanes. But 175 years after the creation of the first “gas battery,” the technology has yet to reach its full potential.
Diseases from wildlife thrive when nature is destroyed, study finds
7 Aug 2020
The human destruction of natural ecosystems increases the numbers of rats, bats and other animals that harbour diseases that can lead to pandemics such as Covid-19, a comprehensive analysis has found
Nation's first waste-to-gas plant proves a point
6 Aug 2020
Construction of New Zealand’s first large-scale waste-to-biogas plant shows the country could eliminate greenhouse gas emission caused by food rotting in rubbish dumps, the Bioenergy Association says.
Major ship emissions study flags a bigger role for governments
6 Aug 2020
Greenhouse gas emissions from shipping increased by 9.6% from 2012 to 2018, as rising demand outweighed efficiency improvements.
Satellites find new colonies of emperor penguins
6 Aug 2020
Satellite observations have found a raft of new emperor penguin breeding sites in the Antarctic - welcome news as the species faces increasing pressure from climate change.
EMISSIONS DOWNER: We must make them lower
5 Aug 2020
New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions could be about a fifth lower this year than last year because of covid-19, an international science consortium says.
Wood cheaper than electricity for emissions cuts, says Fonterra
5 Aug 2020
Fonterra favours wood over electricity for reducing emissions from its South Island plants.
WORTH NOTING ...
5 Aug 2020
Submissions on proposals to introduce a permitting system for the trade in mercury and to ban mercury from batteries, switches and relays, lamps and other equipment close today.
YOUNG v OLD: The battle goes on in the forest
5 Aug 2020
Are young trees or old forests more important for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it?
Trucks and buses are the electric future
5 Aug 2020
There aren't enough batteries in the world to electrify all the cars, so instead we should be focusing on trucks and buses.
Finance sector essential to adapting to climate change
4 Aug 2020
The Government is being told banks should toughen up on lending for properties vulnerable to sea-level rise and flooding.
Downstream turns on the power
4 Aug 2020
Pumped-hydro, a "blind" focus on renewable electricity instead of cutting emissions from all energy systems, and the closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter are all on the agenda at this year's Downstream Conference. GAVIN EVANS of Businessdesk is there.
New-look Scott Base is all go for green
4 Aug 2020
THE COLOUR of the new Scott Base may not be decided, but one thing is clear – the building will be green.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
