Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
WORTH NOTING ...
2 Dec 2020
Today is climate emergency day, when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will move in Parliament that New Zealand declares a climate emergency.
UK scrambles to decide first post-Brexit climate pledge
1 Dec 2020
Britain is preparing to announce its first solo carbon-cutting pledge to the Paris climate agreement, in a tight political manoeuvre ahead of an ambition summit on December 12.
WORTH NOTING ...
1 Dec 2020
Climate activist organisation 350 Aotearoa will perform street theatre in the Octagon at lunchtime today in a bid to get the government-owned Accident Compensation Corporation to stop investing in fossil fuels.
NZ to push carbon trade deal to Europe and UK
30 Nov 2020
Joining a New Zealand-led trade pact on climate change could be more effective than putting up trade barriers on carbon, New Zealand will tell Europe and the United Kingdom.
WORTH NOTING ...
30 Nov 2020
Parliament sits this week, with the James Shaw’s climate emergency declaration expected in the House on Wednesday.
Gas, carbon capture key to emissions cut - BP
26 Nov 2020
By GAVIN EVANS | Natural gas, especially when combined with carbon capture use and storage, can play a critical role meeting the world’s net-zero carbon targets, BP economist Michael Cohen says.
WORTH NOTING ...
26 Nov 2020
The Sustainable Business Network’s Convergence Conference on transitioning to a low-carbon economy over the next decade is on today in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and online.
Dairy company says it's well on the way to measuring farm emissions
25 Nov 2020
Fonterra is optimistic it will find a way to accurately measure the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being produced by each dairy farm in time to meet a Government deadline of 2022.
Ardern talks climate with Biden and farmers
24 Nov 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government is pressing ahead at home and abroad with action on climate change.
Kiwi company uses Bitcoin to buy solar panels
24 Nov 2020
New Zealand’s latest and largest solar farm is being partially funded by cryptocurrency.
Mixed farming beats intensive agriculture methods
24 Nov 2020
Once again, researchers have shown that it should be possible to feed the human race and leave enough space for the rest of creation, simply by going back to centuries-old mixed farming practices.
WORTH NOTING ...
24 Nov 2020
Finding ways to greenhouse gas emissions from farming will dominate discussion at the Primary Industries Summit today.
Carbon farming makes space for native forests
23 Nov 2020
One of New Zealand biggest carbon farmers say New Zealand can have its carbon cake and eat it too.
WORTH NOTING ...
23 Nov 2020
It's back to the office for MPs this week, with Parliament opening on Wednesday and the Speech from the Throne, outlining the new Government’s agenda, on Thursday.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Border tariffs on Govt's to-do list
20 Nov 2020
Carbon tariffs at the border are on the Government's agenda this term to protect the country’s steel, aluminium and cement industries as they decarbonise.
And the award goes to...
20 Nov 2020
A sustainable farm producing top-quality honey in Northland is the big winner in this year’s Sustainable Business Awards announced in Auckland last night.
WORTH NOTING ...
20 Nov 2020
Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion says it will target Genesis Energy’s headquarters in downtown Auckland this afternoon.
Paris goals threatened by farms, forests and industry
20 Nov 2020
Many parts of the global economy, especially agriculture and the cement and steel industries, are heading in the wrong direction or cleaning up their act far too slowly to limit global warming to 1.5deg researchers are warning..
Let's recycle our urine for agriculture
20 Nov 2020
Every year on November 19, the United Nations celebrates one of public health’s greatest inventions – the toilet. Those who are fortunate enough to have access to one spend more than a year of their lives on it, yet millions of people worldwide cannot use one and many have never even seen one.
WORTH NOTING ...
19 Nov 2020
The annual Sustainable Business Awards will be held in Auckland tonight.
Changing rainfall could mean more locusts
18 Nov 2020
Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan are trying to contain the worst locust invasion in more than 70 years.
Climate crisis finds ample answers in world’s trees
18 Nov 2020
The great climate change challenge should consider the world’s trees.
Dry run: the wet farming experiment that could sow seeds for the future
13 Nov 2020
A project trialling plants that thrive in more extreme whether, including sphagnum moss and bulrushes, could offer farmers a future.
Farming faces 'historic' shift to cut GHG emissions
13 Nov 2020
Tackling greenhouse gas emissions in farming will require the biggest change since the shift from horses to tractors, a United Kingdom inquiry has found.
Shaw talking tough on carbon budgets
12 Nov 2020
The Climate Change Commission could be given the ability to manage carbon prices if its carbon budget recommendations are not followed by politicians, the climate minister says.
Collins appoints new climate spokesperson
12 Nov 2020
Kaikoura MP Stuart Smith is National’s new climate spokesperson, replacing Coromandel MP Scott Simpson.
'It's time,' Taylor says ahead of climate event
11 Nov 2020
Environmental Defence Society chief executive Gary Taylor is more optimistic about action on climate change than he has ever been.
Plant peas, Rabobank tells farmers
11 Nov 2020
New Zealand farmers wanting to take advantage of the growing demand for plant protein should be thinking peas.
Scientists, doctors sound warning for farmers
6 Nov 2020
Emissions from food production alone could sink the world’s chances of meeting the Paris Agreement, scientists are warning in research with major implications for New Zealand.
Emissions cuts from crossing milk and beef breeds
5 Nov 2020
Farmers could cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by two million tonnes a year by crossing beef and dairy cattle, scientists say.
Aotearoa Circle chooses new finance leaders
5 Nov 2020
Former Reserve Bank director Bridget Coates and Chapman Tripp partner Ross Pennington are the new co-chairs of The Aotearoa Circle's Sustainable Finance Forum.
Energy sector ripe for govt emissions targets
3 Nov 2020
The Government appears to have emissions from energy in its sights as it seeks to finally make real cuts in the country's emissions.
Rewilded farmland can save money − and the Earth
3 Nov 2020
An international consortium of scientists has worked out − once again − how to conserve life on the planet and absorb dramatic quantities of the atmospheric carbon that is driving potentially calamitous climate change.
New Govt unlikely to cut farmers more slack
2 Nov 2020
Speculation the Government may go soft on agricultural emissions without the Green Party in Cabinet ignores Labour’s track record on the issue.
FRIDAY POLITICS: We'll know by Sunday
30 Oct 2020
We should know on Sunday whether James Shaw will remain the country’s climate minister.
ORR: Pacific adaptability a lesson for the world
29 Oct 2020
Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr is invoking his own Pacific heritage in a new call for collective action on climate change.
Dust threatens Western US and Southeast Asia
28 Oct 2020
Half a planet apart, one low-lying and the other on the roof of the world, two huge regions confront an increasing dust risk − a menace to jobs, to food and to lives.
Business makes bid for $7.23 billion
22 Oct 2020
Businesses want the new Government to back $7.23 billion worth of projects they say will cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 5.5 per cent over the next decade.
Australian business wants a Green New Deal
22 Oct 2020
Australian company directors want a more radical policy reset to recover from the covid-19 recession including bigger investments in infrastructure, reforms of industrial relations and a Green New Deal.
EU close to reforming farm subsidies scheme
22 Oct 2020
European Union farm ministers have clinched an early-morning deal on the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy, touted as ‘a paradigm shift in European food policy'.
Rising heat means more heat and more methane
21 Oct 2020
Nights are warmer. So are northern lakes. And farm livestock are at greater risk of disease, thanks to rising heat.
Delivering credit for carbon storage
19 Oct 2020
In 1915, Mike Gibbs’ ancestors made their way from the flat, agricultural plains of Southland to the wild, steep, forested edge of Eastern Fiordland.
Carbon tariffs for steel, aluminium, on the table
16 Oct 2020
A new Labour Government could bring in carbon tariffs at the border, says Trade Minister David Parker.
AGRICULTURE: Sage confirms Cabinet vetoed carbon pricing from next year
16 Oct 2020
Climate Minister James Shaw tried to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture from next year, according to fellow Green Cabinet minister Eugenie Sage.
National releases its climate policy - at last
15 Oct 2020
Forestry's role under the Emissions Trading Scheme would be reviewed under a National Government and agricultural emissions would not face a carbon price until other countries do the same.
Our greenhouse gas emissions are being pushed by growth
15 Oct 2020
Economic growth is driving New Zealand’s rising greenhouse gas emissions, a new report confirms.
Ending hunger: science must stop neglecting smallholder farmers
13 Oct 2020
Policymakers urgently need ideas on ways to end hunger. But a global review of the literature finds that most researchers have had the wrong priorities.
Biorefinery boost to forestry
9 Oct 2020
A venture pushing to develop a $160 million biorefinery near Gisborne believes the project can help fill a long-standing gap in the country’s forestry research sector.
New Swedish grocery prices goods on carbon footprint
9 Oct 2020
Felix, a Swedish food brand, has opened a climate-conscious store in which items are priced based on their carbon footprints.
Lack of finance stalling sustainable innovation – report
Fri 12 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A lack of access to suitable finance is threatening growth in New Zealand's sustainable innovation sector, despite strong confidence and ambitious expansion plans among purpose-driven businesses, according to a new report.
$30m airline fund risks ‘burning public money’ without lasting benefit – expert
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A $30 million government package to support regional air routes risks delivering poor value for money while increasing emissions, according to transport strategist Tim Adriaansen.
Airline CEOs warn EU plan to expand carbon costs will raise fares
Wed 10 Jun 2026
Europe's biggest airlines have urged the European Union not to extend its Emissions Trading System to cover international flights, warning the move would raise ticket prices, a letter seen by Reuters showed.
Millions of UK homes at risk of sinking as climate crisis worsens
Fri 12 Jun 2026
Millions of homes are at risk from climate-related subsidence, according to an analysis by the British Geological Survey.
Huntly biomass option no cheap fix, Genesis tells MPs
28 May 2026
Genesis Energy says biomass can be burned in Huntly's Rankine units, but current costs put it in roughly the same price range as imported LNG and extra Rankine capacity would be expensive and could take years.
Govt looks to tighten ETS auction supply
Fri 12 Jun 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government is consulting on auctioning fewer ‘pollution permits’ for 2027-2031, a move it says would help meet the country’s domestic emissions targets while also maintaining short-term confidence in the ETS.
World’s largest banks pledged $906bn to fossil fuel companies in 2025
Fri 12 Jun 2026
The world’s largest banks committed $906bn in financing to the fossil fuel industry last year, an “unfathomable” increase in investment locking in years more of coal, oil and gas production as the world continues to overheat, a new report has found.
Treasury says 2030 climate target could cost $5 billion
Thu 11 Jun 2026
By Liz Kivi | Treasury is predicting it could cost between $4.4 and $5 billion to buy the offshore mitigation needed to meet New Zealand’s 84-96 million tonne emissions reduction shortfall for its 2030 target under the Paris Agreement.
Importing LNG would raise costs and emissions: it’s a terrible decision for New Zealand
Tue 9 Jun 2026
COMMENT: Today’s announcement from the Government is political smoke and mirrors, with electricity users’ wallets still set to bear the brunt of the proposed LNG facility, writes Christina Hood.
NZ’s sustainable finance credibility gap
5 Jun 2026
By Manbo He | COMMENT: New Zealand has built serious sustainable finance infrastructure - but risks failing to attract the global capital that infrastructure was designed for, because it lacks the practitioner capability to operate it credibly.
Green building council calls for clean energy policies
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.
What Magyar’s defeat of Orbán in Hungary means for climate and energy
21 Apr 2026
Hungary has played a disproportionate role in EU climate and energy policy in recent years, by repeatedly vetoing climate action and by delaying the phaseout of Russian fossil-fuel imports.
‘A shame’: experts on decision to send Govt carbon auctions offshore
Wed 10 Jun 2026
By Liz Kivi | Carbon market experts are questioning whether the Government has made the right decision in sending its auctions of carbon 'pollution permits' worth billions of dollars offshore.
Media round-up
Fri 12 Jun 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: A legal expert labels the government's climate law change "constitutionally abhorrent", the first critical minerals project has applied for fast-track, and warming winters are changing New Zealand’s landscapes.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Lower Hutt among five cities in global climate risk initiative
Fri 12 Jun 2026
By Justin Wong, Local Democracy Reporter | Lower Hutt is one of five cities around the world picked for a global climate project to help vulnerable people respond to extreme climate risks.
EDS urges MPs to scrap the Fisheries Amendment Bill
5 May 2026
Media release | The Environmental Defence Society today lodged a substantive submission on the Fisheries Amendment Bill.
GHG Protocol under fire as standards board member resigns
Thu 11 Jun 2026
At the heart of former GHG Protocol standards board member Danny Cullenward’s complaint is the protocol’s approach to forest carbon accounting.
Former ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond: 311 ppm – 421 ppm
Fri 12 Jun 2026
Lee Raymond, the former ExxonMobil chief executive who became one of the country’s most important and influential climate science deniers, died in Dallas on Saturday.
Liebreich: Electrify first, insure second
Thu 11 Jun 2026
New Zealand is having an argument about gas while the rest of the world is building an electric future. That, in essence, is the challenge Michael Liebreich left behind after a visit to Wellington last week.
Cabinet green-lights $55M super-critical geothermal drilling programme
Tue 9 Jun 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Cabinet has agreed to release the $55 million unspent of the $60m secured by Resources Minister Shane Jones to drill up to 5 kilometres deep into super-critical geothermal heat under the Taupō volcanic zone.
Oxfam calls on Govt to renew climate finance commitments
Mon 8 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government's failure to renew international climate finance commitments has left Pacific nations short at least $100 million a year, with Oxfam Aotearoa linking the funding gap to New Zealand's weakened Emissions Trading Scheme.
Antarctic surface melt set to increase dramatically this century, new study finds
Wed 10 Jun 2026
Media release – Victoria University | New research shows surface melting across Antarctica is set to intensify and spread dramatically over the 21st century, with melt increasing by 10 times and the area affected growing by more than 10 percent by 2100 if global temperatures continue to rise.
Why ‘greenhushing’ signals deeper issues with NZ’s climate risk reporting regime
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.
Hipkins pans LNG plan as ‘massive step backwards’
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.
Victorian Hydrogen announces Southland urea fertiliser project using coal
22 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Australian-based Victorian Hydrogen has announced it is developing a new 1.5 million-tonne-a-year urea fertiliser operation in Southland, which it will apply for under fast-track legislation.
'Ad hoc, piecemeal, incomplete': NZ's approach to hazards not fit for purpose, says insurer
Wed 10 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's ability to manage natural hazard risks is failing to keep pace with the growing threat posed by floods, storms, earthquakes and climate change, according to a new report from IAG.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
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.
Call for wider investigation into private back-channel emails in PM’s office
Tue 9 Jun 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Green Party is calling for a full investigation into the use of private email in the Prime Minister's Office, as the scandal following a missing Fonterra and Z Energy climate policy briefing document drags on.
LNG imports might not be needed for 'dry year' security: redacted report
Thu 11 Jun 2026
By Oli Lewis | The need for imported liquefied natural gas to provide security of supply in a dry year is low, according to newly released modelling, with some scenarios featuring higher levels of renewable generation requiring no gas imports at all.
Changes to emissions factors prompt caution over climate claims
4 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Organisations may need to revisit how they calculate and communicate their greenhouse gas emissions after the Ministry for the Environment released an updated version of its Measuring Emissions Guide, incorporating new emissions factors based on New Zealand's latest greenhouse gas inventory.
Climate risks could reshape business finances, new guidance warns
15 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New guidance warns climate change is set to fundamentally reshape financial outcomes for businesses, including difficult-to-model climate “tipping points” – irreversible changes such as ice sheet collapse or ocean circulation shifts – which threaten severe and sudden financial impacts.
EU climate policy ‘won’t survive’ its clash with EU farmer politics
Fri 12 Jun 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | European Union climate change policy is on a collision course with European farmer politics, exacerbated by the rise of populist right-wing parties in the UK and the Continent, says Oxford University professor of geosystem science, Myles Allen.
'Terrible result': Emissions barely budged in 2024
5 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions were virtually unchanged in 2024, falling by 0.03%, despite the economy shrinking by ten times that amount during the same period, according to new data.
Fed Farmers' election wish-list includes stopping whole-farm conversions to carbon forestry
Tue 9 Jun 2026
Federated Farmers has launched a five-point plan for the next government, setting out what it says should be a major focus for political parties heading into the November election.
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.
Once-in-a-century floods routine as sea levels rise due to climate change
Thu 11 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A coastal flood expected to occur just once every 100 years is now hitting Wellington about twice a year, according to new international research that scientists say offers clear evidence of how climate change is already reshaping New Zealand's coastline.
Environmental groups sue Trump administration over approval of new ultra deep-water drilling project
23 Apr 2026
Environmental groups sued the Trump administration on Monday over its approval last month of oil company BP’s ultra deep-water drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico.
Seven ‘new approaches’ to avoid our Paris commitments: Carr
4 Jun 2026
Praying for “new approaches” to materialise to meet our international climate obligations isn’t a strategy, writes Rod Carr.
A real ‘intergenerational equity’ budget would address Australia’s unceasing environmental decline
15 May 2026
Labor has unveiled a budget designed to tackle intergenerational equity in Australia through bold tax reform.
Six NZ climate solutions up for 2026 Earthshot prize
21 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Six New Zealand climate and sustainability initiatives have been nominated for the 2026 Earthshot Prize, with the shortlist showcasing Kiwi-led solutions tackling emissions, plastic waste and ocean restoration.
Northern Thai residents march for action on polluted rivers. ‘This is an emergency’
Tue 9 Jun 2026
More than 600 residents of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces embarked May 31 on a roughly 68-kilometer, six-day ‘peace walk’ to demand the Thai government take action on the river pollution crisis that has seen Thai rivers polluted with heavy metals.
Why China's critical minerals strategy leaves the US behind
Mon 8 Jun 2026
The United States cannot realistically recreate that dominance overnight even if the political will existed.
Sustainable finance taxonomy for energy sector – consultation
Mon 8 Jun 2026
The Centre for Sustainable Finance is consulting on the sustainable finance taxonomy’s draft energy sector criteria.
NZ’s largest rooftop solar switched on at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare
Thu 11 Jun 2026
Media release | Sunergise, New Zealand’s leading commercial solar company, has switched on the country’s largest-ever rooftop solar installation at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s East Tāmaki campus in Auckland.
‘Landmark’ conservation reform bill – boost or bust for nature?
8 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government has announced an overhaul of the country’s conservation system, which environmental organisation Forest & Bird says will undo the work of many generations of Kiwis to protect public conservation land.
Solar power hits new milestones in the US even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy
Thu 11 Jun 2026
Even as President Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the U.S. and remains the leading source of new power.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
Govt backs faster uptake of on-farm emissions tools with $51m fund
Thu 11 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government is investing up to $51 million over three years to help accelerate the uptake of on-farm emissions reduction technologies, with a new AgriZeroNZ initiative aimed at getting proven tools into the hands of farmers sooner.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
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.
Labour pledges unlimited public transport for $20 a week
Wed 10 Jun 2026
The Labour Party is promising to cap weekly public transport fares at $20 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, if elected in November.
Bonn Bulletin: Tackling climate crisis is “hardest” challenge ever, Stiell says
Tue 9 Jun 2026
The June Climate Meetings open with a reminder to delegates of the tough but ever-clearer imperative of shifting away from fossil fuels to clean energy.
Project linking food waste to cutting methane emissions gets underway
27 May 2026
Media release | Kai Commitment is leading a New Zealand-first project to help understand the connection between food waste and methane emissions and identify effective interventions.
Record-breaking heat and dry spring leave parts of England without water
2 Jun 2026
Thousands of households in southeast England were left without water or facing low pressure during a record-breaking heatwave this week, as high demand followed a dry spring to expose the failings in Britain's ageing infrastructure.
Increase in wildfire-driven ozone linked to premature deaths across the U.S.
Wed 10 Jun 2026
Smog linked to wildfires is getting worse across much of the U.S., playing a role in more than 300 additional premature deaths every year since 2013, researchers say.
Waikato launches vision for energy transition bringing $4.5 billion investment to the region
Mon 8 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Waikato Regional Council has released a strategy aiming to position the region at the centre of New Zealand's energy transition, with plans to boost energy security, cut emissions and unlock billions of dollars in economic opportunities by 2050.
