Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Seaweed startup raises $7 million to reduce ruminant methane emissions
29 Jun 2022
US startup Symbrosia* has raised $7 million in new funding as it makes progress on its seaweed feed additive that reduces methane emissions from livestock.
Emissions from agriculture threatens health and climate: US study
22 Jun 2022
A new US study analyses the cost of reactive nitrogen emissions from fertilized agriculture and their risks to populations and climate.
‘Food miles’ have larger climate impact than thought, study suggests
21 Jun 2022
Global “food miles” emissions are higher than previously thought – accounting for nearly one-fifth of total food-system emissions – new research suggests.
Best by the rest...
17 Jun 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: The leaky logic of the farming sector's climate plan; analysis of how effective government policies will be at slashing carbon; and can governments boost defence spending while cutting emissions at the same time?
Key ways climate change is affecting UK dairy farming and agriculture
17 Jun 2022
Climate change and the public’s response to it is affecting almost every aspect of agriculture, but what does it mean for cattle farming? In this guide, Brushtec discusses a few ways global warming may directly impact the dairy industry, as well as a few tips for how to handle it.
This CRISPR pioneer wants to capture more carbon with crops
15 Jun 2022
Plants are the original carbon capture factories—and a new research program aims to make them better ones by using gene editing.
Climate change is fuelling global food price inflation and shortages
14 Jun 2022
With climate change producing mounting harms throughout the world, as well as the war in Ukraine raging on, the issue of a global food price inflation and shortages has reached international attention. Food security is not a new phenomenon, but one that has existed for years now, backgrounded against more pressing concerns.
He Waka Eke Noa all talk no action: NZIEF
13 Jun 2022
The NZ Institute of Forestry has declared last week’s He Waka Eke Noa emissions pricing proposal all talk and no action.
In Turkey, study recommends investments in olive farms instead of coal mines
13 Jun 2022
In the wake of the recent regulation in Turkey opening olive groves to coal mining activities, a new report focused on the country’s Milas district found that the expansion of the olive oil sector represents a better alternative to mining for the local economy.
Carbon and health taxes on food can contribute to net-zero targets and improve quality of diets
10 Jun 2022
Combined carbon and health taxes on food products could significantly contribute to net-zero targets, while improving the quality of diets, a major new study shows.
Climate Change Commission backs incentivising farmers to cut emissions
9 Jun 2022
The Climate Change Commission has told the government that financial assistance should be used to encourage farmers to invest in low emission practices.
HWEN: Experts and lobby groups react
9 Jun 2022
A climate change expert says He Waka Eke Noa’s recommendations for pricing agricultural emissions, released yesterday, are surprisingly unambitious, and there appears to be “a significant gap” in the reductions needed to meet government targets.
HWEN proposes burp levy with proceeds recycled to agricultural research
8 Jun 2022
He Waka Eke Noa, the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership, is proposing a farm-level split gas levy as its preferred alternative to pricing agriculture emissions through the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Researchers push for carbon credit payments for Australian farmers who fence their dams
8 Jun 2022
Scientists are lobbying for farmers to be financially rewarded in the form of carbon credits for cleaning up their dams.
Best by the rest...
3 Jun 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: The farming lobby split over climate policy; the Reserve Bank takes on fuel prices; and Australia pledges climate action in the Pacific.
Switching to plant-based cheese can reduce carbon emissions by 50% compared to the dairy version
1 Jun 2022
A life cycle evaluation used to determine environmental impacts, including indicators for climate impact and land use, has revealed that ordinary cheese is a major cause of carbon emissions.
Climate change puts agrivoltaic projects in Northern Africa in the spotlight
31 May 2022
As food and energy security emerge as top priorities in several regions, an innovative use of existing technologies might help serve both: Agrivoltaic projects allow energy production and agricultural activity on the same land, potentially increasing farming productivity.
11,000 litres of water to make one litre of milk? New questions about the freshwater impact of NZ dairy farming
30 May 2022
By Mike Joy - The Conversation | Water scarcity and water pollution are increasingly critical global issues. Water scarcity is driven not only by shortages of water, but also by rendering water unusable through pollution. New Zealand is no exception to these trends.
Farmer sues VW over climate change; German court has doubts
23 May 2022
A court in Germany cast doubt Friday on claims by a German farmer that automaker Volkswagen is partly responsible for the impact that global warming is having on his family business.
Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?
20 May 2022
Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse gas methane, which gets released when livestock operations pool manure in open-air lagoons.
Meet the experts behind NZ’s first national space mission
19 May 2022
Media Release - Experts behind New Zealand’s first government-funded space mission partnership, MethaneSAT, will come together to talk about the project in a free event for Techweek at the University of Auckland tomorrow 20 May).
The simple act of spreading rock dust on farms is an overlooked but tantalizing climate solution
19 May 2022
The simple act of sprinkling rock dust—an abundant byproduct of mining—on farmland could capture 45% percent of the carbon dioxide required to help the UK meet its 2050 net-zero targets.
ERP: Experts respond
17 May 2022
Some experts welcomed yesterday’s Emissions Reduction Plan as a positive step, however others see it as full of missed opportunities.
Livestock methane emissions tackled by Western Australian company with 'inorganic bioactives'
17 May 2022
A Western Australian company claims to have produced bioactives in a laboratory that could reduce livestock methane emissions by up to 95%.
Best by the rest...
6 May 2022
In our Weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: Sea levels are rising and Kiwi communities are sinking - who will pay for the damage? And Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick argues for collective responsibility on climate change.
Which diet is more climate friendly: Novel foods or mostly vegan?
6 May 2022
So-called ‘novel foods’ such as insect powder and algae are increasingly being touted for their environmental and health benefits. Now a new study finds that if widely adopted, these ‘future foods’ could indeed dramatically cut the global warming potential of European diets, while fulfilling key nutritional needs.
Gene-editing breakthrough could cut ruminant methane
6 May 2022
Scientists have successfully switched on a plant gene in feed crops that could help reduce methane emissions from cattle and sheep.
Satellites detect cow burps from space
2 May 2022
Satellites have detected methane emissions from belching cows at a California feedlot, marking the first time emissions from livestock - a major component of agricultural methane - could be measured from space.
Is organic food better for the climate?
29 Apr 2022
Organic farming isn’t more climate-friendly than conventional agriculture when looking strictly at emissions. In a comparative analysis of the environmental impacts of different agricultural production systems, Michael Clark and David Tilman at the University of Minnesota found that “organic and conventional systems did not significantly differ in their greenhouse gas emissions.” But that’s not all that matters.
Designers of cow face mask that neutralises emissions from belching win £50k Prince Charles prize
28 Apr 2022
A face mask for cows that neutralises the climate-heating gas methane in their belches has won a design award from Prince Charles and designer Sir Jony Ive.
Northern Ireland faces loss of 1 million sheep and cattle to meet climate targets
26 Apr 2022
Northern Ireland will need to lose more than 1 million sheep and cattle to meet its new legally binding climate emissions targets, according to an industry-commissioned analysis seen by the Guardian.
Methane reducing pilot to reduce GHG emissions from cows by 30%
21 Apr 2022
European dairy co-operative, Arla Foods and global science-based company, Royal DSM are set to start a large-scale, on-farm pilot with the methane-reducing feed additive Bovaer, involving 10,000 dairy cows across three European countries.
Denmark ‘first country in the world’ to develop its own climate label for food
20 Apr 2022
Denmark is investing DKK 9m (€1.2m) in the development of a government-run climate label for food.
A stocktake of ecological destruction
14 Apr 2022
The government’s latest stocktake of the state of the environment reads like an historical litany of ecological destruction.
From traditional practice to top climate solution, agroecology gets growing attention
14 Apr 2022
While its principles trace back millennia, agroecology’s roots in academia originate in the 1920s and 1930s as agronomists increasingly looked at how farming and ecosystems could be integrated.
Covid stalls NZ's GHG emissions
12 Apr 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has achieved what politicians have failed to do for decades: stall the growth in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Community group hopes to slash emissions with e-trikes
12 Apr 2022
By Liz Kivi | A Christchurch community organisation supplying organic veggies to low-income households is crowdfunding for cargo e-trikes to cut carbon emissions from their deliveries.
World is at one minute to midnight on the climate clock
8 Apr 2022
When it comes to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees the clock is at one minute to midnight, a Dutch expert told a Primary Production select committee briefing on biogenic methane yesterday.
UK livestock only half way there on emissions
8 Apr 2022
UK’s livestock production can only get half way to its target for emissions reduction with the technology currently available to it.
Home-grown almonds promise to lower nuts' carbon footprint
7 Apr 2022
Promoters of a local almond industry claim it will produce nuts with a lower carbon footprint than the imported competition.
He Waka Eke Noa documents seriously flawed: experts
4 Apr 2022
Three leading agriculture experts say the He Waka Eke Noa documents are seriously flawed and need to be reworked to ensure any greenhouse gas levies in the agriculture sector are used for research and development relating to methane and nitrous oxide mitigation.
Nestlé looks to dairy supply chain to achieve net-zero
4 Apr 2022
Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, is supporting farmers in its supply chain to farm more sustainably and help reduce the carbon footprint of the value-added products that it produces.
Cut methane emissions with less beef and dairy: report
4 Apr 2022
A focus on healthier diets that contain less consumption of meat and dairy is needed to tackle methane emissions, according to a report released this week.
Aussie native tree planting projects can be stopped if 'adverse' to communities"
1 Apr 2022
Australia's Agriculture Minister will have the power to stop new carbon farming projects from next week.
New report calls for government action on methane reduction
1 Apr 2022
A new report has outlined the steps governments can take to cut emissions from three sectors – agriculture (producing 40% of emissions), energy (producing 35%) and waste (producing 20%) – and better deliver on the Global Methane Pledge.
Climate change policy adding to farmers' worries
31 Mar 2022
Worries about climate change policy impacting their business are adding to farmers’ stress, with the latest Rabobank survey finding 68% of farmers were “very concerned” about future climate change policy.
Greenpeace calls on ECan to phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser
30 Mar 2022
Greenpeace has launched a petition to push Environment Canterbury (ECan) to phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, saying it is directly responsible for rising bowel cancer rates in the region as well as increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate smart’ policies could increase southern Africa’s crops by up to 500%
25 Mar 2022
The climate crisis is threatening food stocks in sub-Saharan Africa, but a comprehensive approach to food, farming and resources could increase crop production by more than 500% in some countries in the region, according to new research by more than 200 experts.
Climate change taking big bite out of food supply
7 Mar 2022
With its siege on neighboring Ukraine, Russia has embroiled two of the world’s five leading wheat exporters in a chaotic war, representing about a quarter of the global trade in staple grain.
African experts call for climate-proofing farming systems to overcome hunger
7 Mar 2022
The eradication of hunger and malnutrition in Africa will only be realized once governments leverage nature-based interventions to strengthen the resilience of farming systems in the face of climatic stresses, experts said on Friday.
Farm-level emissions cuts possible, but almost everything stands in the way
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Progress to slash farming emissions is being blocked by limited farmer confidence in mitigation tools, inconsistent engagement, misinformation and a lack of clear policy signals, according to a new report.
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.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
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.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s controversial changes to New Zealand’s legal framework for climate policy have thrown a spanner in the works for a long-running Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into climate change.
Seven quiet wins for climate and nature in 2025
Fri 19 Dec 2025
This year's environmental backdrop is familiar: emissions are rising and nature is continuing to decline. But there have nevertheless been bright spots in 2025.
Govt unveils plans for carbon storage regulations – and ETS rewards
18 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government has released plans to regulate carbon capture and storage in natural geological formations, which include Emissions Trading Scheme incentives, with the aim of introducing related legislation in 2026.
Global coal demand hit record high this year but is set to decline by 2030
18 Dec 2025
Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation.
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.
RMA’s successors hinge on two untested bets
17 Dec 2025
Two ideas sit at the heart of the Government’s replacement for the Resource Management Act: regulatory relief and spatial planning.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
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
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.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
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.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
Fri 19 Dec 2025
The warming impact of hydrogen has been “overlooked” in projections of climate change, according to authors of the latest “global hydrogen budget”.
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.”
Westpac NZ announces partnership to form Blue Economy hub in Nelson
17 Dec 2025
Media release | Westpac NZ has announced a new three-year partnership with the Nelson Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to help accelerate the development of a sustainable marine economy – also known as the blue economy.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
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
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.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
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.
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.
Three Greenpeace activists removed by police from Fonterra
17 Dec 2025
Media release | Three Greenpeace activists were removed by police from Fonterra’s downtown Auckland offices, following a protest on Monday at the Shareholders’ Fund meeting over the corporation’s role in the contamination of rural communities’ drinking water.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
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.
Wetlands and biodiversity at risk as mining rules loosen: Greenpeace
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greenpeace says Government changes to national direction instruments under the RMA paves the way for mining in wetlands and biodiversity hotspots and will expose some of Aotearoa’s most fragile ecosystems to irreversible damage.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
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.
Offshore windfarms enhance function of coastal waters and diversity of aquatic life
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Media release | A study conducted by researchers from Murdoch University in Australia and Dalian Ocean University in China has found that offshore windfarms can improve marine ecosystems and diversify aquatic food chains.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
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.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
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.
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.
Could tidal energy one day power NZ?
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests Aotearoa holds some of the world’s strongest tidal-stream energy potential – enough to generate up to 93% of today’s electricity use – but one expert cautions that extracting energy at such a scale could have significant impacts and remains highly uncertain.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
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.
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.
The surprisingly convincing case against cars
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Life After Cars dares to imagine how different, and enriching, a car-free world could be.
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.
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.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
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.
Media round-up
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'.
