Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Making wine brings a lot of energy headaches
12 Sep 2016
Wine production consumes large amounts of energy and generates a sizeable quantity of greenhouse gases.
Planting flooded paddies raises rice methane threat
12 Sep 2016
Directly seeding rice into fields rather than transplanting it into flooded paddies would dramatically reduce methane emissions and slow down climate change, according to scientists studying the staple crop.
BIOGAS BONUS: NZ is slow to get the message
8 Sep 2016
New Zealand is slow to grasp the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution by turning waste into biogas, says a company providing the technology all over the world.
Humans running the show, so let’s make sure we learn
8 Sep 2016
As we head into the Anthropocene epoch, we often stand accused of inadvertently running “global experiments” through our effects on wildlife, food chains, landscapes and the climate.
Time to move on life-saving soil science solutions
7 Sep 2016
Not many years ago, global health advocates bemoaned the fact that it took decades for life-saving vaccines to become widely accessible in poorer countries. This resulted in the unnecessary deaths of millions of children every year.
Paris pact signing could be only weeks away
6 Sep 2016
New Zealand is likely to ratify the Paris Agreement in the next couple of months, the Government says.
FLY BUYS: Insects could be the animal food of the future
5 Sep 2016
While science is racing to develop more drought tolerant crop strains through genetic engineering, there may be a simpler alternative ‑- flies.
Planet paying high price for palm oil profits
5 Sep 2016
Palm oil makes a big contribution to modern life as one of the most widely used substances in food, cooking, cosmetics, medicines and a range of chemicals. But the industry that produces it is seriously harming the planet.
How Paris Agreement could punish the economy
29 Aug 2016
New Zealand will face significant economic damage from the Paris Agreement if carbon stored in forests is not recognised, the Emissions Trading Scheme is not linked internationally, and agricultural emissions incur a carbon price, a new report shows.
Australia home the Bear Grylls of desert plants
22 Aug 2016
It was in the mid-20th century when the American agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug showed us how to make wheat and rice stems shorter, to increase their yield.
Bennett rules out parties' two key climate points
18 Aug 2016
Carbon budgeting and a climate commission are not on the table for cross-party talks on climate change.
Countdown to push free-range eggs
18 Aug 2016
The Countdown supermarket chain says it will make supply agreements with individual producers of free-range and barn eggs, giving suppliers greater economic security.
Our marine farms might be feeling the pinch
16 Aug 2016
Ocean acidification caused by climate change might already be affecting production in New Zealand’s marine farms, scientists say.
Simple pollination steps help cotton farmers
16 Aug 2016
Cotton is the world’s most widely grown and economically important non-food crop. In the United States alone, farmers grow cotton on 12 million to 14.5 million acres, and produce a yearly harvest worth nearly $25 billion.
Keep us out of the ETS, pleads steel industry
12 Aug 2016
New Zealand Steel wants the steel industry excluded from the Emissions Trading Scheme, saying that rising carbon prices are putting the industry at risk.
HEAT'S ON: Climate will change the Olympic game
12 Aug 2016
Heat stress due to climate change will limit where and when the summer Olympics can be held in the future, according to new research from Auckland University.
Carbon-farming case lawyer under investigation
11 Aug 2016
A lawyer who advised a carbon-farming company that was later prosecuted by the Overseas Investment Office is under investigation over the affair.
EPA appoints science voice for the people
11 Aug 2016
The Environmental Protection Authority has appointed a chief scientist to help people to understand the science behind its decisions.
Anxious farmers keen to keep carbon subsidies
10 Aug 2016
Farmers – already exempt from liability for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from their businesses – urged the Government to keep other subsidies in place to further protect them from carbon pricing.
Fonterra turns dairy waste into fertiliser
9 Aug 2016
New wastewater treatment technology at Fonterra’s Edendale site is turning dairy waste into fertiliser that is helping local pastures to flourish.
Mighty mangroves might be major weapon in climate fight
9 Aug 2016
Mangroves might be one of the world’s most viable solutions to fighting climate change.
Landcorp to can palm kernel animal feed
8 Aug 2016
Palm kernel won’t be fed to animals on Landcorp-owned farms after this financial year.
Trees clear winner as carbon farmer cashes in
5 Aug 2016
Carbon credits have netted a dairy farmer more than he could have ever made from running livestock on his Taranaki hill country.
Businesses call for ETS policy certainty
4 Aug 2016
Calls for cross-party policy on climate change, and complaints about “continual and ad-hoc” changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme dominated comments on the first stage of the latest review of the scheme.
BEE WARNED: Agriculture stands to lose millions
3 Aug 2016
New Zealand agriculture stands to lose $295-728 million annually if the local honeybee population continues to decline, according to a new study into the economic consequences of a decline in pollination rates.
Farming fund looks for new customers
2 Aug 2016
The 2017 round of the Sustainable Farming Fund is open for applications.
Industry slams failure of free-market forestry
1 Aug 2016
New Zealand’s experiment with free-market forestry has left it without the forests needed to combat climate change and supply the domestic market with wood, the industry says.
How right price, right credits would suit farmers
29 Jul 2016
A carbon price of $25 and a 50 per cent allocation of free credits would make the Emissions Trading Scheme viable for some farmers, a new report shows.
Bacteria powers microscopic 'wind farm'
27 Jul 2016
By TYLER SHENDRUK | Many of society’s energy challenges require gigawatts of power, but many more are small – and some are entirely microscopic.
Irish agriculture faces emissions dilemma
26 Jul 2016
Ireland is facing a classic conflict, pitching economic growth targets against the need for action on climate change.
AGS forests will bank million tonnes of carbon
25 Jul 2016
Forests planted under the revived Afforestation Grant Scheme this year are expected to store 1.3 million tonnes of carbon.
MINE GAMES: Plunder of Earth’s natural resources is rising
25 Jul 2016
Humans’ appetite for gnawing away at the fabric of the Earth itself is growing prodigiously.
Our forests key to the future, say scientists
22 Jul 2016
Heavy-emitting businesses could be buying more than $500 million worth of forestry credits a year by 2025, says the Crown Research Institute Scion.
UN awards us a fail mark for handling of environment
22 Jul 2016
New Zealand’s poor environmental management – including action on climate change and sustainable agriculture – has scored it a fail mark on five of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
How farmers, big emitters blow our carbon budget
20 Jul 2016
More than 90 per cent of New Zealand’s carbon budget for the 2020s will be spent on subsidising agriculture and trade-exposed heavy emitters, government estimates show.
Offshore windfarms power ahead in Europe
20 Jul 2016
Falling costs mean that power generated by offshore wind farms is becoming increasingly competitive with other fuels – and that’s good news for the climate.
America's booming marijuana industry is an energy hog
20 Jul 2016
As Americans go to the polls in November, at least four states will consider ballot questions on marijuana legalisation.
Britain could warm by 4deg this century
19 Jul 2016
Scientific advisers warn that, by 2100, temperatures in Britain could rise by twice as much as the internationally agreed limit set at the Paris climate conference.
Solar farms offer bonus for tropical crops
19 Jul 2016
Research in England shows that solar farms reduce local temperature and provide shade, enabling crops in hot and desert climates to flourish.
Can Nauru bounce back from mining boom and bust?
18 Jul 2016
When most of us hear of Nauru we tend to think of immigration detention, or perhaps of the environmentally ruinous legacy of the island nation’s ill-fated phosphate mining boom.
DROUGHT-DODGER: Let's hear it for the humble bean
18 Jul 2016
Scientists have found that some varieties of beans − a vital food crop grown on every continent except Antarctica − have developed ways of coping with the climate-related droughts that threaten them.
Subsidy loss will cost dairy farmers a 'low' $4588
15 Jul 2016
Removal of the one-for-two carbon subsidy will cost dairy farmers $4588 and households between $66 and $99 - costs that Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett says are “relatively low”.
POWER SHOCK: Just how climate friendly are we?
14 Jul 2016
New Zealand’s electricity generation might not be as climate friendly as we think.
Three reasons to be cheerful about the 1.5deg target
14 Jul 2016
The recent streak of record-breaking temperatures has shown that climate change is not waiting for the world to take decisive action.
ETS REVIEW: Plenty are talking about agriculture
13 Jul 2016
The Government might have wanted agriculture kept out of the current review of the Emissions Trading Scheme, but that hasn’t stopped scores of people, ranging from Air New Zealand to the country’s Catholic bishops, talking about it anyway.
Disturbing forests damages natural diversity
12 Jul 2016
By TIM RADFORD | It is not enough just to conserve forest. It may be just as important not to disturb any of it.
VW emissions scandal fuels corporate doubts
11 Jul 2016
Volkswagen has told the US Department of Justice that it will be paying nearly $15 billion in an effort to settle claims made by motorists in the US following the scandal over vehicle emissions.
Drying lands increase peat bog fire hazard
11 Jul 2016
Scientists in Canada have confirmed once again an unexpected hazard in the world of climate change: the subterranean fire.
Renewable jet fuel could be growing on gum trees
11 Jul 2016
Australia’s economy might have ridden on the sheep’s back, but the colonies’ first export was actually eucalyptus oil.
Reducing water pollution with microbes and wood chips
11 Jul 2016
New Zealand scientists have played an important part in international efforts to develop systems that clean water flowing from farm tile drains.
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.
