New Zealand: Carbon emissions
NICK SMITH: How National's ETS did the job
31 Jan 2020
National MP and former climate minister Nick Smith says his Emissions Trading Scheme has seen New Zealand out-perform Australia on emissions reduction.
Down the track, our emissions rate will fall
19 Dec 2019
New Zealand’s projected greenhouse gas emissions are falling.
Flying less plays a small but positive part in climate fight
30 Oct 2019
As the notion of flight shame is taking off around the world, emissions from aviation are making a small but growing contribution to global warming.
FACT CHECK: Is that right, Paula?
29 Oct 2019
National Party deputy leader and former climate minister Paula Bennett says when it was in power, her party stabilised greenhouse gas emissions, while under this Government they will keep rising until 2025. Is she right?
Govt signs global agreement to cut HFCs
4 Oct 2019
New Zealand has today ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, promising to reduce the use of climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons.
Reaching net-zero might not be all it's cracked up to be
5 Sep 2019
Reaching net zero emissions is easy for us to aim for but much more difficult to deliver – and worse, we might be focusing on the wrong objective.
At last, say students, Auckland toes the line
2 Sep 2019
Auckland University students have won their five-year campaign to get the institution to stop investing in fossil fuels.
Cash for credits could cause taxpayer headache
12 Aug 2019
Money instead of carbon credits was used to offset half the greenhouse gas emissions liable under the Emissions Trading Scheme last year - creating a potential financial liability for taxpayers.
We're worried and pessimistic about climate future
25 Jul 2019
New Zealanders are getting more worried about climate change, and most don’t think we’ll be able to cut our emissions in time to avoid its impacts.
Funds managers urge cement makers to act
25 Jul 2019
European funds managing $2 trillion in assets have called on cement companies to slash their greenhouse gas emissions, warning that a failure to do so could put their business models at risk.
Major polluter plans to cut emissions
23 Jul 2019
A New Zealand company whose products are responsible for more than a million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year says it is setting emissions reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement.
One flight emits as much as many people do in a year
23 Jul 2019
Taking a long-haul flight generates more carbon emissions than the average person in dozens of countries around the world produces in a whole year.
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.
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.
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.
Our businesses are catching on to sustainability
5 Jun 2019
Sustainability is now mainstream business in New Zealand, the Sustainable Business Council says.
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.
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.
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.
Transport mainly to blame as emissions rise
11 Apr 2019
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions are growing again, following the global trend.
Global CO2 levels highest for three million years
9 Apr 2019
German scientists have confirmed, once again, that carbon dioxide is reaching concentrations unprecedented on any human time scale, with CO2 levels in the atmosphere already higher than they have been for at least three million years.
Global emissions hit record high in 2018
27 Mar 2019
Global energy-related carbon emissions rose to a record high last year as energy demand and coal use increased, mainly in Asia.
Tiwai and dairying push up emissions from coal
21 Mar 2019
The firing up of an extra pot-line at the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter and a strong dairying season pushed up New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of coal.
Recycling alone not plastics solution
3 Dec 2018
Recycling alone will not solve New Zealand’s plastics pollution problem – the country needs to use less, a new report says.
How ignoring climate change will cost us billions
7 Aug 2018
Unchecked climate change will cost New Zealand nearly $6 billion a year in lost earnings, researchers have calculated.
Hot summer leads to higher energy emissions
22 Jun 2018
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions from energy were up in the first three months of this year compared to the same time last year – with record temperatures meaning less water was available for hydro-electric generation.
We're getting more worried about climate change
26 Apr 2018
New Zealanders are more worried about climate change than they have been for six years.
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.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Carbon emissions running wild
22 Jan 2018
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions blow-out continues unabashed, with net emissions expected to more than double by 2030, despite international pledges to cut them.
One-for-two subsidy enters its dying days
22 Jan 2018
New Zealand’s one-for-two carbon subsidy is almost gone.
Policies will begin to bite down on the farm
22 Jan 2018
Government policies – including the Emissions Trading Scheme - are expected to start making a dent in New Zealand’s agricultural emissions over the next 12 years.
How much CO2 will the world need to remove from the air?
1 Dec 2017
Scientists increasingly agree that the world might need negative emissions to prevent catastrophic warming.
Our carbon price too low, says bank report
2 Nov 2017
New Zealand's carbon price is at the low end of global prices – and well below the level that will trigger the emissions cuts needed to meet the Paris Agreement, a new report shows.
Nations too slow to decarbonise, says report
1 Nov 2017
Countries are failing to decarbonise at the rate needed to meet their Paris Agreement pledges, let alone hold warming to less than 2deg, says global accountancy firm PwC.
How we can meet food demand and still hit 1.5deg target
4 Oct 2017
Carbon emissions from agriculture can be significantly cut while still meeting the food demands of the world’s growing population, a new study says.
CARBON CALM: Worldwide emissions stood still in 2016
29 Sep 2017
Global emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide remained static in 2016, a welcome sign that the world is making at least some progress in the battle against global warming.
Energy forecast sees global emissions growing
18 Sep 2017
Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels could grow 16 per cent by the year 2040 from the levels of 2015, the year by which the Paris Agreement intended to reverse the trend.
Massive El Niño sent greenhouse gas emissions soaring
14 Aug 2017
The monster El Niño weather pattern of 2014–16 caused tropical forests to burp up three billion tonnes of carbon, according to a new analysis.
GASES ARE GO: Our emissions on the rise again
11 Aug 2017
New Zealand’s reported greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise again, new figures show.
Climate change collaboration and competition law
Thu 18 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The revamped competition law regime needs to be able to take into account the benefits of companies that collaborate for action on climate change, says the panel that reviewed both the Commerce Commission and the Commerce Act.
Govt tweaks offshore energy bill with 'declared areas' model
Wed 17 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government is making changes to the Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to address offshore wind developers' concerns about competing for space with other industries.
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
NZ needs to be part of a regional SAF strategy: Z, Air NZ
9 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand needs to be part of a regional strategic approach to sourcing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with domestic production less the aim than ensuring access to the fuel from one of a number of strategically positioned bio-refineries around the world.
Indigenous forest 'islands' could help transition exotic plantations to native bush
11 Sep 2025
Native forest 'islands' within exotic plantations might be the key to transitioning plantations from exotic to Indigenous, according to new research.
'Non-negotiable' – EU carbon pricing to hit Kiwi exporters, expert warns
11 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | High carbon exports will inevitably face a high carbon tax at the EU border, possibly in the next five years, and high methane agricultural products might not be exempt, an international expert told a local audience yesterday.
