Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
Today 11:30am
By Liz Kivi
Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Story copyright © Carbon News 2026
Foresters warn emissions plan changes push risk into next decade
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The New Zealand Institute of Forestry says the Government’s amendment to the Second Emissions Reduction Plan provides welcome policy clarity in the short term, but leaves significant delivery risks unresolved beyond 2030, particularly as agriculture pricing is shelved and greater reliance is placed on forestry removals.
Govt updates emissions plan to blow past legislated target
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By Liz Kivi | The Government has updated its emissions reduction plan, with agricultural emissions now set to blow past the legislated 2030 target.
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Parliament resumes this week but the year ahead is already framed by the November 7 election.
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Climate change policy moving to new mega-ministry
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By Pattrick Smellie | The Government’s primary adviser on climate change policy, the Ministry for the Environment, is to be folded into a new mega-agency that will also cover urban, transport, local government and housing.
RMA’s successors hinge on two untested bets
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Two ideas sit at the heart of the Government’s replacement for the Resource Management Act: regulatory relief and spatial planning.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
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By Shannon Morris-Williams The Government has pushed through legislation under urgency to almost halve New Zealand’s 2050 methane target – a move Opposition parties say disregards scientific advice, breaks the country’s hard-won political consensus on climate action, and shifts the burden of higher warming and higher future costs onto the next generation.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
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By Liz Kivi | Despite ‘intransigent’ states blocking multilateralism and a disappointing official outcome, Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu says he left the COP30 climate summit feeling more positive than after previous UN climate conferences.
Weak carbon policy misses ‘exponential’ NZ growth opportunity: KiC
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By Pattrick Smellie | Ambitious climate change policy is a route to a faster-growing New Zealand economy because of the potential for “exponential” growth in decarbonising technologies,” says KiwisinClimate, a global lobby group of New Zealanders working on climate change policy.
