Best by the rest...
9 Sep 2022
New Zealand has had to deal with it's fair share of pest control over the years, and the new task at hand is how to deal with the growing populations of wallabies starting to 'infest' the nation. PHOTO: The Guardian/Alan Gibson
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: A proposed 400 megawatt solar power station near Taupō will be pitched for resource consent later this month; experts urge changes in forestry and farming; and wallabies are quickly becoming an invasive species.
Massive solar farm project near Taupō about to see the light
By Matthew Martin - Stuff
Plans to build a 400MW solar power station on farmland near Taupō will be heard by an independent resource consent commissioner later this month. There are concerns about this development with loss of farmland and a claim that New Zealand would lose '3000 dairy cows and “at least $30,000,000” annually if the consent was granted'.
Eats, hops and breeds: New Zealand’s worsening wallaby plague
Eva Corlett - The Guardian
A skilled hunter can shoot 100 of the invasive marsupials in a night. But with millions of hectares infested, some fear control efforts are too late
George Monbiot: presenting alternatives to farming
Kim Hill - RNZ
The New Zealand diet is particularly bad for the planet due to the vast amount of land required to produce food for it, says environmental campaigner and author George Monbiot.
Forestry needs an urgent reset
Gary Taylor - Newsroom
Forestry has an important place in our economy, but it's time to improve the sector's environmental performance. Gary Taylor explains how.
One simple trick to get more people on trains and buses: run them more often
Suraya Sidhu Singh - The Spinoff
Enticing people onto public transport seems like a tough nut to crack – until you realise we’re not doing the one relatively inexpensive thing that’s proven to work
The Aotearoa History Show: NZ Railways
William Ray - RNZ
All aboard for a voyage into the history of New Zealand’s railways! From a standing start of little tank engines chugging along wooden rails, New Zealand built a vast rail network, made up of enough steel rail to wrap halfway around the moon.
NZ’s most walkable towns and cities ranked: see how your neighbourhood stacks up
Tom Logan - The Conversation
If you live in a city or town, you have a mental map of the places you travel to most. But how accessible are those places, and how long does it take you to get there? Most of all, could you do everything you need to do without a car?
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NZ Govt’s move to halt climate litigation under international scrutiny
Tue 19 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | Local and international NGOs have signed an open letter calling on the Government to reconsider its decision to shield major emitters from legal liability for climate-related harm.
Hipkins pans LNG plan as ‘massive step backwards’
Tue 19 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | Labour leader Chris Hipkins has told a Queenstown audience that a Government he leads would not proceed with a planned LNG import terminal, if elected at November’s election.
Competition weak in key energy sectors says Commerce Commission
Tue 19 May 2026
The Commerce Commission says competition remains weak in New Zealand's electricity and gas sectors despite modest improvement across the wider economy, highlighting how difficult it is for new entrants to challenge established infrastructure players.
Biomass sector asks: where did the love go?
Mon 18 May 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand has sufficient biomass in its plantation forests to replace natural gas for industrial process heat at lower costs than electrification, but is failing to get the attention it deserves, sector leaders say.
Urgent need to rethink tourism says expert
Mon 18 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The post-pandemic recovery has created an urgent need to rethink how tourism operates, who benefits from it, and how it impacts the social and environmental systems it depends on, according to new research.
Green building council calls for clean energy policies
Mon 18 May 2026
The New Zealand Green Building Council has released its 2026 election manifesto calling for policies to reduce energy waste in buildings, lower household and business energy costs, and improve New Zealand’s energy security.
Future big droughts may be worse than we think – NZ’s past shows why
Mon 18 May 2026
By Adam Brown, University of Waikato; Dave Frame, University of Canterbury, and Luke Harrington, University of Waikato | For an agricultural nation like New Zealand, severe drought is one of the most ominous consequences of a warming planet.
Labour condemns Govt plan to stop climate litigation
Fri 15 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Labour Party has slammed the Government’s move to block climate lawsuits against big emitters but won’t say if they would repeal the legislation if elected in November.
Mercury eyes $1b geothermal expansion near Taupō
Fri 15 May 2026
Mercury is planning the next phase of its geothermal expansion near Taupō, with two proposed projects carrying a potential investment of up to $1 billion and enough new renewable generation to power an additional 125,000 homes.
Why ‘greenhushing’ signals deeper issues with NZ’s climate risk reporting regime
Fri 15 May 2026
By Hang Pham, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington | Most of us are familiar with the concept of greenwashing: organisations exaggerating or overstating their environmental credentials. But in New Zealand, there are signs the country’s climate disclosure regime may inadvertently be driving a very different trend: not saying much at all.
