New Zealand: All stories
Emissions drop is not all good news
1 May 2020
Experts have cautioned that a drop of nearly 8 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions should not be seen as good news for efforts to tackle climate change.
Stand by for big blows in the Atlantic
1 May 2020
New forecasts show that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which will take place between June and November, is shaping up to be among the worst.
RMA welcomes back greenhouse gas emissions
30 Apr 2020
Greenhouse gas emissions are set to come back into the Resource Management Act, making it compulsory for councils to consider climate change in granting resource consents.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
30 Apr 2020
Today is the deadline for trade-exposed heavy emitters to apply for free carbon credits to offset a large portion (60 per cent or 90 per cent, depending on the sector) of last year’s greenhouse gas emissions.
EDS puts future tourism in the slow lane
29 Apr 2020
The covid-19 pandemic gives New Zealand a chance to switch to “slow” tourism that doesn’t threaten the country’s fragile landscapes, the Environmental Defence Society says.
Auckland plays hardball with RMA breaches
29 Apr 2020
Auckland Council is cracking down on people breaching the Resource Management Act, a new report says.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
29 Apr 2020
Trade-exposed heavy emitters have only today and tomorrow to apply for free carbon credits under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
This year likely to be hottest since records began
29 Apr 2020
This year is on course to be the world’s hottest since measurements began, according to meteorologists.
Costs kill Mercedes dreams of hydrogen
29 Apr 2020
Mercedes-Benz is killing its programme to develop passenger cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
What we do now with the economy is crucial
28 Apr 2020
The actions governments take now to stimulate their economies in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic will either slow or exacerbate climate change, international experts say.
Govt cans changes to electricity factor
28 Apr 2020
The Government is shelving plans to review the way electricity costs are calculated in deciding how many free carbon credits should be given to industry.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
28 Apr 2020
It’s back to business for some today – including MPs – as the country moves from level four to level three of the covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
Free credits could be lifeline for Marsden refinery
24 Apr 2020
Free carbon credits could be worth $18 million a year for the Marsden Point oil refinery and in some years be the difference between profit and loss, Treasury says.
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.
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.
