New Zealand: All stories
POLITICS: Bring on the electric express
24 Apr 2020
Politics this week has been about the prospect of the country’s covid-19 economic recovery doubling as a low-carbon transformation.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
24 Apr 2020
Submissions on the Government’s plans to regulate the fuel market close tomorrow.
Floods will be catastrophic by 2030, says study
24 Apr 2020
New research finds 147 million will be hit by floods by the end of the decade – ‘the numbers will be catastrophic’.
ClimCom to review our Paris emissions target
23 Apr 2020
New Zealand seems set to increase its Paris Agreement emissions reduction target.
Covid could cut transport emissions by 10%
23 Apr 2020
The covid-19 pandemic could see New Zealand’s transport emissions fall 10 per cent this year, an expert says.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
23 Apr 2020
Parliament’s Environment Select Committee discusses changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme today.
Refinery could get windfall carbon credits
22 Apr 2020
Bringing the Marsden Point oil refinery into the Emissions Trading Scheme could cost taxpayers money, Cabinet has been told.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
22 Apr 2020
Today is Earth Day – and the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement.
Flying and driving on post-covid agenda
21 Apr 2020
A third of New Zealanders intend travelling again when covid-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted, new research shows.
Windows could produce future electricity
21 Apr 2020
Windows could replace rooftop solar panels within a decade as a way of generating electricity, scientists say.
Pandemic slashes emissions by 25%
20 Apr 2020
Covid-19 pandemic restrictions are cutting New Zealand’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2 per cent a month, the Sustainable Business Network says.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
20 Apr 2020
The Government will announce today whether the level-four restrictions imposed as part of the covid-19 pandemic response will be eased.
POLITICS: Shaw tells business to speak up
17 Apr 2020
Climate minister James Shaw says businesses wanting the covid-19 pandemic economic recovery to be a low-carbon transformation need to lobby Cabinet ministers now.
Act before public gets angry, warns Z head
17 Apr 2020
The Government has two months to get emissions reductions into covid-19 economic recovery plans before the public starts getting angry and demanding a return to the way things were, says Z Energy chief executive Mike Bennetts.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
17 Apr 2020
Submissions on the Government’s plans to regulate the fuel market close on April 25, on the draft transport policy statement on April 27 and on the
Shell plans to be net-zero carbon by 2050
17 Apr 2020
Royal Dutch Shell plans to become a net zero-carbon company by 2050 or sooner by selling more green energy to help to reduce the carbon intensity of its business.
More frequent violent weather could bring bloodshed
17 Apr 2020
Violent weather – seasonal storms, floods, fires and droughts – is growing more extreme, more often. And bloodshed might follow more often, too.
WATER WARNING: We don't yet have the answers
16 Apr 2020
New Zealand has insufficient information to accurately predict the impact climate change will have on the country’s waterways and water supplies, a new report out today is warning.
Our hill-country is easy going for nitrous oxide
16 Apr 2020
New Zealand’s hill-country farms are releasing much less nitrous oxide than previously thought.
Emissions-fighter invites other businesses to follow
16 Apr 2020
A company that imports insulation panels from Europe wants all small businesses to join it in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
16 Apr 2020
Submissions on the Government’s plans to regulate the fuel market close on April 25, on the draft transport policy statement on April 27 and on the draft rail plan on May 11.
Plane-free skies spur research into impact of aviation
16 Apr 2020
Mass groundings of flights caused by the coronavirus pandemic are giving scientists a rare chance to study plane-free skies and pin down how far aviation stokes global warming.
Fewer emissions, but we need to be doing more
15 Apr 2020
New Zealand’s emissions fell slightly in 2018 – but not because the country has changed its behaviour.
Upton raises moratorium on new coal mines
15 Apr 2020
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton says New Zealand should be thinking about a moratorium on new coal mines.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
15 Apr 2020
Our Freshwater 2020, updating the 2017 official report on the state of New Zealand’s waterways, will be released tomorrow.
Capital council might sell $7m worth of credits
14 Apr 2020
Greater Wellington Regional Council might sell more than $7 million worth of carbon credits to fund its low-carbon transition.
ClimCom sees greening bonus from pandemic plans
14 Apr 2020
The Climate Change Commission is calling on the Government to use its covid-19 recovery plan to kick-start the country’s decarbonisation and says reform of the Emissions Trading Scheme should continue.
Climate-fight veteran has fresh hopes for the future
14 Apr 2020
Roger Blakeley is optimistic about climate change for the first time in a long time.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
14 Apr 2020
This week, we find out whether New Zealand’s emissions are falling, as they need to do if the country is to meet its Paris Agreement obligations.
Emissions from fossil fuels could fall 5% this year
14 Apr 2020
Global carbon emissions from the fossil fuel industry could fall by a record 2.5 billion tonnes this year, a reduction of 5 per cent, as the coronavirus pandemic triggers the biggest drop in demand for fossil fuels on record.
POLITICS: Roll out the big guns
9 Apr 2020
The Government’s climate programme is under double-fire this week.
Scientists blame poor soil for carbon limits
9 Apr 2020
Issues like poor soil fertility are limiting the ability of mature forests to store carbon and help reduce climate change, scientists say.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
9 Apr 2020
Tomorrow and Monday are public holidays in New Zealand. Carbon News will be published again on Tuesday.
New mutant enzyme recycles plastic bottles in hours
9 Apr 2020
A mutant bacterial enzyme that breaks down plastic bottles for recycling in hours has been created by scientists.
All companies should have to disclose, says NZX
8 Apr 2020
NZX says every business should have to disclose its climate-risk exposure.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
8 Apr 2020
The release of the official update on the state of the country’s fresh water scheduled for today has been pushed back because of the covid-19 pandemic.
New renewables capacity hit record in 2019
8 Apr 2020
Almost three quarters of new electricity generation capacity built in 2019 uses renewable energy, representing an all-time record.
Govt: Transport spending must cut emissions
7 Apr 2020
Decisions about transport infrastructure must line up with the Paris Agreement – and that means people living and working in the same area and almost zero emissions from vehicles, the Government says.
Submissions reveal support for disclosure
7 Apr 2020
Plans to make companies disclose their climate risk have widespread support, if submissions are anything to go by.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
7 Apr 2020
Submissions on the rules governing the outdoor storage of tyres close tomorrow.
Taxing oil and gas fields could work, says Upton
6 Apr 2020
Taxing oil and gas exploration and strengthening the Emissions Trading Scheme could be more effective ways of cutting greenhouse gas emissions than banning exploration, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says.
Todd wins sole exploration permit
6 Apr 2020
Todd Corporation, the country’s largest privately owned energy company, has won the country’s only new licence to explore for oil and gas.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
6 Apr 2020
Parliament’s Environment Select Committee meets online today and on Thursday to hear submissions on the Urban Development Bill.
Carbon News still coming your way
6 Apr 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
Airlines bailouts should come with climate conditions
6 Apr 2020
Financial help from taxpayers to airlines hit by the coronavirus crisis must come with strict conditions on their future climate impact, green campaigners have said.
Virus could trigger record fall in carbon emissions
6 Apr 2020
Carbon dioxide emissions could fall by the largest amount since World War Two this year as the coronavirus outbreak brings economies to a virtual standstill, according to scientists.
POLITICS: We're on a climate knife-edge
3 Apr 2020
By ADELIA HALLETT | Is the covid-19 pandemic going to be a repeat of the Global Financial Crisis in terms of climate change? It could go either way.
EDS (and more) welcomes moves on emissions
3 Apr 2020
Moves to make local councils consider greenhouse gas emissions in resource consents would have thrilled climate activist and former Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, says Environmental Defence Society chief executive Gary Taylor.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
3 Apr 2020
International climate negotiations – including the COP26 talks in Glasgow – have been postponed because of the covid-19 pandemic.
‘Pathetic': experts slam govt’s approach to adaptation
Today 11:00am
By Liz Kivi | The government has signalled it will step back from full property buyouts if assets are hit by climate disasters, a move adaptation experts say will condemn hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders to a “dismal” future.
Electricity Authority proposes doubling solar export limits to 10 kW
Today 11:00am
The Electricity Authority is proposing a default 10kW export limit for small-scale generation, saying new inverter standards and voltage settings allow homes and businesses to feed more power into local networks without compromising safety.
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.
