New Zealand: Carbon emissions
Govt releases updated emissions projections
Mon 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.
Aotearoa must 'stay the course’ on credible climate reporting – experts
2 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The External Reporting Board’s proposal to push Scope 3 emissions and related financial-impact disclosure back by two years has been branded "a big disappointment", prompting calls for New Zealand to stick with robust, credible climate-risk reporting.
Did she make it? Weighing up the two tonne challenge
26 Sep 2025
To meet our “fair share” of international climate targets, every person on Earth needs to emit less than 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide each, annually by 2030. Is that achievable in New Zealand today? Emily Mabin Sutton attempted to find out.
Kāpiti Coast charts a low-carbon course
24 Sep 2025
Kāpiti Coast District Council has signed off a new Emissions Reduction Strategy, setting a district-wide net-zero target for 2040.
Vector hits emissions reduction goal five years early
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.
Marginal drop in last year's regional emissions
27 Aug 2025
Regional greenhouse gas emissions were down slightly last year, with a fall in gas supply leading to a big drop in Taranaki, but more coal burnt leading to higher emissions in Waikato, according to new figures from Stats NZ
Dry winter pushed up Spark’s emissions
21 Aug 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Increased use of coal and natural gas to generate electricity in the last year caused a spike in scope 1 and 2 emissions reported by telecommunications operator Spark NZ.
Coal use drove recent emissions increase
1 Aug 2025
Increased use of coal for electricity generation was a large driver for an increase in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in the last quarter.
Does NZ need a national incentive scheme for wetlands?
25 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | An expert is calling for a national incentive programme to restore New Zealand’s wetlands and wants to stop schemes to drain these vital carbon-sequestering ecosystems.
GHG emissions up 0.9% in March quarter – Stats NZ
24 Jul 2025
The increase was mainly driven by a rise in industry emissions, particularly from the electricity, gas, water, and waste services industry.
Mangroves' overlooked climate role
30 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s mangrove forests are pulling tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year, yet their climate benefits remain unrecognised in national emissions reporting.
Tech alone won’t save us, warns climate expert
4 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Technology alone won't be enough to reach net zero emissions, environmental psychologist Lorraine Whitmarsh told the Carbon and Energy Professionals conference in Auckland last week.
Carbon price too low to fund carbon capture
20 May 2025
The government’s climate target to 2030 is at risk, after revelations that a carbon capture project which the government was relying on to deliver one third of its carbon reductions, might not go ahead.
NZ could ditch 8 million fossil fuel machines right now to slash emissions
7 May 2025
The majority of the country’s ten million fossil fuel machines could be replaced cost-effectively with electric equivalents right now, new research from Rewiring Aotearoa has revealed.
The government plans to regulate carbon capture technologies – but who will be the regulating agency?
30 Apr 2025
By Barry Barton, University of Waikato | Newly released documents add more detail to the government’s plans for a regulatory framework to enable carbon capture and storage.
NZ's emissions fell 2% in 2023 - latest GHG inventory
15 Apr 2025
Aotearoa New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 2% in 2023, according to the latest greenhouse gas inventory.
Emissions down but reductions have slowed
10 Apr 2025
While New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped 11% in the past five years, reductions have slowed down, with only a 1% drop from 2023 to 2024.
Consultation on standard for measuring biogas and biomethane carbon intensity
19 Feb 2025
As biomethane and biogas become more common, New Zealand needs a consistent approach to measuring the carbon intensity of these fuels, according to the Bioenergy Association.
Genesis stocks up on coal
18 Feb 2025
Genesis Energy is prepared to burn up to 1.2 million tonnes of coal at Huntly Power Station this winter.
Finding the recipe for a low carbon diet
3 Dec 2024
COMMENT: The majority of New Zealanders could easily blow their entire two-tonne carbon budget just on food. However, not all foods are created equal, writes Emily Mabin Sutton.
Why (and how) I’m taking the two tonne challenge
15 Nov 2024
OPINION: By Emily Mabin Sutton | To meet our “fair share” of international climate targets, every person on Earth needs to emit less than 2.5 tonnes of carbon each year by 2030. But what does this look like in reality in New Zealand?
Emissions down for 2022
18 Apr 2024
Aotearoa New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas emissions fell by 4% in 2022, according to new figures.
Emissions down slightly for December 2023 quarter - but gross annual emissions up slightly for the year
12 Apr 2024
Seasonally adjusted greenhouse gas emissions for industry and households went down 0.5% in the December 2023 quarter, according to the latest figures released from Stats NZ.
Emissions down overall - but we're still burning too much oil
19 Mar 2024
By Robert McLachlan | OPINION: New Zealand is making progress on meeting its renewable electricity targets but failing to come close to what’s required when it comes to decarbonising transport.
Total GHG emissions increase 0.2% in June quarter
20 Oct 2023
New Zealand’s seasonally adjusted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased 0.2% (33 kilotonnes) in the June 2023 quarter, after a 0.1% increase (26 kilotonnes) in the March 2023 quarter, according to figures from Stats NZ.
NZ’s climate emissions at historic low
20 Sep 2023
New Zealand is set to announce its lowest emissions this century, Climate Change minister James Shaw told the Climate Change and Business Conference in Auckland yesterday.
NZ needs better emissions data: research
3 Aug 2023
New research shows that New Zealand isn't doing enough to keep track of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change mitigation, with lacking data and modelling capacity in some sectors.
Annual emissions fall
21 Jul 2023
Greenhouse gas emissions fell 3.1% (2,369 kilotonnes) for the year to December 2022, according to new figures from Stats NZ.
China's Carbon Emission Allowance price at $8.76/mtCO2e
31 May 2022
The daily weighted average price of a Carbon Emission Allowance, or CEA, under China's national carbon market was at Yuan 59/mtCO2e (US$8.76/mtCO2e) on May 27, and weekly trade volume totaled 551,351 mtCO2e, according to data from Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, or SEEE.
Vermont brewery turns carbon emissions into beer bubbles
19 Oct 2021
Fans of Heady Topper, one of Vermont’s first popular craft beers, can now consume the brewery’s carbon emissions.
Only policy action can burst the carbon bubble: experts
1 Oct 2021
While strides are being made to use investment as a route to transition away from fossil fuels, policy action is what will really turn the dial, according to experts.
The net zero trap
1 Oct 2021
As more countries pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to zero by midcentury, one could be forgiven for thinking that the world is finally making real progress on climate change.
Carbon zero claims come under scrutiny
20 Jul 2021
Companies are buying carbon offsets like never before. They’re also facing unprecedented scrutiny over whether helping to fund green projects elsewhere really makes up for their heat-trapping emissions.
Shopify backs underground sequestration of GHGs
30 Mar 2021
Canadian e-commerce operator Shopify plans to pay a Texas venture to pull carbon dioxide from the sky and store it underground.
Proof it's business-as-usual for emissions
17 Feb 2021
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions shot back to pre-lockdown levels as soon as restrictions were lifted last year, new data shows.
Help for SMEs to cut emissions
4 Nov 2020
A new tool for measuring carbon emissions in small and medium-sized businesses will help decarbonise the country’s supply chain, says Toitû Envirocare.
Covid-19 cuts our ecological footprint by 9.3%
24 Aug 2020
The rate at which humanity is consuming the Earth's resources declined sharply this year as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, according to researchers.
Helping Chile cut emissions could help us
18 Aug 2020
New Zealand and Switzerland are helping Chile develop an emissions reduction programme that could pay dividends for this country.
Synethic gases net taxpayers $12 million
17 Aug 2020
The Government has collected nearly $12 million in levies for synthetic greenhouse gases imported into the country over the past year.
Waste operator cuts gas emissions
22 May 2020
Waste Management has cut greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations – but emissions from the rubbish it deals with are climbing.
Rising prices push up free-credits cost
15 May 2020
Rising carbon prices are pushing up the on-going cost of giving free carbon credits to emitters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pandemic clears the air
31 Mar 2020
The covid-19 pandemic shutdown is improving New Zealand’s air quality.
Deadline nears for emissions return extensions
27 Mar 2020
Businesses struggling to complete a 2019 emissions return because of the state of emergency in New Zealand must apply for an extension before Tuesday.
Treasury cuts carbon footprint
11 Mar 2020
Treasury says it is putting its best foot forward in a bid to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions.
Govt promises ‘earlier action’ in response to Commission’s warning climate targets at risk
Fri 17 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government says it will “explore opportunities for earlier action” ahead of the third Emissions Reduction Plan, and has committed to looking at ways to stop the system of free carbon credits for industrial polluters from disincentivising industrial decarbonisation.
Transpower tracks more than 100 new grid projects
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Transpower’s latest connection data show more than 100 generation, storage and load projects in its pipeline, reflecting the rapid pace of electrification across the country.
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.
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.
