New Zealand: All stories
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.
Pricing delay carries risks, says ETS expert
17 May 2019
The Government is exposing the country to significant risk by delaying changes to the carbon pricing regime, says one of the architects of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
What’s in store with ETS changes
17 May 2019
The latest round of changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme were announced last night, including tougher penalties for failing to surrender credits, the release of details about emissions levels from specific emitters, guidelines for the use of international credits, removing the $25 price cap and the possibility of a price floor.
These strange beasts are our cars
17 May 2019
Widespread automation, electrification, and connectivity are set to revolutionise the car of the future.
Tourism sector must toe the line, says minister
16 May 2019
The Government’s new Tourism Strategy released today says the sector must “play its role” in dealing with climate change.
METHANE MOVES: Give poos a chance
15 May 2019
Technologies like turning human waste into electricity could meet a large chunk of the Government's 2030 methane reduction target.
New guidelines, old loopholes in carbon accounting
15 May 2019
A major update on how countries measure greenhouse gas emissions has failed to address key weaknesses, particularly on bioenergy, campaigners say.
What Daimler’s move means for carbon-neutral car industry
15 May 2019
Daimler, one of the world’s leading producers of premium cars and commercial vehicles, is engineering a new future for the sector with a bold new climate commitment.
UN chief pushes case for carbon taxes
14 May 2019
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says income taxes should be replaced with carbon taxes.
Bosch pledges to be carbon neutral by 2020
14 May 2019
The German conglomerate Bosch has promised to make its entire business carbon neutral by 2020.
OPINION: With methane, no time like the present
13 May 2019
Organic farmer and former Green Party co-leader JEANETTE FITZSIMONS says farmers can cut methane now while increasing farm profits.
Investment firms issue climate warnings
13 May 2019
Two major financial companies are issuing warnings to investors over climate change.
Climate effort gets thumbs-up from UN chief
13 May 2019
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is praising New Zealand’s efforts on climate change.
How ZCB puts onus on Government to explain
10 May 2019
The Government will have to explain why it ignores any recommendations on the Emissions Trading Scheme from the proposed Climate Change Commission, officials say.
OPINION: How we move past the grief
10 May 2019
By ROB LAW | My intellectual and rational understanding of climate change has shifted to much more of an emotional and personal one.
Public wants climate action now, new poll shows
9 May 2019
A poll to be released today shows a majority of New Zealanders – including National Party supporters - think the country needs to take action now on climate change.
How much methane will farmers have to cut?
9 May 2019
New Zealand’s farmers might have to reduce methane emissions from animals by nearly four million tonnes a year under the Government’s climate change plans.
Taranaki to be nation's clean-energy capital
9 May 2019
Taranaki will be home to a $27 million clean-energy centre, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has just announced.
Origami navy carries kids' SOS to the global shipping industry
9 May 2019
Schoolchildren launched a fleet of origami boats carrying messages about climate change to delegates at UN shipping talks in London.
Carbon bill offers softer touch to farm emissions
8 May 2019
New Zealand’s agricultural emissions will be cut – but not as much as other gases.
ZERO CARBON: What happens next
8 May 2019
The Government is amending the Climate Change Response Act (the law that governs the Emissions Trading Scheme) to implement its zero-carbon plans instead of introducing a new law.
El Nino becomes stronger and stranger
8 May 2019
The pattern of El Niño has changed dramatically in recent years, according to the first seasonal record distinguishing different types of El Niño events over the past 400 years.
Disbeliever Brash turns financial backer
6 May 2019
Former National Party leader and one-time Reserve Bank Governor Dr Don Brash might have had doubts in the past about whether humans are changing the climate, but now he’s throwing his money and weight behind technology that could help to solve New Zealand’s methane headache.
Carbon farming could be the way, says Rabobank
3 May 2019
Agricultural finance specialist Rabobank is telling farming customers to think about carbon farming, saying it could be more profitable than farming animals.
Tracking gas emissions just got easier
3 May 2019
Help is at hand for businesses and other organisations wanting to track their greenhouse gas emissions.
Gulf states shape as green energy superpowers
3 May 2019
The economic and political energy systems suggest that oil-rich countries of the Arabian Gulf will continue to dominate energy trade even in the post-fossil era.
NO DROUGHT ABOUT IT: The science says we are to blame
3 May 2019
Scientists have found evidence that humans are causing droughts.
You'll like the ZCB, Peters tells party faithful
2 May 2019
The long-awaited Zero Carbon Bill is close – and New Zealand First expects its supporters will like it.
New wonder material could change electronics
2 May 2019
A material with the potential to revolutionise a wide range of technologies was discovered by accident.
Farm emissions can be slashed, says scientist
1 May 2019
A New Zealand scientist says his technology could slash New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, earning carbon credits for farmers and boosting farm production.
Why people should come first in transport future
30 Apr 2019
People using public transport or walking or cycling should be given priority over cars and that might mean limiting traffic speeds to 30kmh, a new report says.
How will we cope with vehicles that do our driving for us?
30 Apr 2019
Billions of dollars are being poured into autonomous vehicle research - but not much thought is going into how humans will respond to the new-fangled transport.
Agriculture about to get the emissions answer
29 Apr 2019
The agricultural sector will find out soon whether it is likely to come into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Ford under criminal probe over emissions
29 Apr 2019
The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into Ford’s emissions certification process.
Climate world behind the wall
29 Apr 2019
What would it be like to live behind a barrier built to keep the world out? The Wall explores a post-climate change world.
Footprint falling - but don't start partying
26 Apr 2019
New Zealand’s biocapacity surplus – its ability to produce resources and absorb wastes – is falling, new data shows.
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.
