Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
Mon 15 Dec 2025
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.
Govt overhaul leaves the door open for coal mining on conservation land
Fri 12 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s sweeping reclassification of thousands of hectares of publicly-owned conservation land has met with sharp criticism, with environmental groups saying the decision leaves vulnerable ecosystems exposed to mining and development.
Media round-up
Fri 12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
Minister not concerned about potential economic impacts of ruling out offshore mitigation
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts isn’t worried that ruling out using offshore mitigation is effectively reneging from the Paris Agreement with potential to damage New Zealand’s economy and access to export markets.
Govt rushes to pass climate law changes under urgency
Wed 10 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Legislation to amend the Climate Change Response Act was introduced to Parliament on Monday, and the government intends to rush the changes through under urgency in the next two weeks, avoiding the usual public consultation.
More than $2m up for grabs for low-emissions farming innovation
Wed 10 Dec 2025
The Ag Emissions Centre and AgriZeroNZ yesterday opened their 2026 innovation investment round.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
Wed 10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
Trans-Tasman ministers push climate cooperation amid NZ retreat from climate commitments
8 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Last week's 2+2 Climate and Finance Ministers’ Dialogue in Auckland urged deeper trans-Tasman climate cooperation, despite New Zealand’s recent moves to weaken climate policies.
COP30: What now on food and agriculture?
8 Dec 2025
COMMENT: Building on the small wins from COP30 can bring us closer to a more resilient and sustainable food system.
Media round-up
5 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Labour’s chronic evasiveness as the Government reneges on climate change; newly released documents reveal the country's new methane target is associated with 'perilous' 2.7C of warming; and New Zealand's 'pitiful' decision on emissions targets comes with costs.
UK farmers lose £800m after heat and drought cause one of worst harvests on record
5 Dec 2025
Many now concerned about ability to make living in fast-changing climate after one of worst grain harvests recorded.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
NZ backs climate-resilient horticulture project for Cambodia
2 Dec 2025
New Zealand has launched a major climate-resilient horticulture initiative in Cambodia, investing NZD$12 million in a multi-year project designed to boost rural incomes, strengthen food security and reduce child labour as communities face increasing climate pressures.
Rabobank announces new partnership to generate carbon income for rural customers
1 Dec 2025
Dutch multinational Rabobank has announced it is partnering with a company which specialises in restoring indigenous forests in a bid to generate voluntary carbon credits for farmers through planting on lower-producing farmland.
Govt's emissions ‘buffer’ an illusion with all NZ's carbon budgets off track
28 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Dr Christina Hood, head of consultancy Compass Climate, says the Government’s claim that New Zealand has a comfortable emissions “buffer” to absorb higher agricultural pollution is misleading, with projections showing emissions budgets are actually set to be missed in real terms.
Media round-up
28 Nov 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: How the oil and gas industry helped rewrite New Zealand’s drilling rules, confusion reigns as the climate minister appears unaware of his own announcement, and the fierce battle over mining on Denniston Plateau.
The carbon capture plan turning cattle farms into power plants
28 Nov 2025
The Frontier coalition is backing new technology that produces green electricity from biogas, while capturing waste carbon.
COP30’s biofuel gamble could cost the global food supply – and the planet
28 Nov 2025
What was once considered a climate holy grail comes with serious tradeoffs. The world wants more of it anyway.
Marex invests in methane-busting biotech, hopes to kickstart NZ methane credits
27 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | NASDAQ-listed financial services group Marex has taken a minority stake in Ruminant Biotech, an Auckland-based agritech startup, with a view to kick-starting Marex’s methane-based carbon credits trading business in New Zealand.
Govt must do the work to close gap to NZ’s Paris Agreement goal
27 Nov 2025
OPINION: New Zealand needs to wake up to the fact that under current policies we are not going to meet our international climate target and this comes with commercial and diplomatic consequences: risking our European and UK free trade agreements; risking carbon border charges; and threatening the reputation of our ‘clean and green’ export brand, writes Nigel Brunel.
Local council shakeup will weaken environmental protection, say critics
26 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s sweeping overhaul of local councils threatens to erode hard-won environmental protections, warning that stripping regional councils of directly elected governance will weaken oversight of freshwater, biodiversity and land-use decisions.
Indigenous land cover shrinking as urban areas expand
24 Nov 2025
Indigenous land cover in Aotearoa New Zealand has continued its long-term decline, with new figures from Stats NZ revealing a further loss of native ecosystems as urban development and industrial activity increase.
'Going backwards': Concern mounts over wilding pine threat
24 Nov 2025
Matthew Rosenberg, Local Democracy Reporter | The top boss at Environment Southland has given a blunt assessment on a wilding pine issue which is plaguing parts of the country.
Govt rejects CCC’s advice on net-negative 2050 but makes no official announcement
20 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government has rejected the Climate Change Commission’s advice to strengthen the country’s net zero 2050 target, but appears to have buried the news with its announcement about methane targets last month.
NZ drops in global climate rankings as govt 'propels country backwards'
19 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand has fallen to 44th place in global climate rankings, with the country’s climate policy rated “very low” amid widespread rollbacks of environmental protections.
The fast-fix for global warming that the UN climate summit can’t ignore
19 Nov 2025
Despite rapid progress in clean energy and electric vehicles, the world is still warming faster than ever. The good news is that we already have powerful ways to reduce the warming rate – if governments look beyond carbon dioxide and focus on a broader set of pollutants.
Methane U-turn earns NZ ‘Fossil of the Day’ at COP30
18 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand has been handed an unwanted ‘Fossil of the Day’ award at COP30 in Brazil after the Government weakened its methane-reduction targets, drawing international criticism for backtracking on climate commitments and undermining global efforts to curb the potent greenhouse gas.
South Korean growers sue state power utility, blaming climate change for crop damage
17 Nov 2025
Five South Korean farmers recently sued the state utility Korea Electric Power Corporation and its power-generating subsidiaries, alleging that their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels has accelerated climate change and damaged their crops.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
14 Nov 2025
Media release: Kaicycle | Since 2015, Kaicycle has grown from a humble pilot project growing kai and collecting compost on bicycles into the thriving urban farm and composting hub that Wellingtonians know and love.
NZ’s shameful new role as ‘international climate pariah’
13 Nov 2025
OPINION: New Zealand has ratcheted up its climate backsliding in the past month – losing any shred of climate credibility we once had and showing the world we’re giving up on a net zero future, writes Kayla Kingdon-Bebb.
Farmers rep loses seat on Taranaki environment committee
11 Nov 2025
By Craig Ashworth, Local Democracy Reporter | Federated Farmers has lost its seat on the Taranaki committee that monitors pollution and consent compliance and looks after rivers and streams.
Big ag processors coy about govt changing climate policy
10 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | While some economists are predicting that government backsliding on agricultural methane goals could hurt exporters’ access to premium markets, New Zealand’s major processors are remaining tight-lipped over the potential implications.
NZ off-track for 2030 methane target
6 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand is no longer on track to meet its 2030 methane target, according to the Ministry for the Environment.
AgriZero backs first nitrous oxide solution with $1.2m investment
6 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A Kiwi ag-tech start-up developing a device for cows to wear to drastically cut nitrous oxide emissions has secured $1.2 million in government-industry funding.
New Indigenous-led Climate Institute opens at Lincoln University
6 Nov 2025
Media release | Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University proudly announces a pivotal new chapter in climate resilience with the establishment of the Kāika Institute of Climate Resilience.
Govt delays will damage carbon market confidence, experts warn
4 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Emissions Trading Scheme experts have warned the Government that its move to delay decisions on the country’s emissions budgets will further undermine confidence in an already weak carbon market.
Can cows and solar power coexist? We’re about to find out
4 Nov 2025
Solar companies have figured out how to mix sheep grazing and power production. This company is about to make a push to do it with cows, with huge growth potential.
Carbon price drops, now trading 30% below auction floor
3 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Secondary carbon market prices took a sharp downward turn last week, with traders blaming a continued lack of interest from buyers.
AgriZero backs Aussie IVF innovator
3 Nov 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The NZ government-led low carbon agriculture consortium AgriZero has invested A$1.5 million (NZ$1.7m) in a Queensland-based start-up looking to bring down the cost of inserting fertilised embryos into livestock.
'Little to be hopeful about' – NZ scientists caution ahead of COP30
31 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Record heat, worsening climate impacts and global backsliding on emission reduction commitments have left some New Zealand climate experts with little optimism as COP30 approaches.
Media round-up
31 Oct 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: A controversial seabed mining project could lead to sediment flows knocking over rigs and damaging wind turbines; weather-related insurance claims climb; and is the government playing Russian Roulette with our future over methane targets?
Look out for these 8 big ag greenwashing terms at COP30
28 Oct 2025
Food and farming companies will claim agriculture is the solution to the climate crisis at the Brazil summit — even though food drives a third of global warming.
The carbon hoofprint of cities is shaped by geography and production in the livestock supply chain
28 Oct 2025
Supply chain opacity and complexity hinder understanding of the distributed impacts of urban meat consumption on rural communities and environments.
'It was the start of a new movement': The Dutch rewilding project that took a dark turn
24 Oct 2025
In 2018, thousands of dead animals, emaciated from starvation, lay strewn across a famous Dutch rewilding project. Was it animal cruelty or just nature taking its course?
Gene tech reforms face political split
23 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams |The Government’s Gene Technology Bill continues to divide Parliament, after the Health Select Committee released its long-awaited report last week outlining key recommendations and lingering concerns.
Govt ‘captured by industry’ on methane – Carr
21 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr says that recent moves to weaken methane targets and halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing show the Government has been captured by industry.
Council buys dairy farm to help clean up Lake Rotorua
21 Oct 2025
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has bought a 266-hectare dairy farm in the Lake Rotorua catchment and plans to retire it from production to reduce nitrogen entering the lake.
Methane pledge in question following NZ weakening targets
20 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi New Zealand’s new methane target puts the Global Methane Pledge – and ultimately climate targets – at risk, according to an international expert.
New methane research barn boosts farmer options
20 Oct 2025
Media release | The Government has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has said at the opening of a new state-of-the-art methane research facility in the Waikato.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
Fri 12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
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.
Changes to polar bear DNA could help them adapt to global heating, study finds
Mon 15 Dec 2025
Scientists say bears in southern Greenland differ genetically to those in the north, suggesting they could adjust.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Forestry biomass could replace as much as 40% of fossil fuel-generated process heat by 2050, but access to supply, regulatory settings and business cases for converting to wood-based heat sources are required, the Government says in a series of documents released yesterday.
Minister not concerned about potential economic impacts of ruling out offshore mitigation
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts isn’t worried that ruling out using offshore mitigation is effectively reneging from the Paris Agreement with potential to damage New Zealand’s economy and access to export markets.
Australian Government wants EV, PHEV owners to start sending power to the grid
Mon 15 Dec 2025
The newly announced Vehicle-Grid Network is part of a plan to establish Australia as a leader in vehicle-to-grid technology.
Is Govt rushing through changes to climate framework to avoid litigation?
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says the Government’s motivation for proposed changes to the country’s climate framework law are unclear: “The only reason I can think of is one grounded in potential litigation risk.”
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
$235 billion worth of NZ buildings exposed to flooding
30 Oct 2025
More than 750,000 New Zealanders live in locations exposed to one-in-100-year floods, according to a nationwide study which shows escalating flood risk.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
Thu 11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
Net-zero scenario is ‘cheapest option’ for UK, says energy system operator
Mon 15 Dec 2025
A scenario that meets the “net-zero by 2050” goal would be the “cheapest” option for the UK, according to modelling by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
DOC trims costs and winds down jobs for nature
10 Nov 2025
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is entering a new phase of tighter budgets and structural change as it winds down the pandemic-era Jobs for Nature programme and reshapes its operations to absorb long-term cost pressures.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
Mon 15 Dec 2025
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.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
Wed 10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
Are rainforests now a cause of, rather than the answer to, climate change?
Mon 15 Dec 2025
A new study finds that Africa’s forests, responsible for one-fifth of global carbon removal, are beginning to generate carbon as the result of human activity.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
Thu 11 Dec 2025
Media release | Ten of the world’s largest oil and gas companies would create significantly more shareholder value by ending exploration and sharply curtailing upstream development, according to new analysis released today by ACCR.
RMA to speed up fossil fuel consents
18 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | An energy lobby group has welcomed a last-minute amendment to the RMA that puts fossil fuels on the same footing as renewables, however a sustainable energy expert says the move “beggars belief.”
Analysis: Why COP30’s ‘tripling adaptation finance’ target is less ambitious than it seems
5 Dec 2025
One of the headline outcomes to emerge from COP30 was a new target to “at least triple” finance for climate adaptation in developing countries by 2035.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
Fri 12 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says New Zealand restarting fossil fuel exploration and subsidies is an obvious breach of international law, exposing the country to international and domestic litigation.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
Mon 15 Dec 2025
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.
Tribunal warns govt geothermal strategy risks Treaty breach
2 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government's geothermal development strategy risks breaching the Treaty of Waitangi, according to a report from the Waitangi Tribunal released last week.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
29 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Green hydrogen pioneer Hiringa Energy is deep in planning to develop an “eight-to-nine figure” methanol plant near Whanganui, using a combination of biomass and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
Insurers welcome govt decision to keep NHC levy unchanged
21 Nov 2025
Media release |The Insurance Council of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s decision to leave the Natural Hazards Commission levy unchanged, amid ongoing concerns around the cost-of-living.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impacts of fossil fuels
Fri 12 Dec 2025
Victims of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a legal claim against oil and gas company Shell in the UK courts, seeking compensation for what they say is the company's role in making the storm more severe.
NZ fails to back ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels at COP
24 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Eighty-six countries including Australia, the UK, Germany, and Ireland backed a proposal at COP30 for national plans on how to quit oil, gas and coal – but New Zealand wasn’t one of them.
Media round-up
Fri 12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
Govt rushes to pass climate law changes under urgency
Wed 10 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Legislation to amend the Climate Change Response Act was introduced to Parliament on Monday, and the government intends to rush the changes through under urgency in the next two weeks, avoiding the usual public consultation.
NZ's latest climate target 'weak' – Climate Action Tracker
24 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's new international climate target to 2035 is weak, and could even allow for higher emissions than the 2030 target, according to a global scientific project that tracks government climate action.
South Island marine reserves get the go ahead
Mon 15 Dec 2025
Media release: Environmental Defence Society | A new network of marine reserves off the Otago and south-Canterbury coast is being finalised after years of effort.
Heatwaves, downpours and droughts – Auckland on track for more extreme weather
1 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show Auckland will face more heatwaves, heavier downpours, worsening droughts and growing coastal threats as climate extremes intensify, according to a new report from Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
Weak carbon policy misses ‘exponential’ NZ growth opportunity: KiC
Mon 15 Dec 2025
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.
Shipping movements disrupted as climate change protesters block coal ships
2 Dec 2025
NSW police have arrested 141 people who attempted to block the shipping channel in Newcastle Harbour during Rising Tide protests, which began on Thursday.
Straterra has a new name: the New Zealand Minerals Council
16 Apr 2025
Media release | Straterra has been renamed as New Zealand Minerals Council, says chief executive Josie Vidal.
Mission for ancient climate clues beneath 500m of antarctic ice gets underway
Mon 15 Dec 2025
Media release: Antarctica New Zealand | An international team has set up a remote camp on the ice 700 km from the nearest base (New Zealand’s Scott Base) to attempt to drill for mud and rocks holding critical insights about the fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in our warming world.
Solar households to get little-noticed tax break
23 Sep 2025
A provision in the government’s latest tax bill would exempt households from paying tax on income they earn by selling excess electricity back to the grid.
More than $2m up for grabs for low-emissions farming innovation
Wed 10 Dec 2025
The Ag Emissions Centre and AgriZeroNZ yesterday opened their 2026 innovation investment round.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
31 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government is expected to repeal the oil and gas ban today, with a last-minute amendment handing discretionary power to two ministers over the controversial issue of decommissioning.
Seven EU countries pressure European Commission to rethink 2035 diesel and petrol car ban
9 Dec 2025
Pressure from EU countries, lawmakers and the automotive industry is likely pushing the European Commission to delay the revision of the bloc's ban on diesel and petrol cars by 2035.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
14 Nov 2025
Media release: Kaicycle | Since 2015, Kaicycle has grown from a humble pilot project growing kai and collecting compost on bicycles into the thriving urban farm and composting hub that Wellingtonians know and love.
Study provides a step-change in understanding NZ’s groundwater
28 Nov 2025
Media release | Earth Sciences New Zealand has developed a world-first National Groundwater Age Map and a powerful suite of tools to support the sustainable management of our hidden groundwater resources, from national through to local scales.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
Wed 10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | This year New Zealand had its hottest spring since records began, with widespread heat, rainfall extremes and destructive wind driven by sudden stratospheric warming.
Australian market operator slashes wind farm predictions amid falling costs for solar and batteries
Thu 11 Dec 2025
The body that runs Australia's biggest power market has scaled back its plans for high-voltage power lines and wind farms to meet the country's green energy targets.
