Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Profit comes before environment, says Act leader
4 Apr 2014
NEW Act Party leader Jamie Whyte says that businesses have no obligation to the environment.
Biofuels not a lasting solution, warns report
4 Apr 2014
By DOUGLAS CRAWFORD-BROWN.- Biofuels alone are unsustainable, but can still help to combat climate change.
Planners to put 100% Pure under the microscope
28 Mar 2014
CRITICAL issues which threaten New Zealand's 100% Pure positioning will be addressed by planners at a conference in Queenstown next week.
The air that we breathe is killing one person in eight, says new report
28 Mar 2014
AIR POLLUTION killed seven million people across the globe in 2012, making it the world’s largest single environmental health risk, according to new figures.
Heat extremes put major crops at risk, say scientists
28 Mar 2014
By TIM RADFORD.- Rampant climate change driven by ever-rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere poses a serious threat to world food supply, according to a new study in Environmental Research Letters.
Hi-tech's a big job and Britain is doing it well
28 Mar 2014
BRITISH hi-tech engineering is more successful than you think, says JIM PLATTS, lecturer in manufacturing engineering at Cambridge University.
California goes nuts for water
28 Mar 2014
WHILE recent rainfall has brought welcome relief to California, the amount of precipitation has not been nearly enough to put an end to what is its worst drought on record. The state’s $45 billion agricultural sector has been particularly hard hit, writes KIERAN COOKE.
Water is the key in a hungry world
21 Mar 2014
Tomorrow is World Water Day. Foodtank president DANIELLE NIERENBERG says that farmers around the world should be looking to colleagues who have come up with innovative ways of using each drop more efficiently.
Not all is well with India’s dam-building boom
21 Mar 2014
By KIERAN COOKE .- India is in the midst of a massive hydro electric dam building programme, necessary, it says, to fuel the energy needs of its fast growing economy.
Why Deutsche Bank built a jungle in Manhattan (complete with anaconda)
21 Mar 2014
By REBECCA ELLIOT.- Journalist McKenzie Funk opens his book, Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming, with a carnival-like scene at a Deutsche Bank road show in February 2008.
Burger chain goes free-range
21 Mar 2014
Home-grown burger chain Burger Fuel says it will use only free-range chicken in its New Zealand outlets.
Canberra outlines new farm opportunities
21 Mar 2014
The Australian Government says it is making it easier for farmers and landholders to be able to participate in the Emissions Reduction Fund by storing carbon in their soil, improving farm productivity and contributing to action on climate change.
Scientists raise threat of methane in rivers
21 Mar 2014
By TIM RADFORD.- British scientists have identified yet another twist to the threat of global warming. Any further rises in temperature are likely to accelerate the release of methane from rivers, lakes, deltas, bogs, swamps, marshlands and rice paddy fields.
NZUS bounce of $2.90
17 Mar 2014
Spot NZUs closed at $3.00 Friday after starting the day lower. OMFianncial reports:
Public wary of DOC's new business role
14 Mar 2014
Getting into bed with business could affect the Department of Conservation’s ability to protect New Zealand’s fresh water, the public fears.
Farmers remain free of emissions obligations
14 Mar 2014
The Government is all but ruling out making agriculture responsible for its greenhouse gas emissions next year.
Eight ways to better manage our livestock
14 Mar 2014
By TIM RADFORD.- British and international scientists have proposed eight strategies to make cattle and sheep-farming more sustainable, to make both the animals and people who depend on them healthier, and to reduce the strain on the planet.
Asia-Pacific must boost food supply, says UN
14 Mar 2014
Governments in the Asia-Pacific region – which has more hungry people than all the other regions of the world combined – should take some major decisions about ways to increase food production and address undernourishment, says the United Nations.
Did Genghis Khan ride to world domination on the back of climate change?
14 Mar 2014
Climate change – already implicated in the fall of Bronze Age civilisations in the Mediterranean and in the Indus Valley - may also account for the rise of one of the most fearsome empires in history.
Government says no to national forest policy
7 Mar 2014
The Government is refusing to adopt a national forestry policy, despite relying on tree planting to meet international greenhouse gas emissions reductions obligations.
Europe must get serious about cutting back oil
7 Mar 2014
By ALEX KIRBY, London.- Europe has the technology and the raw material to make a big cut in the amount of oil its transport uses, researchers say - but it will fail to reap the benefits on offer unless the European Union comes up with more radical policies.
Sustainability graduates make their mark
7 Mar 2014
Now in its fourth year, Otago Polytechnic’s Graduate Programmes in Sustainable Practice is providing New Zealand companies, organisations and a variety of projects with graduates qualified in implementing sustainable practice.
Government knows how we can be carbon-neutral
28 Feb 2014
Planting just over half of New Zealand’s marginal land in forest would make the country carbon-neutral – and the Government knows it.
Morgan going to public with water campaign
28 Feb 2014
Businessman, economist and philanthropist Gareth Morgan is planning a public campaign over the state of New Zealand’s fresh water.
Taxpaper faces $500,000 bill for lake clean-up
28 Feb 2014
Cleaning up polluted Lake Horowhenua will cost taxpayers more than half a million dollars.
Energy-wise dairy farmers could save millions
28 Feb 2014
Dairy farmers could collectively save $42 million through electricity efficiency measures in the dairy shed, says the Government's energy efficiency agency.
Credibility key selling point for green economy
28 Feb 2014
The idea of the “green economy goes in and out of fashion, not least because it is rarely defined and frequently misunderstood, writes PAUL EKINS, Professor of Resource and Environmental Policy, University College, London.
Livestock diet can cut emissions, says study
28 Feb 2014
By TIM RADFORD.- Here’s a way to make cattle emit lower volumes of methane through their digestive tracts: give the beasts a higher-quality diet.
Scientists crack code for duckweed ... and raise hopes for biofuel
28 Feb 2014
Geneticists have cracked the code for one of nature’s fastest-growing plants: Spirodela polyrhiza, or duckweed - and the pay-off could come with higher deliveries of biofuel at lower cost to cropland farmers.
Angry Maori take carbon case to UN
21 Feb 2014
Frustrated Maori will take their carbon price grievances to the United Nations next week.
Maori ultimatum leaves Government unmoved
14 Feb 2014
The Government appears to be ignoring an ultimatum from Maori to fix carbon prices or face the consequences.
British farmers keen on Kiwi scientist's no-tillage methods
14 Feb 2014
New Zealand soil scientist and no-till drill manufacturer Dr John Baker says his ideas are being picked up in Britain.
Land-use change still attractive
14 Feb 2014
We saw another small rise in NZUs yesterday, up to $3.30. OMFinancial reports:
Angry Maori table $600,000 carbon ultimatum
7 Feb 2014
Maori say they will lodge a $600 million Treaty of Waitangi claim if the Government doesn’t move fast to shore up carbon prices.
New water moves not enough, says commissioner
7 Feb 2014
Current proposals for freshwater management are not adequate for protecting water quality to even current levels in New Zealand, says Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright.
Dilmah founder bankrolls 'green' tea to save the planet
7 Feb 2014
The man who urges Kiwis to “do try it”, Dilmah Tea founder Merrill J. Fernando, has another message, and this one is about caring for the planet.
Major powerco sets pace for fall in emissions
31 Jan 2014
New Zealand's greenhouse-gas emissions from energy have fallen on the back of a massive cut from our single largest emitter.
Think or swim ... that's our climate change choice
31 Jan 2014
Making people think about the impact climate change could have on their homes makes them more likely to take action to prevent it, researchers say.
Badlands could cost us a ‘Brazil’, says report
31 Jan 2014
If demand for new land on which to grow food continues at the current rate, by 2050 an area nearly the size of Brazil could be ruined, warns a new report.
Drought message is clear, says climate study
24 Jan 2014
The drought that plagued large areas of the country last year was the worst on record, signalling New Zealand's climate is changing.
Study doubts value of land abatements
24 Jan 2014
The full abatement potential of Australia’s land sector is unlikely to be realised under existing policies, says carbon advisory firm RepuTex.
Tiny sensors will allow bees to tell us their troubles
24 Jan 2014
Thousands of honey bees in Australia are being fitted with sensors as part of a world-first research programme to monitor the insects and their environment using a technique known as 'swarm sensing'.
WORLD WEB ... news from the world of carbon
24 Jan 2014
* China's fair share to halt global warming won't come cheap, Beijing report says * Climate change: 2013 ranked fourth-warmest year * Climate change: don't get scared, get ready * China starts televising the sunrise on giant TV screens because Beijing is so clouded in smog * 23% of Americans do not believe global warming is happening * Plastic made from carbon in the air hits market * Climate change TV series uses stars, Republicans
Farmers put weight behind water storage
24 Jan 2014
Farmers say climate change means water storage is more important than ever.
Z Energy adds clean-fuel outlet
24 Jan 2014
A second public truck stop is selling Z Energy’s low-emissions Z DEC fuel.
FORUM: We don't want our landscapes to become movie fiction
20 Dec 2013
Eco-man MALCOLM RANDS - founder of the Ecostore business - argues for the protection of "brand New Zealand":
Don't burn crop rubble, says scholar
20 Dec 2013
A visiting scholar is questioning the Foundation for Arable Research's recommendation to burn crop residue.
Sydney aims for 100% renewable energy
20 Dec 2013
Sydney could be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
Draft pollution law seeks to tackle lethal European air
20 Dec 2013
The European Commission has unveiled a draft law to tackle air pollution, which every year is linked to 400,000 premature deaths in Europe and costs of tens of billions of euros.
Move on carbon units worries foresters
13 Dec 2013
Last week's Government announcement on the future of carbon units after 2015 does nothing to stimulate action to reduce the nation’s net greenhouse gas emissions, says the Forest Owners’ Association.
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.
