Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Kiwi ETS wins minister a rare bouquet
13 Aug 2010
Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith has had an unusual experience this week – he’s being feted for the Emissions Trading Scheme.
What Nick Smith said to transtasman business leaders
13 Aug 2010
This week Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith spoke at the 6th annual Climate Change and Business Conference, being held in Sydney. This is what he said:
The Carbon Traders 3: Wayne King, Carbon Market Solutions
13 Aug 2010
Wayne King has been behind some of the biggest carbon deals in New Zealand, but he got into the business almost by accident.
Tasman challenge: Cut emissions by 15 per cent
13 Aug 2010
Australia and New Zealand can cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 15 per cent by 2020 in economically beneficial ways, say business leaders at the 6th Australia-New Zealand Climate Change and Business Conference in Sydney.
Meridian to build huge Aussie wind farm
13 Aug 2010
Meridian has done another deal to build a wind farm in Australia.
How Portugal gave itself an energy makeover
13 Aug 2010
Five years ago, Portugal pledged to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels and embarked on an array of ambitious renewable energy projects.
Australian car emissions rules well off pace
13 Aug 2010
National standards for car emissions in Australia, even after recently announced Labor policy, will still be weaker than that of the EU and of California, a Sydney conference has been told.
MAF allocates funds for soil erosion work
13 Aug 2010
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has allocated two more erosion treatment projects a total of $7.62 million under its Sustainable Land Management Hill Country Erosion Fund.
The Carbon Traders 2: Simon Young, Karo Group/EcoSecurities
6 Aug 2010
Simon Young got into carbon through his habit of studying a supply chain from go to whoa.
Farmers like large recycling bag for plastic
6 Aug 2010
The Agrecovery Wrap recycling programme has introduced a large recycling bag.
Now's the time to apply to farming fund
6 Aug 2010
The new funding round for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Sustainable Farming Fund is open.
Farm leader angers 'foreign-owned' foresters
30 Jul 2010
Federated Farmers have drawn the ire of foresters with a claim that “foreign-owned” forestry companies could destroy New Zealand’s rural economy by turning farmland into carbon forests.
'Climate migrants' will flood US, says study
30 Jul 2010
A wave of up to 6.7 million migrants from Mexico could head to the United States to escape the ravages of climate change on crops, say the authors of a new study.
No country for farmers? ... what Federated Farmers said on carbon forestry
30 Jul 2010
Twenty per cent of New Zealand's sheep and beef farms could be replaced by oxymoronic 'carbon forestry', if the ambitions of foreign owned carbon foresters and the Government are realised.
Nitrogen trading noticeboard starts for Taupo catchment
23 Jul 2010
Environment Waikato has established a new internet-based trading noticeboard for farmers wishing to buy, sell or lease nitrogen under the new Variation 5 policy to protect Lake Taupo.
Waterweed idea wins science prize
23 Jul 2010
An idea for iwi to turn waterweed into energy has won Foundation for Science, Research and Technology funding worth $107,500 over three years.
Curry theory adds spice to emissions science
23 Jul 2010
Forget low-energy lightbulbs and solar-powered homes – curry spices could hold the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Yealands to turn vine prunings into power
23 Jul 2010
Yealands Estate has received funding from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority for a project that will cut the winemaker's carbon emissions to zero.
Carbon credits ready to roll for big emitters
16 Jul 2010
Carbon credits allocated to industrial emitters to help them to adjust to the Emissions Trading Scheme could start flowing on to the market in the middle of next month.
Foresters: Farmers can't see wood for the trees
16 Jul 2010
The Emissions Trading Scheme makes farm forestry even more viable – but many farmers just don’t get it yet, says the Farm Forestry Association.
UK firm plants 50,000ha in jatropha
16 Jul 2010
British company VEPower says it has secured 40,000 tonnes of crude biofuel through an exclusivity agreement to finance a 50,000ha jatropha plantation in Ghana.
Credits market growing, says carbon pioneer
9 Jul 2010
The man who was largely responsible for owners of post-1989 forests getting ownership of their Kyoto carbon credits says the market is building.
Soil saviour Flannery to tell our farmers how
9 Jul 2010
Australian scientist and environmentalist Tim Flannery is heading to New Zealand to push the idea of sequestering carbon in our soil.
EPA proposal cuts power plant pollution
9 Jul 2010
The US Environmental Protection Agency is proposing regulations to cut air pollution that impairs air quality and harms the health of people living downwind.
Foresters seek timber imports safeguard
2 Jul 2010
Forest owners want New Zealand to follow the lead of the United States and require government confirmation that imported timber has been legally logged.
UK must take radical action, warns watchdog
2 Jul 2010
Britain needs to build twice as many wind farms every year, put more than a million electric cars on the road and insulate every home in the country in order to meet ambitious legally binding climate change targets, Government advisers have warned.
We won't dump you in it, minister tells farmers
25 Jun 2010
Agriculture Minister David Carter is promising farmers they will not come into the Emissions Trading Scheme if New Zealand’s trading partners have not moved to cut their carbon emissions.
Taxpayers face $1.1 billion Kyoto liability, say authors
25 Jun 2010
New Zealand’s failure to reduce emissions to its Kyoto Protocol target means the taxpayer still faces a $1.1 billion net liability after all the ETS charges have been paid.
Clover breakthrough could cut farm emissions
18 Jun 2010
A team of kiwi scientists think they can alter white clover so that animals grazing on it receive a more protein and produce less methane.
UK farmers show how to cut carbon
18 Jun 2010
While many New Zealand farmers protest against cutting carbon emissions, or paying the price, UK farmers are showing how it can be done.
Government backs farm recycling scheme
18 Jun 2010
Farmers are being encouraged to recycle and reuse rather than burn or bury thousands of tonnes plastic waste under a new scheme launched by the Government this week.
Report highlights importance of water storage
18 Jun 2010
Federated Farmers says it is pleased to see water storage and infrastructure given high importance in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's annual Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry report.
Organic farmer: We're not all the same
11 Jun 2010
An organic sheep and beef farmer who says she doesn’t mind paying for any environmental damage she causes is calling for the environmental benefits of organic farming to be recognised under the ETS.
You had enough time, MAF tells farmers
11 Jun 2010
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says it gave as much time as it could for submissions on the rules governing agriculture under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Carbon forestry can work, say tree growers
11 Jun 2010
Carbon forestry is a viable option for land owners looking to offset farm emissions and for new income streams, say forest owners.
NIWA scientists put better nitrogen management on the farm to the test
11 Jun 2010
New Zealand science is taking a global lead in assessing techniques for the mitigation of pastoral greenhouse gas emissions.
Clued-up investors move on forestry blocks
4 Jun 2010
Investors are moving to buy forestry blocks as interest in farming carbon grows.
Help us make money from carbon, pleads dairyman
4 Jun 2010
A dairy farmer planning on making money from farming carbon says Federated Farmers is failing to provide leadership on the issue.
...and what Federated Farmers says about sheep farms and the ETS
4 Jun 2010
Federated Farmers says New Zealand will have to sell an extra 4.7 million lambs to offset the cost of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Vital ETS rules for agriculture emissions being prepared
4 Jun 2010
All-important fine detail determining how emissions are measured for agriculture are now being developed.
MAF issues several new ETS guides for forestry and agriculture
4 Jun 2010
MAF has produced several new guides relating to the ETS and forestry and agriculture.
FORUM: Federated Farmers on the ETS and more ...
4 Jun 2010
You can't implement a problem, only a solution, says Conor English, Federated Farmers' chief executive:
We must move from meat diet, says UN
4 Jun 2010
A global shift toward a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report says.
Fonterra vows to fight on for free credits share
21 May 2010
Fonterra is continuing its battle for a share of the free carbon credits available to trade-exposed heavy emitters.
Should we have tax cuts or extend emissions subsidies beyond 95%?
14 May 2010
ANALYSIS: Now the Government has shut the front door on delaying the ETS, the country’s largest emitters are knocking on the back one to get more free emission credits.
Ministry clears up status of carbon brokers
14 May 2010
It’s a case of buyer – or, in this case, seller – beware.
US: We’re back on top of the energy world
14 May 2010
The American Power Act, a bill proposing a cap and trade system for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, was introduced yesterday in the US Senate.
Government takes ETS hardline with farmers
7 May 2010
The Government is going on the offensive with farmers over the Emissions Trading Scheme, telling them that abandoning the scheme could lead to a trade backlash.
Carbon market wide open to doubtful deals
30 Apr 2010
The Government might be moving to clean up the regulations around the financial markets, but investors in the emerging carbon market lack the same protections.
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.
