New Zealand: All stories
Troubled gas supply means jump in coal emissions
14 Jun 2019
The repeated shut-down of the country’s largest gas field for maintenance has led to a surge in greenhouse gas emissions from coal-burning.
POWERHOUSE: Pentagon gas emissions higher than Portugal
14 Jun 2019
The US creates more planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions through its defense operations alone than industrialised countries such as Sweden and Portugal.
App tracks deforestation - as it happens
14 Jun 2019
A new website allows companies to track deforestation in their supply chains as it happens, with campaigners urging more effort to stop it.
Fossil fuels ban helping, says energy innovator
13 Jun 2019
New Zealand's partial ban on new oil and gas exploration is driving the electricity market away from gas and towards renewables, says an energy market innovator.
UK likes our way with international credits
13 Jun 2019
Britain is following New Zealand's lead in saying it will probably use international carbon markets in its drive to carbon neutrality - despite the advice of its own experts.
Emissions from energy rise at fastest rate since 2011
13 Jun 2019
Carbon emissions from the global energy industry last year rose at the fastest rate in almost a decade.
KELP KILLING: Fortunes being made from seaweed harvest
13 Jun 2019
Growing awareness of the climate crisis and a shift to plant-based diets have turned kelp farming into a thriving industry.
Auckland lays out plan to combat climate crisis
12 Jun 2019
Auckland Council has unveiled a plan it says will prepare the city to cope with the impacts of climate change and cut its emissions.
Defence budget puts climate front and centre
12 Jun 2019
New Zealand’s defence forces will struggle to deal with climate-related security threats if they don’t make climate change a priority, officials say.
Largest hybrid-electric aircraft takes flight
12 Jun 2019
The highest-capacity hybrid-electric aircraft has taken to the skies in California on its first test flight.
Emissions pricing not working, says World Bank
11 Jun 2019
Just one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are at prices likely to drive the emissions cuts needed to preserve life as we know it, the World Bank says.
Loss of plants will make a world of difference
11 Jun 2019
Up to a million species might go extinct due to human activity. We all know the mammals in trouble, but how many of us could name an endangered plant?
More rain brings big problems for dam builders
11 Jun 2019
For the builders of hydro-electric schemes – usually multi-billion dollar projects involving vast amounts of complex engineering work – changing rainfall is a serious problem.
OPINION: Australia pays the price
11 Jun 2019
By DERMOT O'GORMAN | Over the past five years Australia’s standing in the Pacific has declined dramatically because of an unwillingness to take strong action on climate change.
Farmers not alone in methane mix, say Nats
10 Jun 2019
The farming sector isn’t the only industry that should be targeted for methane reductions, the National Party says.
It's going to take a long time, says former BP chief
10 Jun 2019
Former BP chief John Browne talks about squaring his business dealings with his personal convictions – and what he would say to Greta Thunberg.
Global natural gas boom about to slow
10 Jun 2019
The world’s appetite for natural gas grew at the fastest pace since 2010 last year, but that blockbuster growth is shifting into lower gear, according to the International Energy Agency.
Reward farmers for climate work, says Muller
7 Jun 2019
Farmers who plant trees for shelter and to protect waterways and who increase the amount of carbon being stored in their soils should get carbon credits, the National Party says.
Only one firm signs up to investor guidelines
6 Jun 2019
Just one New Zealand company has signed up to international guidelines on disclosing climate exposure to investors.
Compound heat waves mean double trouble
6 Jun 2019
The risk of economically devastating, physically debilitating and potentially lethal extremes of heat will multiply, and in unexpected ways, according to US scientists.
Mark issues warning to Asian defence ministers
5 Jun 2019
New Zealand’s defence minister is calling on his counterparts across Asia and the Pacific to get serious about climate change.
IT'S OFFICIAL:We should cut down on meat meals
5 Jun 2019
It’s World Environment Day – and officials are telling New Zealanders to mark it by eating less meat.
Our businesses are catching on to sustainability
5 Jun 2019
Sustainability is now mainstream business in New Zealand, the Sustainable Business Council says.
SNOW BUSINESS: Could flakes be a source of clean energy?
5 Jun 2019
Two scientists have developed a device that captures the electrical charge from falling snow.
Why many farmers aren't cutting emissions
4 Jun 2019
Almost half New Zealand’s farmers don’t think they should have to cut greenhouse gas emissions from their operations – yet most are willing to do it if they can be convinced it won’t cost them money, new research shows.
Well-managed soils make better carbon stores
4 Jun 2019
Soils could store more carbon if they were managed better, scientists say.
Taxpayers face $600m carbon prices bill
31 May 2019
Rising carbon prices are likely to cost taxpayers $600 million this year.
Emitters choose to pay carbon fee to Govt
31 May 2019
More emitters this year are opting to pay the Government fee instead of surrendering carbon units, leaving the Government with a potential carbon deficit when it comes to meeting the country’s international obligations.
Sky-spy will map all carbon emissions
31 May 2019
Europe is readying a new fleet of satellites that will monitor CO2 emissions at every point on earth, creating the first worldwide system to independently track polluters.
$100 million Green fund ready to invest
30 May 2019
The Government’s $100 million Green Investment Finance fund says it is about to start investing.
You're welcome (not), Mayor Cull tells mineralists
30 May 2019
Dunedin mayor Dave Cull welcomed minerals sector executives to his city this week by telling them he backed the anti-fossil-fuel protesters trying to stop them.
OPINION: Plundering the planet
30 May 2019
By BRIAN EASTON | Can we consume limited resources forever? Is economic growth just a Ponzi scheme in which we borrow from the future? Is economic growth as we know it coming to an end?
Tesla’s electric-car dream will soon come crashing down
30 May 2019
Tesla completely transformed the car landscape when it introduced the Roadster, pioneering the mass-market electric car. Now, it is doomed.
Why scarred millennials want to punish business
29 May 2019
Years of economic uncertainty, growing inequality and fear of an inhospitable planet have created two generations prepared to punish companies whose motives they suspect, a new survey shows.
Big emitters get together and make a plan
28 May 2019
New Zealand’s trade-exposed industrial emitters – who between them are given more than five million free carbon credits a year – have produced a plan to help to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Bridges predicts cut in money for free credits
28 May 2019
The Government is planning to spend less money on free carbon credits for trade-exposed emitters than it spent this year, the Opposition
Todd ups investment in renewable energy
28 May 2019
New Zealand’s largest private energy company is increasing its investment in renewables.
Big Oil should set $250 carbon fee, says expert
27 May 2019
The oil industry is about to be told that voluntarily putting a $250-a-tonne carbon charge on its products will make it profitable and ensure its future in a low-carbon world.
Protesters again take aim at mining industry
27 May 2019
The mining sector is positioning itself as part of the solution to climate change, as protesters gear up to disrupt the industry’s annual gathering this week.
Humans held responsible for climate twists
27 May 2019
Researchers have found that greenhouse gases and pollution have almost singlehandedly shaped 20th century climate.
Lawmakers eye climate risk disclosure rules
24 May 2019
Companies in New Zealand could face compulsory climate-risk disclosure through new accounting standards.
NZ plays different carbon game home and away
23 May 2019
The gap between New Zealand’s international emissions reduction pledge and what it plans to do at home is big enough to drive an electric bus through.
Turning methane into CO2 could help the fight
23 May 2019
Researchers have come up with a new technique to clean the atmosphere of the second-most powerful greenhouse gas people produce - methane.
Zero-carbon bill sets out on rocky road
22 May 2019
The Government’s zero-carbon bill is off for public consultation with some big questions hanging over it.
Climate-wise Smith warns of blind commitment
22 May 2019
New Zealand’s political elder statesman on climate change is warning of a potential gilets jeune-style backlash against the costs of climate action.
National MPs chew over zero carbon bill
21 May 2019
National Party MPs are meeting this morning to decide whether they will support the Government’s zero carbon bill.
April was second-hottest on record
21 May 2019
Last month was the second-hottest April since records began in 1891, rivaled only by April 2016.
OPINION: Only radical measures will work
21 May 2019
By GAIA VINCE | A four-degree-warmer world is the stuff of nightmares and yet that’s where we’re heading in just decades.
OPINION: NZ farmers could be climate leaders
20 May 2019
By MICHELLE CAIN | A separate target for methane from sheep and cattle has been painted as a sop to farmers; on the contrary, it puts the onus on the sector to curb warming.
Growth, energy and climate in focus at Trans-Tasman bilateral talks
Fri 5 Sep 2025
Trans-Tasman climate cooperation was one of the themes at the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum, with senior government officials and business leaders from both sides of the ditch meeting in Canberra this week.
Meridian reports worst earnings in a decade
Wed 3 Sep 2025
Meridian Energy has posted its weakest result in 10 years, with earnings hit by a combination of droughts, low wind and declining gas supply.
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
Vector hits emissions reduction goal five years early
Fri 5 Sep 2025
By Liz Kivi | Auckland lines company Vector has met its 2030 emissions reduction reduction target five years early, more than halving its direct emissions, and crediting innovation and a laser-focus for its success in a hard-to-abate sector.
Air NZ declares surprisingly low SAF prices
Wed 3 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand is able to source sustainable aviation fuel at between 1.5 and 2.5 times the price of conventional fossil fuels used for flying, all sourced from the US.
Kawerau's new hope: Plan to replace coal with pine ramps up
Mon 8 Sep 2025
By Diane McCarthy, Local Democracy Reporter | Construction on a $300 million wood pellet plant in the Eastern Bay of Plenty is expected to start next month, with hopes it could cut the use of coal in New Zealand.
XRB consults on delaying climate reporting requirements
Thu 4 Sep 2025
The External Reporting Board is proposing a further two years relief for companies to adopt anticipated financial impacts reporting and scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions reporting and assurance.
