Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
OUR LAND: Trouble ahead ... but how much?
19 Apr 2018
Climate change will have long-term impacts on New Zealand’s land-based industries and biodiversity – but we don’t have enough information to predict what will happen.
OUR LAND: We're losing our best growing soils
19 Apr 2018
The Government is moving to protect New Zealand’s best growing soils in the wake of a report that shows they’re compacted, contaminated and being washed away at an alarming rate.
Govt announces body to steer climate transition
17 Apr 2018
The interim climate commission has just been announced.
Waste food could fuel emissions cuts. says report
17 Apr 2018
New Zealand could slice thousands of tonnes off its greenhouse gas emissions by turning industrial food waste into fertiliser and energy, says a new report.
We can do net-zero by 2050, says Prodcom
16 Apr 2018
New Zealand can get to net-zero emissions by 2050, the Productivity Commission says.
Emissions trimmed, but that's not the full story
13 Apr 2018
Increased hydro-electricity generation and a 1.5 million fall in the national sheep flock has led to a slight fall in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
If we're serious about change, we must break the chains of economic growth, says think tank
6 Apr 2018
An end to economic growth must be considered a distinct possibility if New Zealand is to decarbonise, the Government has been told.
Act now, says report, or watch carbon price rocket
4 Apr 2018
Carbon prices could hit $145 a tonne by 2050 if New Zealand delays decarbonising the economy, a new report warns.
PARKER POWER: The key is bringing it all together
3 Apr 2018
Environment minister David Parker says if you want to get his measure, look at the America’s Cup deal he’s just done.
Here's why we need a carbon price cap of $100
29 Mar 2018
An immediate carbon price cap of $100 a tonne and a $25 price floor is needed if New Zealand is to be carbon-neutral by 2050, says former Environment Secretary Dr Roger Blakeley.
Oil explorer wants credits for carbon capture
21 Mar 2018
New Zealand’s largest oil and gas exploration company wants carbon credits for capturing and storing emissions from fossil fuel production – and says it’s viable at a carbon price of just $18 a tonne.
BREAKTHROUGH: Science gets to the heart of methane
20 Mar 2018
Scientists have sequenced the genomes of the micro-organisms that make sheep and cattle emit methane.
Ten years on, we're back where we began
19 Mar 2018
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | When it comes to action on climate change, we’re pretty much back to where we were 10 years ago, when Carbon News started publishing.
OPINION: Why natural gas won't do the job
19 Mar 2018
Climate and energy expert Professor RALPH SIMS explains why natural gas is not a “bridging” fuel between dirtier fossil fuels and low-carbon energy. Searching for it and using it, he says, will delay New Zealand reaching its Paris Agreement emissions reduction target.
Here's a road to zero carbon, say officials
15 Mar 2018
Meeting New Zealand’s Paris Agreement pledge from domestic emissions cuts alone would put the country on a straight line to carbon-neutrality by 2050, officials have told the Government.
Plastic pollution has now spread to rivers
13 Mar 2018
Microplastics are contaminating rivers as well as the ocean, say scientists.
Climate commission's job to advise, says Upton
7 Mar 2018
The climate commission should make recommendations on the Emissions Trading Scheme and the number of international credits used to meet New Zealand’s targets, but control should stay firmly in the hands of the Government, says new Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
Minister aware of risk in delaying price cap rise
6 Mar 2018
The Government knows delaying lifting the carbon price cap could cost taxpayers money, but says it is unlikely to move until next year.
Ministry eyes emissions deals with businesses
5 Mar 2018
The Ministry for the Environment is looking to form direct partnerships with businesses to cut emissions out of the New Zealand economy.
Climate change passion rides a bike
2 Mar 2018
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | Yesterday, a young woman told an audience that included two Cabinet ministers that she was suffering from depression because of climate change.
Battered ecosystems almost never recover
2 Mar 2018
Ecosystems almost never recover completely from large-scale destruction — even when they're actively restored, says a team of international researchers.
Z aims for A-plus in transition to new energy
28 Feb 2018
Mike Bennetts is determined his company, Z Energy, will not have a Kodak moment.
Green accounts point finger at primary industries
27 Feb 2018
Primary industries contribute nearly two-thirds of the country’s greenhouse gases but account for less than 8 per cent of economic production, new figures show.
Foresters like the look of Billion Trees scheme
26 Feb 2018
Forest owners say they are starting to think the Government is serious about forestry.
Climate change and storms our greatest threats
14 Feb 2018
Climate change and related impacts like intense storms are now the greatest threats the world faces.
FAIL MARK: Environmentally, NZ has got it wrong
8 Feb 2018
New Zealand is one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to exceeding planetary boundaries, new research shows.
We've just had the hottest month on record
5 Feb 2018
New Zealand continues to tick off the climate records, with January the hottest month ever recorded.
Landowners keep credits under Billion Trees plan
31 Jan 2018
Landowners will keep the carbon credits and liability under proposed new production forestry joint ventures with the Government as part of its One Billion Trees programme.
How Shaw intends to massively change our lives
30 Jan 2018
Climate minister James Shaw has outlined economic changes on the scale of those brought in by Michael Joseph Savage in 1935 and Roger Douglas in 1984.
Doughnut economics? What Shaw's on about
30 Jan 2018
When British economist Kate Raworth wanted to show where she saw economics going, she picked up a pencil and drew two circles, one inside the other.
Our phosphorus levels are getting dangerous
30 Jan 2018
Man-made phosphorus pollution is reaching dangerously high levels in freshwater basins, new research says.
We'll do better than emissions target, says Shaw
25 Jan 2018
The new government will not officially increase the country's 2020 emissions reduction target.
We must change what we eat, say scientists
25 Jan 2018
Big diet changes – possibly incentivised by taxes on foods with a high carbon footprint - are coming if the world is to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, scientists say.
NZ gets more low marks for environment action
24 Jan 2018
New Zealand, which sells itself as 100 per cent pure, has been given another bad report card for environmental performance.
Shaw puts ETS on ice until end of next year
23 Jan 2018
Any further changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme – including getting rid of free credits to heavy emitters and changing forestry rules – will not be made until the end of next year, the Government says.
EV projects win $3m in Government funding
23 Jan 2018
Twenty new electric vehicle projects, including a 58-tonne truck to carry dairy products and developing a qualification for EV technicians, are to receive government funding.
Policies will begin to bite down on the farm
22 Jan 2018
Government policies – including the Emissions Trading Scheme - are expected to start making a dent in New Zealand’s agricultural emissions over the next 12 years.
Are we getting it right, questions emissions expert
14 Dec 2017
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions from farming could have fallen by 20 per cent on 1990 levels if the efficiency gains of the past 25 years hadn’t been used to boost production.
This time, climate officials hope for a bit more action
13 Dec 2017
In late 2015, officials gave new climate minister Paula Bennett as list of five things they thought should be done over the next two years.
Climate commission will look at farm emissions
12 Dec 2017
Climate minister James Shaw says the new climate commission will play a role in dealing with agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Outlook grim for warmer Auckland, warns report
7 Dec 2017
Floods, fires, droughts, storms, slips, pests and diseases are Auckland’s future, threatening primary production and human health, warns a new report.
The trick is reading farmers' minds, says scientist
6 Dec 2017
Understanding why farmers are not taking advantage of ways to make more money while cutting greenhouse gas emissions is critical to getting New Zealand’s emissions down, says a leading scientist.
Watch what you eat, scientists tell the rich
6 Dec 2017
Global greenhouse gas emissions would fall if people in rich countries like New Zealand ate healthily, Dutch scientists say.
Spring is second-warmest on record
6 Dec 2017
This spring has set a mark as second-equal warmest on record.
Memo Americans: Hold the beef
5 Dec 2017
Americans need to halve the amount of beef they eat if the country’s agriculture is to become sustainable, a new paper says.
SHAW THING: Business needs to get into gear
4 Dec 2017
New climate minister James Shaw has a clear message for business: get your house in order because New Zealand is decarbonising ... fast.
C'mon Kiwis, says economist, show the world how
1 Dec 2017
New Zealand is being challenged to show the world how to decarbonise without tanking.
New report has dire climate-change warnings
29 Nov 2017
As many as one in six species faces extinction as a result of climate change, scientists are warning in a new report.
November shapes up as record dry month
24 Nov 2017
Parts of New Zealand are on track for the driest November on record.
Dairying sees green as the new colour of business
22 Nov 2017
Climate change and other environmental risks now rank higher than economic issues in the minds of business and political leaders, according to a new report by New Zealand’s dairy industry.
NZ art focussing on climate on display at Beijing Biennale
Thu 12 Feb 2026
An artist responding to the consequences of climate disruption is the first New Zealander in six years to feature at the prestigious Beijing Art Biennale.
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.
Why Trump might be onboard with a UN carbon-offset programme for airlines
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The president’s team has backed the rollout of an initiative that calls for the use of sustainable aviation fuel and carbon credits, even as Trump has pulled back from other international emissions-reduction efforts.
World fight against invasive species comes to Auckland
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Media release: University of Auckland | From countering invasive pink salmon in Norway to controlling feral cats in the Cayman Islands, knowledge on eradicating invasive species will be shared by international experts in New Zealand.
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.
Carbon market rallies but auction floor still out of reach
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market has rallied, with secondary market prices up more than 25% in the past two weeks, although current prices in the mid-$40s are still far below this year’s $71 auction floor, with the first auction of 2026 less than three weeks away.
Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say
Fri 13 Feb 2026
The world is closer than thought to a “point of no return” after which runaway global heating cannot be stopped, scientists have said.
Minister’s letters: Mildly positive or just virtue signalling?
5 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market was buoyed slightly yesterday, after letters between the Government and the Climate Change Commission were proactively released.
NZ still lacking coherent energy strategy
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Rod Carr | COMMENT: The government’s levy-funded foreign gas proposal for an LNG terminal shows New Zealand’s politicians being outmanoeuvred yet again by the multi-trillion dollar energy industry.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: By deciding to underwrite the private construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, the Government has made a rational choice in favour of energy security and affordability.
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.
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.
EU weighing options to support industry in carbon market overhaul
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The European Commission is looking at various ways to support industries in an upcoming overhaul of the EU carbon market to prevent them moving to areas with lower pollution standards, the head of the Commission’s climate department said late on Wednesday.
Lawyers seek answers on climate impacts of LNG import facility
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action has written to Climate Change and Energy Minister Simon Watts warning that the Government's plan for an LNG import terminal could be in conflict with New Zealand’s climate obligations and emissions reduction targets.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
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.
'Damning' report challenges forestry’s role in Tairāwhiti as sector rejects conclusions
4 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New independent analysis commissioned by Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti challenges long-standing claims that industrial forestry underpins the Tairāwhiti economy.
LNG plan risks fossil fuel dependency: Environment Commissioner
Wed 11 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Importing liquefied natural gas risks creating a “new path dependency on fossil fuel” unless LNG is ring-fenced for use only in the electricity system and only during extended periods of hydro-electricity water shortages, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton.
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.”
European Central Bank's green supervision grows teeth, but will banks avoid being bitten?
Fri 13 Feb 2026
After several years of issuing guidance and repeatedly calling on banks to take climate and environmental risk management seriously, the European Central Bank is moving from guidance and expectations to enforcement.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
Thu 12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
Wed 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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
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”.
Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
4 Feb 2026
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
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.
Greenpeace set to take UK Government to court over deep-sea mining licences
5 Feb 2026
Environmental NGO Greenpeace has kick-started a legal challenge against the UK Government’s decision to approve the transfer of two seabed exploration licences to a newly-formed mining company with US links.
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.
Ministers celebrate fast-track milestone amid criticism
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government is marking the first anniversary of its fast-track approvals regime, saying it is helping “build New Zealand’s future”, despite continued criticism from environmental groups, opposition parties, and industry voices following several controversial project decisions.
Govt looks to Commission for ways to shore up carbon price
4 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government has asked the Climate Change Commission to look at lower auction volumes and an increase in the auction floor price as options to revive the Emissions Trading Scheme, as carbon prices remain weak.
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.
Climate change linked to decline in southern right whale
Thu 12 Feb 2026
Scientists in Australia are warning southern right whales are showing signs of climate-related stress, just days after a Green Party Member’s Bill was introduced in New Zealand proposing legal personhood for whales.
Climate ambassador moves on
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government is on the hunt for a new top climate diplomat, with previous climate ambassador Stu Horne moving on to a posting in Honolulu as New Zealand’s Consul General to Hawai’i.
Commentators slam Govt inaction in aftermath of climate change-fuelled storms
30 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | Climate action - or inaction - is shaping up to be an election issue, with multiple commentators drawing a line between the Coalition Government’s backsliding on climate targets and the deadly extreme weather events of the past week.
Major health risks linked to plastics emissions set to soar by 2040
28 Jan 2026
The adverse health consequences stemming from the global plastics system are projected to more than double by 2040, driven by greenhouse gases, air pollutants and toxic chemicals released throughout its lifecycle.
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.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
Mon 9 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand and the United States' negotiations over critical minerals have raised questions for the Waitangi Tribunal’s long-running inquiry into climate change.
January floods driven by tropical systems and La Niña conditions
Thu 12 Feb 2026
Record-breaking rainfall across parts of Aotearoa in January was fuelled by tropical moisture and persistent low-pressure systems, with some regions recording more than five times their normal monthly rainfall, Earth Sciences New Zealand says.
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.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
Mon 9 Feb 2026
Media release | A new Antarctic science partnership with a leading UAE university will grow New Zealand’s advanced engineering and modelling capability, supporting high-value jobs, encouraging economic growth, and enabling smarter climate risk management, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says.
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.
China maximises battery recycling to shore up critical mineral supplies
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Beijing is bracing for a tsunami of spent EV batteries by taking steps to boost recycling – a strategy that could also cut its reliance on imports of clean energy minerals.
EU to ban destruction of unsold clothes and shoes
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The European Commission has adopted new measures that will require medium and large companies to stop discarding unsold clothing and footwear, in the bloc’s latest move to target textile waste.
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.
Argentina fires ravage pristine Patagonia forests, fueling criticism of Milei’s austerity
4 Feb 2026
The wildfires, among the worst to hit the drought-stricken Patagonia region in decades, have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (174 square miles) of Argentina’s forests in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Construction is set to start this month on Hiringa Energy’s long delayed green hydrogen project in South Taranaki, after years of consenting fights that culminated in the Court of Appeal rejecting Greenpeace’s challenge in late 2023.
