Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
SMELTER SMOOCH: Tiwai wants to work with taxpayer
26 Feb 2020
An industrial heavyweight that last year received $12 million worth of free carbon credits from taxpayers says it wants to work with the Government and community to create a low-carbon world.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
26 Feb 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s visit to Fiji continues today, where discussion on climate change is on the agenda.
NZ risks missing biofuels chance, says industry
25 Feb 2020
New Zealand risks missing the chance to use biofuels to develop fuel independence and avoid buying costly international carbon credits, officials are being told.
Air NZ joins space agency in climate watch
25 Feb 2020
Air New Zealand is working with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration to monitor climate change in New Zealand.
Methane revelations might benefit our farmers
24 Feb 2020
Revelations that fossil fuels are responsible for a greater percentage of methane in the atmosphere than was thought could be good news for New Zealand farmers – but only if the rest of the world is prompted to cut fossil-fuel extraction more quickly.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
24 Feb 2020
Auckland Council’s audit and risk committee meets today and says climate change mitigation and adaption continue to be top risks for the council, leading to potential environmental degradation, economic inequality, social vulnerability and financial and reputational damage.
Hydrogen gas study for towns wins funding
24 Feb 2020
By ANDREW SPENCE | Adelaide-based Australian Gas Networks has been awarded $1.28 million in Federal Government funding to support a study into introducing renewable hydrogen into South Australian and Victorian towns.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Ready, willing, and Abel
21 Feb 2020
By ADELIA HALLETT | A largely unheralded candidate selection in Auckland this week could prove pivotal in New Zealand’s climate politics.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
20 Feb 2020
Parliament’s Environment Committee is discussing changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme today, as well as the annual reports of the Environmental Protection Authority and Predator Free 2050.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
19 Feb 2020
Applications for the Government’s Low-Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund open today, with secure parking for electric bikes eligible for the first time.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
18 Feb 2020
Greater Wellington Regional Council’s environment committee meets today to set environmental priorities.
Climate change low on Nats' question list
17 Feb 2020
Fewer than five per cent of the written questions to Government ministers lodged this year are about climate change.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
17 Feb 2020
Cambridge University economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta will give a public talk in Wellington tomorrow on the economics of biodiversity (5.30pm-7pm, Lecture Theatre 1, Rutherford House, 23 Lambton Quay).
Leaders (well, some of them) are talking climate change
14 Feb 2020
Climate change was on the lips of the leaders of two of the five parties in Parliament when it resumed this week.
Government eyes new rules for inhibitors
14 Feb 2020
The Government is considering introducing new rules to govern the use of inhibitors in agriculture to avoid a repeat of the 2013 DCD trade disaster.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
14 Feb 2020
Submissions close today on the Urban Development Bill, allowing what the Government calls better co-ordination of land, infrastructure and public assets in complex urban development projects.
Climate crisis looms as major election issue
13 Feb 2020
Climate change will be a major factor for more than a quarter of voters in this year’s general election, a new poll suggests.
Record growth sends Australia's emissions soaring
12 Feb 2020
Emissions from Australia’s largest industrial emitters have surged to 60 per cent above 2005 levels, thanks to record growth in the oil and gas, transport and mining sectors, analysts say.
This key MP favours change to RMA law
12 Feb 2020
At least one member of the select committee investigating changes to the Resource Management Act thinks the planning law should include climate change.
We must have certainty with ETS, says Ballance
11 Feb 2020
Investment in emissions-cutting new technology like hydrogen could be jeopardised by uncertainty over the Emissions Trading Scheme, fertiliser manufacturer Ballance Agri-Nutrients says.
Government pumps $14m into forest water study
11 Feb 2020
A $14 million Government-funded project is under way to figure out how climate change will affect the amount of water and nutrients flowing through New Zealand forests.
Rule-breaking plants take on changing climate
11 Feb 2020
Plants that break some of the rules of ecology by adapting in unconventional ways might have a higher chance of surviving climate change, new research suggests.
Climate-risk reports critical, politicians hear
10 Feb 2020
Directors of large companies, Crown entities and any organisation participating in the Emissions Trading Scheme should have to provide an annual signed and audited statement of climate risk, Parliament is being told.
Ants' sweet tooth could curb farm emissions
7 Feb 2020
A taste for pee means some ants could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from animals.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
5 Feb 2020
It's Waitangi Day tomorrow, which means there will be no Carbon News.
EU urged to adopt meat tax to tackle climate emergency
5 Feb 2020
A sustainability charge on meat to cover its environmental damage could raise billions to help farmers and consumers produce and eat better food, according to a report.
Give us a choice, foresters tell Parliament
4 Feb 2020
The owners of forests already in the Emissions Trading Scheme should be able to choose whether to switch to a new form of carbon accounting, MPs have heard.
Climate case kicks off against major corporates
4 Feb 2020
By VICTORIA YOUNG | Lawyers for Fonterra, Genesis Energy, Dairy Holdings, NZ Steel, Z Energy, NZ Refining and BT Mining all attended the High Court at Auckland yesterday to fight off a claim by climate activist Mike Smith.
GO ELECTRIC: The secret's in the sums
4 Feb 2020
Do the maths, says Massey University applied mathematician Professor Robert McLauchlan, it really does make sense to get rid of your fossil-fueled car.
Expert warns against offshore credits sprees
3 Feb 2020
New Zealand should be buying offshore carbon credits every year instead of going on a buying spree when its carbon bill falls due, says an expert on international carbon policy and markets.
Dairy firms see ETS dates clashing
3 Feb 2020
Reporting dates for the Emissions Trading Scheme should line up with farm production schedules, dairy companies say.
NICK SMITH: How National's ETS did the job
31 Jan 2020
National MP and former climate minister Nick Smith says his Emissions Trading Scheme has seen New Zealand out-perform Australia on emissions reduction.
Forests will swallow small-town jobs, MPs hear
31 Jan 2020
Rural towns like Moerewa face losing hundreds of jobs if the Government doesn’t rein in the conversion of farms to carbon forests, MPs have been told.
Farms must go back to the future, says minister
30 Jan 2020
Farmers will have to move away from intensive, specialised farming as climate change bites, the agriculture minister says.
Wise group slams 'bizarre' RMA emissions rule
30 Jan 2020
Parliament is being urged to change the “bizarre and dangerous” law banning local councils from considering greenhouse gas emissions when granting planning consents.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
30 Jan 2020
Some of the heavyweights of the agricultural industry appear before Parliament’s environment select committee today to talk about the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Greens vow to make polluters foot the bill
29 Jan 2020
The Greens go into the September 19 election promising to “fix” the carbon price.
ETS proposals bring record carbon prices
28 Jan 2020
New Zealand carbon prices have shot to record levels on the back of proposed changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
EDITORIAL: It's time to scare the horses
28 Jan 2020
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | It’s 2020 – election year in New Zealand and the year global greenhouse gas emissions should peak if we’re to have a reasonable shot at keeping warming to 1.5deg.
Mercury Quarterly Operational Update - 3 months to Dec 31, 2019
23 Jan 2020
MEDIA RELEASE MERCURY: Mercury maintained a prudent approach to risk management in Q2-FY2020, decreasing hydro generation by 74GWh compared to the same quarter last year, resulting in a strong hydro -storage position in the approach to the third quarter; historically the lowest inflow quarter for the Waikato catchment.
Vegetarianism in schools is entirely appropriate
21 Jan 2020
MEDIA RELEASE NZ VEGETARIAN SOCIETY: The NZ Vegetarian Society has responded to claims that a new climate change resource which encourages students to eat less meat and dairy should be removed from schools.
Down the track, our emissions rate will fall
19 Dec 2019
New Zealand’s projected greenhouse gas emissions are falling.
Climate commission gets its body of experts
17 Dec 2019
The names of the experts who will make up the Climate Change Commission have been announced.
Shaw criticises 'handful of countries'
17 Dec 2019
Climate minister James Shaw says a handful of countries are preventing the settling of rules governing global carbon markets.
Kyoto credits threaten Paris Agreement
13 Dec 2019
Allowing countries to carry Kyoto credits forward could effectively kill the Paris Agreement, negotiators are being told.
EDITORIAL: Two to remember
13 Dec 2019
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | This year will be remembered for two things – the passing of the zero-carbon act and the year in which our children got angry with us over climate change.
NZ 'low' performer, says climate action watchdog
12 Dec 2019
Failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions has seen New Zealand ranked 37th and in the “low” category in an international assessment of performance on climate change.
MADRID MESSAGE: Our cuts will take hard work
11 Dec 2019
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions will decrease steadily to 2030 but will still be well above 1990 levels, officials have told international climate talks in Madrid.
Why lower emissions mean better business
6 Dec 2019
Companies with high levels of greenhouse gas emissions are worth less than low-emitting companies, says financial analysis and advisory firm Forsyth Barr.
Jump to it, Jacinda, says global carbon watchdog
5 Dec 2019
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is under international pressure to increase New Zealand’s 2030 emissions reduction target in line with the Paris Agreement.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
$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.
Signs of jet fuel hoarding emerge in Asia on Iran oil shock
26 Mar 2026
Signs are growing that Asian countries are hoarding jet fuel after the Iran war sent oil prices surging, reflecting growing strain on the aviation industry.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
Mon 30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
3 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Economic contraction will impact carbon market
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | While higher fossil fuel prices strengthen the long-run economics of decarbonisation, the current fuel crisis won’t inspire near-term confidence in the carbon market, according to Lizzie Chambers of Carbon Match.
Why the real oil crisis hasn’t started yet
Wed 1 Apr 2026
If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed much longer, things will get really bad, really fast.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
Labour mulls GIDI 2.0 as factory closures mount
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Factory closures across the country could have been prevented if the last Labour-led government’s GIDI fund to assist companies with the cost of electrification hadn't been scrapped, Labour energy spokesperson, Megan Woods, says.
Death toll in Afghanistan flooding increases to 28, authorities say
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Afghan authorities said Monday that the death toll from severe weather that has struck swathes of the country over the past four days has increased to 28, with 49 people injured. Dozens of people have died from extreme weather in the country so far this year.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
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.
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.
‘Even more bonkers now’ – energy expert on LNG terminal
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | An energy consultant says the Government’s plan to back an LNG import facility is a “non-starter” in the face of rising gas prices due to the Middle East conflict.
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.
Dairy farmers' lack of climate action 'even bleaker' than water inaction – Upton
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government projections for cutting agricultural emissions are being undermined by low farmer uptake, with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warning the country is relying on “heroic” assumptions to meet its methane targets.
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.
Lawyers complain to ombudsman over Govt failure to release LNG modelling
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman over the Government’s failure to release information about its controversial decision to build a LNG import terminal.
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.”
FMA to ease conditions for green bond issues
Tue 31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Green, social and sustainability-linked bonds will face lower disclosure requirements and regulatory costs under a class exemption newly granted by the Financial Markets Authority.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
Fri 27 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has pledged an additional $20 million to climate resilience work in Tuvalu, more than doubling Aotearoa's aid to the tiny island nation in the current financial year.
Five trees can’t offset a car: Lawyers accuse Mazda of greenwashing
9 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action NZ is taking Mazda to the Advertising Standards Authority over its claims that a tree-planting programme will offset vehicle emissions.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
Media round-up
20 Mar 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Crown lawyers agree High Court could quash emissions plan if found unlawful; NZ is locked in 'disaster inertia'; and climate change is notably absent from new development laws.
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.
Govt process to change climate plan ‘fundamentally flawed’, says judge
18 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The government’s 2024 changes to New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan was “as fundamentally flawed a process as I think I have ever seen”, the judge presiding in a case challenging climate change decision-making has said.
Cleantech expo coming to Auckland
26 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s first national cleantech expo is set to bring together 30 innovators, in what organisers say is the country’s fastest growing area in the tech sector.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
Mon 30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
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.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
25 Mar 2026
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Opposition in Golden Bay to a controversial gold mine at Sams Creek has flared up over the weekend after several activists briefly occupied a drilling site.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
World-leading plasma torch takes aim at NZ's most potent greenhouse gases
24 Mar 2026
Media release | A high-tech plasma torch was lit up today as Minister of Conservation, Hon Tama Potaka, officially opened the $10 million National Refrigerant Destruction Facility – signalling a new era in addressing the environmental impact of New Zealand’s most potent greenhouse gases.
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.
Why the Iran war may have just killed the AI boom
26 Mar 2026
The $1.5 trillion in committed AI infrastructure spending by major tech companies is built on an assumption of a functional global supply chain, which the Iran conflict has fundamentally broken.
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.
Two Australian states offer free public transport as war pushes up fuel prices
Mon 30 Mar 2026
Public transport in two Australian states will be made free to incentivise people not to drive as fuel prices soar due to the war in the Middle East.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
‘Stop burning fossil fuels’ pleads scientist as extreme rain causes floods yet again
Fri 27 Mar 2026
Northland and Auckland have again been lashed by heavy rain, with hundreds of people evacuated last night because of extensive flooding in the Far North, and some areas hit by more than a month's average rainfall in just 24 hours.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Record wind output helps shield the UK from worst of Iran war fallout
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Record output from wind farms has helped boost total clean power supplies in the United Kingdom to new highs so far in 2026, and allowed power firms to pare use of fossil fuels to multi-year lows.
