New Zealand: All stories
Plight of the bees hits unaware businesses
17 Apr 2018
Declining numbers of bees, butterflies and midges could leave companies facing the prospect of reduced crop quality and a shortage of raw materials.
World can limit global warming without BECCS
17 Apr 2018
It is possible to limit warming to 1.5deg above pre-industrial temperatures without using negative emissions from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), new research says.
What will we do with all those dead solar panels?
17 Apr 2018
As solar power booms, businesses are exploring ways to ensure valuable components don’t end up in landfills.
We can do net-zero by 2050, says Prodcom
16 Apr 2018
New Zealand can get to net-zero emissions by 2050, the Productivity Commission says.
Shipping pact calls for 50% emissions cut
16 Apr 2018
Global shipping must at least halve its emissions by 2050, under a hard-fought international deal that for the first time sets the sector on course to shrink its carbon footprint.
Finance key to net-zero economy, says Shaw
13 Apr 2018
The Government is fleshing out plans to finance decarbonisation of the economy.
Emissions trimmed, but that's not the full story
13 Apr 2018
Increased hydro-electricity generation and a 1.5 million fall in the national sheep flock has led to a slight fall in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Government acts to block offshore exploration
12 Apr 2018
The drive to decarbonise New Zealand’s energy production has taken a step forward with the Government’s announcement that there will be no new offshore oil exploration.
Shell's climate push fails to cut emissions
12 Apr 2018
Royal Dutch Shell is demonstrating how tough it is for a massive, 100-year-old oil company to become a friend to the climate.
Shipping industry has the technology to go green
11 Apr 2018
As the engine of global trade, the shipping industry is, broadly speaking, invisible in our daily lives, yet 90 per cent of the world’s goods are transported by ship. AS THE ENGINE of global trade, the shipping industry is, broadly speaking, invisible in our daily lives, yet 90 per cent of the world’s goods are transported by ship,
MEMO BUSINESS: Ignore carbon liability at our peril
10 Apr 2018
Businesses ignore carbon liability at the country’s peril, an international investment organisation is warning.
Solar and wind could replace fossils within 20 years
10 Apr 2018
Solar photovoltaic and wind power are rapidly getting cheaper and more abundant – so much so that they are on track to entirely supplant fossil fuels worldwide within two decades.
Solar geoengineering ‘still too uncertain’
10 Apr 2018
The world must urgently agree controls on solar geoengineering to weigh up its possible risks and benefits before deciding to go ahead, one expert says.
NZ wants to see cuts in shipping emissions
9 Apr 2018
New Zealand is calling for deeper emissions cuts from the international shipping industry.
Shipping talks ‘on knife-edge’ as deadline looms
9 Apr 2018
Talks on a climate target for international shipping looked fragile on Friday, with countries deeply divided a week before the deadline.
German diesel car sales follow UK in falling off a cliff
9 Apr 2018
Sales in Germany of diesel vehicles dropped by an astonishing 25 per cent in March, compared with the same time last year.
If we're serious about change, we must break the chains of economic growth, says think tank
6 Apr 2018
An end to economic growth must be considered a distinct possibility if New Zealand is to decarbonise, the Government has been told.
Shell knew dangers in the 1980s, company papers show
6 Apr 2018
Internal company documents uncovered by a Dutch news organization show that Shell had a deep understanding, dating at least to the 1980s, of the science and risks of global warming caused by fossil fuel emissions.
Climate challenges have an upside for tourism
5 Apr 2018
Climate change mightn’t be all bad news for New Zealand’s tourism industry.
Will the shipping industry give us climate deal of the year?
5 Apr 2018
As a key meeting kicks off in London, the hopes of climate hawks are pinned on the shipping industry setting a course for the climate deal of the year.
Act now, says report, or watch carbon price rocket
4 Apr 2018
Carbon prices could hit $145 a tonne by 2050 if New Zealand delays decarbonising the economy, a new report warns.
Good transport in, bad transport out
4 Apr 2018
Frequent, affordable public transport is in and highways are out as the government battles to get New Zealand’s runaway transport emissions under control.
PARKER POWER: The key is bringing it all together
3 Apr 2018
Environment minister David Parker says if you want to get his measure, look at the America’s Cup deal he’s just done.
Here's why we need a carbon price cap of $100
29 Mar 2018
An immediate carbon price cap of $100 a tonne and a $25 price floor is needed if New Zealand is to be carbon-neutral by 2050, says former Environment Secretary Dr Roger Blakeley.
FOSSIL FAIL: Report points finger at Big Four banks
29 Mar 2018
All four of New Zealand’s largest banks have received fail marks in a new climate change report analysing bank lending to fossil-fuel investments.
Water arguments over, Parker tells businesses
28 Mar 2018
The argument over whether New Zealand will keep polluting its waterways has been won – and businesses need to understand that, says environment minister David Parker.
H-power key to climate targets, says Shell
28 Mar 2018
Planes and trucks powered by hydrogen will be a crucial part of efforts to cut carbon emissions to safe levels, according to oil giant Shell.
Ford partners with Mahindra to build e-vehicle
28 Mar 2018
Car giants Ford and Mahindra have agreed to work together on developing a new EV for the huge Indian market, but potentially for sale elsewhere.
Minister quiet on talks with big emitters
27 Mar 2018
Climate minister James Shaw is meeting with some of the country’s biggest industrial emitters – but isn’t saying what they’re discussing.
Hydrogen-powered car faces big setback
27 Mar 2018
A two-year trial to offer cars that consume Earth’s most common element and emit only water will end over high costs.
Bloomberg praises EU drive for green finance
27 Mar 2018
Capital markets are “one of the most powerful tools in the fight against climate change” which is often “overlooked”, says billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg.
Carbon capture permits a no-go, says Shaw
26 Mar 2018
Climate minister James Shaw says he wants to cut New Zealand’s use of fossil fuels, not give the sector carbon credits.
GREECE'S DIRTY SECRET: Life in a 625 square mile coal mine
26 Mar 2018
Mining for lignite (brown coal) in Greece is a huge industry. But for the people who live near the mines - one of them covers 625 square miles - the industry has huge impacts.
OPINION Language in a time of climate change
26 Mar 2018
Language bends and buckles under pressure of climate change, says Princeton University academic ROB NIXON. Take the adjective ‘glacial’.
Change rail rules, says trains privatiser
23 Mar 2018
One of the men behind the privatisation of New Zealand’s rail network says the rules need to be changed so that rail can help to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The wood world's talking about the Jones boy
22 Mar 2018
The wood industry is in love with its new forestry minister.
OPINION: Empty half the Earth of its humans
22 Mar 2018
People tend to like cities, and have been congregating in them ever since the invention of agriculture, 10,000 or so years ago. That’s why we call it civilisation, explains science fiction writer KIM STANLEY ROBINSON.
Oil explorer wants credits for carbon capture
21 Mar 2018
New Zealand’s largest oil and gas exploration company wants carbon credits for capturing and storing emissions from fossil fuel production – and says it’s viable at a carbon price of just $18 a tonne.
Five billion could be short of water by 2050, says UN
21 Mar 2018
More than five billion people could suffer water shortages by 2050 due to climate change, increased demand and polluted supplies, according to a UN report.
BREAKTHROUGH: Science gets to the heart of methane
20 Mar 2018
Scientists have sequenced the genomes of the micro-organisms that make sheep and cattle emit methane.
It happened 10 years ago ...
20 Mar 2018
National Party climate spokesman Nick Smith was talking about an integrated carbon market with Australia, while his boss, then-Opposition leader John Key, was backing the Emissions Trading Scheme.
The real reasons we’re not building clean energy
20 Mar 2018
At this rate, it’s going to take nearly 400 years to transform the energy system.
Adidas has sold a million shoes made of plastic from the ocean
20 Mar 2018
Adidas chief executive Kasper Rorsted has let slip that his company last year sold one million shoes made out of ocean plastic.
Ten years on, we're back where we began
19 Mar 2018
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | When it comes to action on climate change, we’re pretty much back to where we were 10 years ago, when Carbon News started publishing.
Cabinet talks turning off fossil fuels taps
19 Mar 2018
The Government is looking at ending oil and gas exploration.
OPINION: Why natural gas won't do the job
19 Mar 2018
Climate and energy expert Professor RALPH SIMS explains why natural gas is not a “bridging” fuel between dirtier fossil fuels and low-carbon energy. Searching for it and using it, he says, will delay New Zealand reaching its Paris Agreement emissions reduction target.
It happened 10 years ago ...
19 Mar 2018
… the Government was getting ready to plead New Zealand’s case to allow the owners of pre-1990 forests to clear them without facing a carbon penalty, BP was warning against introducing a compulsory biofuels component into the nation’s petrol and diesel supplies, Trustpower was finding a ready market for credits from its Tararua windfarm, Orcon founder Seeby Woodhouse was moving into carbon, and businesses wanted to be allowed to use credits from nuclear power plants.
Norway’s electric car demand outstrips supply
19 Mar 2018
One out of every five new cars sold in Norway is electric, and more than 50 per cent of new cars sold in 2017 were electric or plug-in hybrids.
Business leaders like the look of minister Shaw
16 Mar 2018
Climate minister James Shaw appears to be convincing business he knows what he’s doing.
NUCLEAR FUSION: Don't hold your breath
16 Mar 2018
One of the cliches of nuclear power research is that a commercial fusion reactor is only ever a few decades away – and always will be.
Local govt shake-up risks weakened environmental outcomes – Commissioner
Fri 27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s push to simplify local government is "deeply flawed" and has been launched without a clear understanding of which functions must remain regional, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Govt plan to encourage new energy investment won’t cut costs for ordinary Kiwis
Thu 26 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | While gentailers and major energy users have welcomed the Government’s plan to leverage public sector demand to drive new energy projects, an expert says it is unlikely to reduce prices for ordinary people.
Govt's solar on farms initiative to cut costs, boost resilience
17 Feb 2026
Farms across Aotearoa will begin installing solar panels and battery systems as part of a government-backed demonstration programme designed to test whether on-farm renewable energy can reduce electricity costs and improve energy security for the food and fibre sector.
Annual emissions fell to lowest in 15 years in Sept 2025
5 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to their lowest annual total in the year to September 2025 since records began 2010, according to Statistics New Zealand data published this morning.
NZ’s EV uptake decelerates
23 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s EV uptake is lagging behind other countries, with a huge drop in EV sales since 2023 bucking international trends, at the same time the Government contemplates abolishing its standard for clean cars entirely.
Tairāwhiti needs proper Govt support to heal the land – not empty announcements for political optics
24 Feb 2026
OPINION: The Government’s answer to Tairāwhiti’s severe erosion crisis – that the region apply for modest, contestable funding rounds – while rejecting the region's own land transition business case, leaves our long-term resilience hanging in the balance, writes Manu Caddie.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
