Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Agriculture fails to make the cut
24 Nov 2015
Agriculture - responsible for nearly half New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions - is not part of the Government’s just-announced review of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Groser hints at boost for carbon prices
23 Nov 2015
The Government has given the clearest signal yet that it intends to push carbon prices up as part of a package to meet the expected $30 billion cost of New Zealand’s 2030 emissions reduction target.
Rising sea levels ... we've been there before
23 Nov 2015
Rising sea levels have been in the news lately, with the release of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report into their likely impact on New Zealand. But while we tend to think of our coastline as fixed, it is anything but.
What will be top of mind for Africa at climate talks?
23 Nov 2015
Several regions have been meeting in the run-up to the Paris climate talks to deliberate on pressing climate issues. Africa is no exception.
Poor nation earns rich praise for emissions target
23 Nov 2015
Analysts say the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the world’s poorest countries, has more credible plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions from forestry than several more developed states.
When gumboots became a lightbulb moment ...
16 Nov 2015
Looking around the OceaNZ Blue paua farm at Bream Bay, one thing Lynette Suvalko saw was lots of gumboots.
Auction time again, but it's not really working
16 Nov 2015
Australia goes to its second auction, but policies still seem unlikely to curb emissions, says market analyst Reputex.
Hopes run high for floating power stations
16 Nov 2015
New and cheaper ways are rapidly being floated for countries with deep seas off their coasts to exploit the free energy from wind and tidal power.
Get the waka back on course, says Maori expert
9 Nov 2015
Environmental protection, hard-hitting policies on climate change, and a carbon price floor should all be part of a drive to rebuild the economy, a Maori economic development consultant says.
Industrial waste could offset climate emissions
9 Nov 2015
More than a billion tonnes of potentially toxic, bleach-like waste is produced and piled in landfills every year, with often devastating effects. And yet most people haven’t even heard of these ‘alkaline wastes’.
Why we need a world agreement on agri emissions
2 Nov 2015
Pushing for a global agreement on agricultural emissions could benefit the climate and trade, says one of our leading climate scientists.
Higher carbon prices the key, says new book
2 Nov 2015
New Zealand needs higher carbon prices, says the author of a handbook on the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Best not to mess with agriculture yet, says NZ First
2 Nov 2015
Agriculture should be left out of the Emissions Trading Scheme until other countries act on biological emissions, says New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
Plantation boom broken, so let’s go carbon farming
2 Nov 2015
In the rolling hills of Victoria’s Strzelecki Ranges, among paddocks of pasture and potatoes, stands a simple steel monument to the world’s tallest tree.
Spread of drylands will hit poorer nations hardest
2 Nov 2015
Global warming, increasing aridity and rapidly expanding human population will lead to drylands covering half of the Earth’s land surface by the end of this century.
EDITORIAL: The times they are a-changin' ... quickly
27 Oct 2015
By editor ADELIA HALLETT.- There’s been a sea change in climate change. While some far-sighted New Zealand businesses have been planning for a carbon-constrained economy for some time, the rest of the business world is catching up.
Groser confirms emissions backlash fear
27 Oct 2015
Climate Change Minister Tim Groser has confirmed that it was fear of an international backlash that stopped the Government splitting agricultural emissions from other emissions in New Zealand’s post-2020 emissions reduction target, despite strong pressure from Treasury.
BNZ's farmers are serious about climate change
27 Oct 2015
Half the Bank of New Zealand’s customers expect the economy to be affected by climate change, says chief executive Anthony Healy.
Hurricanes wreak economic havoc as world warms
27 Oct 2015
Analysis of insurance data convinces environmental economists that climate change is pushing up the cost of dealing with the disastrous effects of extreme weather events.
Red-hot summer means blue-green algae
27 Oct 2015
Australia is in for a hot, dry summer as the El Niño takes hold. Those conditions are ideal for blue-green algae to bloom in lakes, ponds and reservoirs.
Wages set to fall unless warming is tackled
27 Oct 2015
Researchers say the economic costs of failing to take action on climate change will be much greater than previously thought – with average global incomes cut by almost a quarter.
Business needs to take a stand
21 Oct 2015
Business needs to take a clear stand on carbon pricing, says former Climate Change Ambassador Dr Adrian Macey.
Papers suggest what's on the table at ETS review
19 Oct 2015
Agricultural emissions, the one-for-two surrender subsidy, and the $25 price cap are likely to be on the table in the Emissions Trading Scheme review this year, according to confidential Government papers.
Fonterra becomes second-largest user of coal
19 Oct 2015
Fonterra is now the second-largest user of coal in New Zealand, behind the New Zealand Steel plant at Glenbrook, says anti-coal campaign group Coal Action Network.
A new era of migration ... and not just for people
19 Oct 2015
The world is watching as refugees flood into a Europe unprepared for the new arrivals.
Scientists push boundaries to find alternative energy
12 Oct 2015
From algae to alloys, ingenuity in the world’s laboratories is fuelling experiments to find new ways of providing viable sources of clean energy.
France has a soil plan – and it’s not just about wine
12 Oct 2015
French wine lovers have always taken their soil very seriously. But now the country’s government has introduced fresh reasons for the rest of the world to pay attention to their terroir.
Climate-smart villages boost Nepali farmers' harvests
12 Oct 2015
Nepali farmers find environmentally friendly cultivation methods increase yields – and also help them adapt to rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall.
Biofuel, e-cars and trees are the way we must go
5 Oct 2015
New Zealand needs to embrace biofuels, electric vehicles and energy forests, and get rid of coal and gas-fired industrial processes if it wants to meet its 2050 emissions reduction commitment, officials have told the Government.
Islands play vital climate change role, says UN chief
5 Oct 2015
Pacific island nations have a crucial role to play in efforts to advance a sustainable future, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the region’s leaders as they met at United Nations Headquarters.
Safer battery could spark investment in renewables
5 Oct 2015
Researchers have developed a battery that uses a common food additive to enable abundant solar and wind power to be stored cheaply and safely in homes and offices.
The VW affair: It's about honesty and transparency
5 Oct 2015
As Volkswagen has found out, sustainability is about much more than promises to customers, says Professor FRANCISCO SZEKELY of the IMD Global Centre for Sustainability Leadership in Switzerland. It requires honesty and transparency, too.
Pesticides are not the only way to deal with insects
5 Oct 2015
This article is not about how to prevent ants from eating your sandwich on a picnic. But it is about mankind’s greatest competitor for our global food resource: insects.
Elephant grass could offer viable alternative to coal
5 Oct 2015
By adapting a tropical grass to grow in the British climate, scientists hope to be able to replace coal in power stations with biofuel.
Our farming economics are flawed, says economist
28 Sep 2015
Agricultural emissions can be cut without affecting profitability, according to a former Treasury and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry economist.
Here's to a low-emissions future for agriculture
28 Sep 2015
Agriculture in New Zealand could look vastly different in 2050 from the way it looks today, a cross-party seminar on climate change heard last week.
UN adopts bold new sustainability goals
28 Sep 2015
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a set of bold new global goals, which Ban Ki-moon hailed as a universal, integrated and transformative vision for a better world.
How low-tech farming can help African farmers
28 Sep 2015
Politicians and the Pope are not the only ones calling for action on climate change these days. Farmers are observing changes in rainfall, temperature and other patterns in weather that have spurred them into shifting their farming methods.
Backlash fear stopped move on agriculture emissions
21 Sep 2015
New Zealand came close to splitting agriculture off from its post-2020 emissions reduction target in a bid to save money, but dropped the idea amid fears of an international backlash.
No action on agriculture could cost us $13b
21 Sep 2015
Keeping agriculture out of the Emissions Trading Scheme could cost taxpayers $13 billion between 2020 and 2030, Treasury says.
We're a nation of wastrels, says OECD report
21 Sep 2015
New Zealanders consume a lot and waste energy, according to a new analysis of OECD countries’ performance on the Millennium Development Goals.
Let’s take the market out of conservation
21 Sep 2015
For years, scientists and environmentalists have debated the best ways to conserve and protect natural resources from pollution and over-exploitation.
India in disarray over strategy on global warming
21 Sep 2015
Researchers in India say its action on climate change is suffering because, unlike China, it has not developed the institutions needed to co-ordinate policy.
Climate change efforts are hurting Africa’s rural poor
21 Sep 2015
In recent years there has been significant movement toward land acquisition in developing countries to establish forestry plantations for offsetting carbon pollution elsewhere in the. This is often referred to as land grabbing.
Does bioenergy have a green energy future in the US?
21 Sep 2015
Bio-derived sources of energy – wood, grass, dung and alcohol – have a rich history, yet have failed to command the “buzz” of solar, wind or even geothermal in public discussions regarding renewable energy.
Tim Flannery gives us hope ... and we're giving away a of copy of his new book
14 Sep 2015
Tim Flannery says he's more hopeful now than he has been in years, thanks to the carbon-storing potential of technologies being developed by businesses all over the world.
Copenhagen chair fears Paris talks outcome
14 Sep 2015
At the world’s last blockbuster climate summit, in Copenhagen in 2009, the person in the president’s chair was former EU climate commissioner and Danish environment minister Connie Hedegaard.
Greens bend to seek political climate consensus
7 Sep 2015
A strong carbon price, a green investment bank and a climate commission are emerging as the basis of a political consensus on climate change policy – at least on one side of the House.
Clean water musn't send climate targets down the gurgler
7 Sep 2015
Much of the world still lacks clean, safe water. Progress on sanitation is falling far short of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.
Greener cities are best at taming urban heat
7 Sep 2015
As humans become an urban species researchers find evidence that cities with more green space are best for human wellbeing.
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.
