Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Now is the time to get out of Kyoto, says Hide
24 Oct 2008
ACT party leader Rodney Hide says New Zealand should pull out of the Kyoto Protocol in the face of increased pressures on businesses and households caused by the global financial crisis - but it won’t be a make-or-break issue during any post-election discussions with National.
National-Maori deal to put geothermal under Minerals Act?
24 Oct 2008
Close to the top of the agenda for a prospective prime minister John Key with any Maori Party allies is the business of transferring the nation’s geothermal resources from the jurisdiction of the Resource Management Act to Crown Minerals.
MAF’s master tool for farm emissions measurement in doubt
24 Oct 2008
The efficiency of a proprietary, home-grown software package that underpins much of the ETS and Kyoto governance calculations is increasingly being called into question.
Costs force Smart Drive innovator to look at US base
21 Oct 2008
Freight costs might force a New Plymouth-based renewable energy company to set up a base in the United States to manufacture and distribute its products.
Nats promise electricity-first ETS by 2010
21 Oct 2008
The National Party will have an emissions trading scheme covering the electricity sector by January 1, 2010, climate change spokesman Nick Smith said in a debate yesterday.
Parker: Nats won't, but we'll answer the questions
21 Oct 2008
Climate Change Minister David Parker says that he is willing to answer Carbon News’ questions on climate change policy – even if National isn’t.
Biodeisel demand fuels price of wood waste
21 Oct 2008
Solid Energy’s demand for high-grade biomass materials is forcing up prices for sawmill shavings and other prime process residue.
National-Maori coalition raises major issues over fate of ETS
17 Oct 2008
ANALYSIS: If a National-Maori Party Government takes power next month the new coalition could face immense difficulties agreeing on changes to the emissions trading scheme.
Climate change targets could cripple UK agriculture, say farmers
17 Oct 2008
New targets to cut Britain’s greenhouse emissions by at least 80 per cent will cripple agriculture, according to farmers.
It’s full speed ahead for America’s new energy economy
17 Oct 2008
As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging in the United States, says sustainability expert Lester Brown.
US dairy industry slashes carbon footprint
17 Oct 2008
Improved efficiency in the production of milk has resulted in a huge reduction in the dairy industry's carbon footprint, making it very "green," said a University of Illinois Extension dairy specialist.
Company clustering aims to cut energy and waste costs
14 Oct 2008
Energy-intensive industries can cut greenhouse-gas emissions and energy costs by pooling resources on projects like bio-energy plants using waste materials, says the Clean Energy Centre.
Anderton vows to shelter farmers troubled by ETS
14 Oct 2008
Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton has vowed to do all he can to shelter farmers from any adverse effects of the emissions trading scheme.
Hydro schemes on wrong side of the island, says report
14 Oct 2008
A long-range rainfall forecast has ignited a controversy that the bulk of the South Island hydro capacity was built on the wrong side of the Southern Alps.
Don’t blame cities for climate change troubles, says report
14 Oct 2008
Cities are being unfairly blamed for most of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions and this threatens efforts to tackle climate change, warns a new report.
Key players ponder Nat's 'unusual' R&D decision
10 Oct 2008
Key players in New Zealand’s renewable energy sector are stoic - if somewhat bemused - in the face of National’s announcement that it intends dropping the 15 per cent tax-credit for research and development if it wins power.
Bluff smelter sale could mean big problems in the south
10 Oct 2008
BHP Billiton’s ever-closer acquisition of Rio Tinto could solve one big and enduring problem ... and create another even bigger one.
FORUM: Institute of Forestry reply
10 Oct 2008
It is time for politicians and farm leaders to stop using knowledge of cobalt deficiency and incomplete economic analysis as excuses for deforestation, says NZ Institute of Forestry president Andrew McEwen.
The Deadly Dozen - 12 climate change diseases that could sweep the world
10 Oct 2008
Health experts are calling them the Deadly Dozen - 12 pathogens that could spread into new regions as a result of climate change and could have potential impacts on both human and wildlife health as well as global economies.
Reducing greenhouse gases one fridge at a time.
10 Oct 2008
Natural refrigeration specialist company Arneg New Zealand is to tell this year’s New Zealand Cold Storage Association conference that the industry needs to do more to reduce the effect of refrigeration systems on the environment.
Time for green thinking on the economy, say Greens
7 Oct 2008
It is time for Government to set its sights on a green economy to ensure there will be jobs for New Zealanders, that food will be affordable, and it won’t be out of people’s reach to get around, the Green Party says.
Farmers working hard for the environment
7 Oct 2008
Otago dairy farmer Philip Wilson and his family had a point to prove when they entered this year’s Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Power users unite in push for electricity reform
3 Oct 2008
Electricity users across the economy are joining forces to push the Government into the biggest review of our electricity system since the 1996 deregulation.
Wind power poser: Low lakes mean low wind speeds
3 Oct 2008
The same weather conditions that cause hydro-generation lakes to go dry will also stop some wind farms generating power, according to a new report.
'Hard year' nearly halves Meridian profit
3 Oct 2008
State-owned Meridian energy’s profits have almost halved.
Waste water becomes drinkable using NZ algae process
3 Oct 2008
Farms, meat processing plants and factories could soon be recycling their own discharged water on-site thanks to a world-leading algae-based refining process developed in Blenheim.
Further 32 turbines ordered for TRH wind farm
3 Oct 2008
Windflow Technology has received a further order from the Te Rere Hau (TRH) Joint Venture for the 32 turbines required to complete the initial TRH wind farm near Palmerston North.
Big emitters play the waiting game with ETS
30 Sep 2008
Some of New Zealand’s major emitters of greenhouse gases are waiting to see who wins the election before committing themselves to buying carbon credits.
Bosses know little of carbon risk, survey shows
30 Sep 2008
Most of the people running New Zealand companies have no idea of their enterprises’ carbon risk.
Millions of new jobs in green economy, says UN report
30 Sep 2008
Tackling climate change could potentially generate millions of new employment opportunities, according to a new UN-backed study – the first of its kind on the emergence of a “green economy” and its impact on labour.
‘Obsolete’ market system to blame for deforestation, PNG tells UN
30 Sep 2008
The current global economic system is to fault for deforestation, Papua New GuineaDeputy Prime Minister Puke Temu told the UN General Assembly’s high-level debate yesterday, stressing the need to protect the South Pacific nation’s rainforests from degradation.
First ‘carbon state’ report finds troubling imbalance
30 Sep 2008
The first "State of the Carbon Cycle Report" for North America, released online this week by the US Climate Change Science Program, finds the continent's carbon budget increasingly overwhelmed by human-caused emissions.
Eco-friendly Aussie farmers at a loss in no-agriculture ETS
30 Sep 2008
Leaving agriculture out of an emissions scheme could cost farmers using environmentally friendly methods of production, the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) says.
IDEAcarbon rates Joint Implementation projects
30 Sep 2008
The Carbon Rating Agency, a dedicated ratings subsidiary of IDEAcarbon, has released the first set of ratings for Joint Implementation (JI) projects under JI guidelines.
Nats vow to sweep new broom through forest industry
26 Sep 2008
National hopes to sweep a new broom through the forestry sector, promising changes to the Resource Management Act, pushing for offsetting to be included in the Kyoto Protocol, and creating open, regular dialogue between the government and industry.
UK emissions bill about to become law, says minister
26 Sep 2008
The Climate Change Bill introduced by Britain's ruling Labour Party is about to become law, British Secretary of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Hilary Benn said yesterday.
Ban urges faster efforts to expand access to safe drinking water
26 Sep 2008
Warning that a world without water will be very unstable, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday called for a three-pronged strategy to ensure that the poorest inhabitants of the developing world have access to clean water and basic sanitation within seven years.
New Zealand’s sustainability trailblazers announced
26 Sep 2008
After an extensive six-month search across the country, the finalists of the 2008 NZI National Sustainable Business Network Awards have been announced.
Is the end of higher fert prices on the horizon?
26 Sep 2008
There are signs that farmers might be in for some respite from rising fertiliser prices, says Ballance Agri-Nutrients Chairman, David Graham.
Local ethanol production could ensure NZ farming sustainability
26 Sep 2008
New Zealand farming communities could be growing alcohol based fuels without impacting on the global food supply whilst at the same time benefitting the local environment, says American sustainable farming expert David Blume.
Water management leaking through the cracks
26 Sep 2008
A report card on the state of water infrastructure in New Zealand shows that management of one of New Zealand's most valuable assets, water, is only "adequate", at best, and that significant improvements are required to bring New Zealand's water services up to world's best practise.
UK names date to run first emissions trading auction
23 Sep 2008
The first auction of carbon trading allowances in the United Kingdom will take place on November 18, the British Government has confirmed.
Canadians will pay Rwandans to plant trees
23 Sep 2008
A Canadian carbon offset development company plans to invest $US17m on reforestation projects in Rwanda over the next 20 years.
Cambodia pioneering carbon trading cooperative
19 Sep 2008
With the global carbon trade booming, environmental projects in developing countries have joined forces to finance their poverty reduction efforts by selling carbon credits collectively.
ETS picture becoming clearer for forest owners
16 Sep 2008
The forestry sector will know precisely how to participate in the emissions trading scheme when the forestry stakeholder reference group meets with MAF at the end of the month.
Entrepreneur finds use for dairy effluent
16 Sep 2008
Electricity industry entrepreneur Brian Tolley says that his BioGenCool system that turns dairy effluent into electricity and fertiliser is the only way to cope with New Zealand’s biggest agricultural pollutant.
Grab the opportunities, UK expert tells our farmers
16 Sep 2008
Significant opportunities will emerge for New Zealand and Australian agriculture to benefit from moves to address climate change, according to a leading international expert in the field.
Carbon trading band-aid solution, report tells Philippines
16 Sep 2008
The Philippines has been told it must not over rely on the carbon credits scheme in pursuing clean energy projects because the scheme is a short-term approach to the problem.
Disappointed farmers vow to fight on ... but how?
12 Sep 2008
Federated Farmers will keep fighting the emissions trading scheme – but isn’t sure what move to take next.
Hemp (not the smoking kind) might be next wonder crop
12 Sep 2008
Former Green MP Nandor Tanczos could see his long campaign to have hemp made legal vindicated.
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
Thu 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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed much longer, things will get really bad, really fast.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
Thu 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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
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
Today 11:45am
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
Thu 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
Thu 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
Thu 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
Today 11:45am
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.
