Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Google Earth powers up to show impacts of climate change
21 May 2008
Millions of Google Earth users around the world will be able to see how climate change could affect the planet and its people over the next century, along with viewing the loss of Antarctic ice shelves over the last 50 years, thanks to a new project launched yesterday.
Now its "go vege" and save the planet?
21 May 2008
A vegan group is now proclaiming a link between diet and climate change, and urging New Zealanders to "go vegie" and save the plant.
Anderton slams Key's inaccuracies on Fast Forward Fund
21 May 2008
Progressive leader and Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton has made public background papers on the New Zealand Fast Forward Fund and called on National to reverse its pledge to axe it.
Fed Farmers pushes to have soil carbon sequestration included in ETS
20 May 2008
Federated Farmers is calling for a greater push toward getting soil recognised as a legitimate method of storing greenhouse gases, saying that it would be a boon to farmers struggling to deal with emission from animals.
Charles: We've got 18 months to stop climate change disaster
20 May 2008
The Prince of Wales has warned that the world faces a series of natural disasters within 18 months unless urgent action is taken to save the rainforests.
Changing climate threatens Europe's prized black truffles
20 May 2008
The black truffle, one of the most exclusive and expensive delicacies on the planet, is under threat from climate change.
Worried farmers: We want to be part of the ETS
19 May 2008
Farmers want to do their bit and be part of the emissions trading scheme, says Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen.
Canadian with Kiwi connections to take over Genesis
19 May 2008
Canadian New Zealander Albert Brantley is to be the new boss of Genesis Energy, operator of the Huntly power station and New Zealand’s largest electricity retailer.
30-year trial shows organic farming is the way to go
19 May 2008
A 30-year scientific trial shows that organic practices could counteract up to 40 per cent of global greenhouse gas output.
Regulating greenhouse gases will generate a lot of money -- who should get it?
19 May 2008
A US climate-change bill that has widespread support as it heads to the Senate floor will create an estimated $150 billion of new assets in the first year it takes effect.
Research links fertiliser to huge increase in nitrogen emissions
19 May 2008
Agricultural fertilisers washed into the ocean are causing an eightfold increase in emissions of one of the worst greenhouse gases, according to new research published in the journal Science.
The Global carbon trading market takes flight
16 May 2008
Paul Ezekiel travels regularly from his Manhattan office to emerging markets like China and Brazil, prospecting for clean energy projects.
US shows huge jump in wind installations
16 May 2008
More than 1400MW of new wind energy capacity, costing $3 billion, was installed in the US in the first quarter of 2008 – up from just 124MW in the same period of 2007, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
UN spreads the word: Drink more tea and save the world
16 May 2008
The United Nations has issued a call for tea lovers to drink more of the world's most popular beverage.
Bluffing over aluminium: EU says post-2012 ETS impact may be 'negligible'
15 May 2008
While Rio Tinto talks of its Bluff aluminium smelter being put on a path to closure by the proposed emissions trading scheme, the European Union says the effects of including the sector in its scheme “may well be negligible” once a new post-Kyoto international agreement is in place.
OPINION: Wind Farms: Powering Future or Destroying Past?
15 May 2008
By the Save Central Group.- The region of Otago is in a state of significant upheaval over the giant turbines of Meridian’s Project Hayes and TrustPower’s Mahinerangi Wind Farm.
Big landowners take centre stage at ETS hearings
14 May 2008
Some of New Zealand’s biggest land owners today will put their argument to Parliament’s finance and expenditure select committee for more flexibility under the emissions trading bill.
Government campaign urges industry to burn wood
14 May 2008
The Government is mounting a strong campaign urging industry to use wood instead of coal or oil.
Spain dishes out $90m to help poor African countries
14 May 2008
Spain plans to help five poor African countries fight hunger and climate change under a $US90 million scheme to help the continent whose people flood to Spain in their tens of thousands each year.
Forest owners tell ETS body: Our burden is unfair
13 May 2008
The forestry industry’s displeasure at being the only sector left in the early stages of the emissions trading scheme reached Parliament yesterday.
Little point in NZ carbon trading currency, says business group
13 May 2008
A second major business group is suggesting that New Zealand should be using international carbon instruments instead of creating its own currency.
Caterpillar hopes even the heaviest machinery can have a lighter footprint
13 May 2008
As the global price of raw materials continues to boom, few companies are reaping the benefit as much as Caterpillar Inc, the manufacturer of heavy earthmoving equipment whose name is synonymous with the open pit mines that feed global growth and the airports and highways carved from the earth that drive it.
Australian report: Climate change will boost farm output
13 May 2008
Australian agricultural output will double over the next 40 years, with climate change predicted to increase, rather than hinder, the level of production.
Farmers Relieved At Supply Beyond 2013
13 May 2008
The government has announced plans to extend the obligation on lines companies to supply electricity to 'uneconomic'areas beyond 2013.
Dairy operator eyes $75m loss without forestry offset scheme
12 May 2008
The emissions trading scheme could cost the owners of one of New Zealand’s biggest dairy conversions $75 million and see prime pastoral farmland remain locked-up in plantation forest unless a forestry offset scheme is introduced.
Most Kiwis believe big emitters running the climate change show
12 May 2008
Most New Zealanders think that big greenhouse-gas emitters are calling the shots on the country’s climate change policy, and a Labour-Green coalition is seen as the best combination to manage change, according to a new poll.
Can National really make the tough calls on climate change?
12 May 2008
ANALYSIS – National may be showing it really doesn’t want to act on climate change.
Celebrity chef could cook up a storm for our food exporters
12 May 2008
Suggestions by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay that British restaurants should be fined for having imported food on their menus are a sign of the misguided Northern Hemisphere perception of the environmental impact of the international food trade, and are potentially damaging to New Zealand, says Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Peter Silcock.
Britain puts personal carbon trading scheme on ice
12 May 2008
The British government has backed away from a carbon-trading scheme for all citizens.
ANALYSIS: Will Don Elder today spell out his dream for New Zealand?
9 May 2008
What did Don Elder hope to achieve by assuming a carbon price of $200 per tonne and almost nil-emissions reduction – to produce a result showing the Government could make a surplus of up to $80 billion from its emissions trading scheme?
Brits clash with Europe over carbon permit revenue
9 May 2008
The British Government is on course for an embarrassing showdown with the European Union, business groups and environmental charities after refusing to guarantee that billions of pounds of revenue it stands to earn from carbon-permit trading will be spent on combating climate change.
Carbon dioxide turns killer of koalas
9 May 2008
ONE of Australia's most iconic creatures is under threat because its food is being poisoned by growing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, research has shown.
EXCLUSIVE: Top Fletcher officers played key role in ETS policy switch
8 May 2008
Highly reliable sources have told Carbon News that two senior Fletcher Building executives, Jonathan Ling and Hans Buwalda, were the key players in successfully lobbying Climate Change Minister David Parker for major changes to the emissions trading scheme, announced on Tuesday.
NZX chief: Here's our big chance to impress the Americans
8 May 2008
New Zealand has a chance to build a strong relationship with the United States over greenhouse-gas emissions trading by being the first country to bring agriculture and forestry into the scheme, says NZX chief Mark Weldon.
Worried companies coming clean on carbon
8 May 2008
Thousands of companies supplying some of the world's largest corporations know climate regulations are coming and are agreeing to measure their emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases.
Canada faces suspension by Kyoto watchdog
8 May 2008
Canada will be probed on suspicion of violating rules for registering greenhouse gases that are the mainstay of a UN-led fight against global warming, official documents show.
UN experts: Global food crisis could have been avoided
8 May 2008
A lack of investment in agriculture over a long period, as well as the use of precious natural resources for biofuel production, have contributed to the current global food crisis, according to two United Nations experts.
Greenpeace: Don't subsidise polluting industries
8 May 2008
Don't subsidise polluting industries at the expense of ordinary New Zealanders and the planet.
Pandering, polluting, unprincipled – and popular
7 May 2008
ANALYSIS – The Government yesterday gave control over New Zealand’s transport fuel emissions to the offshore oil markets.
Dutch mull over specific greenhouse gases for taxation
7 May 2008
The Netherlands is mulling over whether to build into its new controversial environment tax a specific levy linked to climate-changing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
Anxious Aussie farmers ‘in a twilight zone’
7 May 2008
Australian agriculture is heavily on the back foot as it tries to deal with the immediacy of the Rudd Government's move towards a national emissions trading scheme.
Asia's disappearing rainforests ‘an appalling crisis’
7 May 2008
The wanton destruction of Asia's rainforests is “one of the worst crises since we came out of our caves 10,000 years ago,” foresters have been told at an international meeting in Hanoi.
World food shortage posts big profit for fertiliser giant
6 May 2008
Australian fertiliser giant Incitec Pivot has reported a huge increase in first half profits, helped by the global food crisis.
Water, water everywhere … but it’s running out
6 May 2008
Water one day will be a commodity traded as oil is today and already supply shortages are becoming a problem of global proportion.
Aussie big boys scramble for carbon trading exemptions
5 May 2008
MAJOR Australian companies and industry bodies are pushing to be made exempt from the impact of a national carbon emissions trading scheme, claiming they will be hurt by cheap imports or lose out in export markets.
NZ expert sees third way for troubled biofuels
5 May 2008
From economic saviour to planet disaster, biofuels have had a whirlwind public relations ride.
100ft propellors and the new wonders of the world
5 May 2008
Three 100-foot-wide propellers have began turning between the two towers of the recently completed World Trade Centre building in Bahrain.
'Enemies' unite in plea for leadership on climate change
2 May 2008
Two lobbyists usually found on opposite sides came together last night in a call for national leadership, co-operation and unity on climate change for the sake of all New Zealanders.
Exporter: Food miles ploy major threat to UK halal meat trade
2 May 2008
Meat exporter Dr Haj Mohamed Samy Abdel-Al believes that the food miles syndrome underpins criticism in Britain of halal foods from New Zealand.
Tree-mendous ... Charles to check on our forests
2 May 2008
Internal Affairs officials are in the early planning stages for a visit by the Prince of Wales and they have been advised by their UK counterparts it will be all business, rainforest business.
Govt unveils National Adaptation Framework
Thu 16 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Minister of Climate Change Simon Watts has revealed the first actions under New Zealand’s National Adaptation Framework, which sets out the Government's approach to the rising risks from natural hazards such as floods and storms.
NZ needs to be part of a regional SAF strategy: Z, Air NZ
9 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand needs to be part of a regional strategic approach to sourcing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with domestic production less the aim than ensuring access to the fuel from one of a number of strategically positioned bio-refineries around the world.
Air NZ inks deal for its first internationally verified carbon credits
9 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Air New Zealand has committed to buying 8000 tonnes of carbon removals by 2030, in partnership with local native forest investment platform My Native Forest.
NZ not 'holding the line' on wilding pine management – experts
Wed 15 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand is no longer “holding the line” against invasive threats, with the country’s scale, remoteness and rugged terrain making control costly and complex, one expert has said ahead of this week's Wilding Pines Conference.
Researchers say sealing old oil wells with bio-oil from crop waste is a dual carbon-removal solution
19 Sep 2025
A new analysis shows that oil made from corn husks, wood chips, and other waste could plug greenhouse gas-belching abandoned oil wells while sequestering carbon for about $152 per ton.
Broker predicts all this year’s carbon auctions will fail
10 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Marex New Zealand is forecasting that the government will sell no ‘pollution permits’ at the NZU auctions this year, with a significant gap continuing between secondary market prices and this year’s $68 auction floor price.
UN agency says CO2 levels hit record high last year, causing more extreme weather
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere jumped by the highest amount on record last year, soaring to a level not seen in human civilisation and “turbo-charging” the Earth’s climate and causing more extreme weather.
Will govt’s light touch approach lead to higher carbon prices?
3 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Carbon market watchers are hoping the government’s plan for the electricity sector will eventually lead to higher carbon prices, with the secondary market still trading sideways for the longest time in its history.
Electricity to remain in ETS
1 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has rejected Frontier Economics' recommendation that electricity should be removed from the Emissions Trading Scheme.
The merchants of doubt are back
3 Sep 2025
OPINION: If you don’t follow climate policy closely, you might not know that the Trump administration is launching an effort to overturn one of the most fundamental pillars of American climate policy.
Milestone for NZ Steel electrification
10 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | NZ Steel has passed an installation milestone for its new electric arc furnace, which will reduce emissions from the Glenbrook steel mill site by as much as one megatonne (1Mt) a year.
UN limits staff at COP30 climate summit over accommodation concerns
19 Sep 2025
High hotel prices for Brazil's COP30 climate summit in November have prompted the United Nations to urge its staff to limit attendance, while government delegations are still scrambling to find rooms within their budgets.
All carrot, no stick for farmers on methane
Fri 17 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: The abandonment of methane emissions pricing and the adoption of a weaker target is effectively the last nail in the coffin of the historic cross-parliamentary consensus embedded in the Zero Carbon Act 2019.
Unlocking the national potential of flexible energy use through residential appliances – EECA calling for submissions
Thu 16 Oct 2025
Media release | EECA is asking for feedback from the energy sector on a newly published green paper about unlocking the potential of demand flexibility through end-use products, such as appliances, used in New Zealand homes.
From nuisance to crisis: New report on pest wasps In Aotearoa
24 Sep 2025
Media release: Moths and Butterflies NZ Trust | Just published is the Final Report of the Pest Wasps Survey carried out by the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (MBNZT) offering a comprehensive look at New Zealanders’ awareness, experiences, and attitudes toward wasps and the growing ecological, health, and social issues associated with them.
Difficult trade-offs ahead for climate adaptation
Fri 17 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | While climate impacts are already here, bringing the urgent need to accelerate effective adaptation now, the Government's newly minted adaptation framework still leaves important questions unanswered about who will pay.
NZ marine heatwaves could double in intensity under high-emissions pathway
Thu 16 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show marine heatwaves will grow more intense around the North Island and more frequent around the South Island as the climate warms – raising risks for fisheries, aquaculture, coastal ecosystems and tourism.
World falling far behind deforestation goals with farms and fires driving loss, report says
Wed 15 Oct 2025
The report said the world permanently lost 8.1 million hectares (20 million acres) of forest, an area about the size of England, in 2024 alone.
‘Damp squib’ – Govt energy plan slammed for locking in fossil fuels
2 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Critics across business, climate groups and the opposition say the Government’s electricity reforms duck structural change, double down on LNG and gas, and offer little relief for soaring power prices – warning of an “expensive white elephant", deeper energy poverty and a missed chance to scale renewables.
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.”
Climate investment is only growth opportunity of 21st century, says leading economist
Wed 15 Oct 2025
Investment in climate action is the economic growth story of the 21st century, while growth fuelled by fossil fuels is futile because the damage it causes ends in self-destruction, the economist Nicholas Stern has said.
Where’s Watts? Climate Minister no-show at climate conference
Thu 16 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Opposition parties have slammed the Climate Change Minister’s failure to front up to a major international conference in Christchurch, saying it shows that climate adaptation is a low priority for the National Party.
Climate credibility gap widening for Aussie firms
1 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Australian public companies’ climate change commitments are in retreat, reflecting difficulty in achieving stated targets and increased fossil use, but not because of any pressure to make less effort, according to a study of major companies’ ESG reporting.
Coal imports up 650%
12 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams and Liz Kivi | Coal imports are up 650% as generators stockpile the most polluting fossil fuel ahead of next winter.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
29 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Green hydrogen pioneer Hiringa Energy is deep in planning to develop an “eight-to-nine figure” methanol plant near Whanganui, using a combination of biomass and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
Study warns climate leadership falling short in NZ
1 Oct 2025
Media release - Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland | Research suggests New Zealand’s climate leadership is falling short, with current adaptation efforts focused on property and cost-cutting rather than protecting communities.
Will NZ walk away from the Paris Agreement?
20 Dec 2024
By Geoff Bertram | COMMENT: Unless the government can find very cheap offshore mitigation, the temptation to walk away from its Paris Agreement obligations may well be too strong to resist for a coalition government focused on fiscal austerity.
Judge dismisses suit by young climate activists against Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Plaintiffs had ‘overwhelming evidence’ of climate crisis but a court injunction would be ‘unworkable’, ruling says.
'Non-negotiable' – EU carbon pricing to hit Kiwi exporters, expert warns
11 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | High carbon exports will inevitably face a high carbon tax at the EU border, possibly in the next five years, and high methane agricultural products might not be exempt, an international expert told a local audience yesterday.
Deep sea mining threatens sharks, rays and ghost sharks
6 Oct 2025
Mining the world’s deep seas for metals will likely threaten many species of sharks, rays and chimaeras (ghost sharks), according to researchers.
Govt promises ‘earlier action’ in response to Commission’s warning climate targets at risk
Fri 17 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government says it will “explore opportunities for earlier action” ahead of the third Emissions Reduction Plan, and has committed to looking at ways to stop the system of free carbon credits for industrial polluters from disincentivising industrial decarbonisation.
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.
‘Weird and sad’ – Tuvalu Climate Minister condemns NZ halving methane target
Wed 15 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Dr Maina Talia, Tuvalu’s Minister for Home Affairs, Climate Change, and Environment, says he’s surprised at New Zealand’s decision to weaken its target for reducing methane emissions – and is planning to take up the issue with his counterpart Climate Minister Simon Watts this week.
NZ’s biggest ever climate meeting kicks off
Tue 14 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The world's largest climate adaptation conference kicked off in Christchurch yesterday, with nearly 2000 attendees expected, making it potentially the biggest international climate meeting Aotearoa New Zealand will ever host.
Bottom trawling a triple threat to marine environments - new report
9 Oct 2025
Media release | Greenpeace is calling for urgent action to restrict bottom trawling after a new government report highlights the compounding effects this destructive fishing method has on climate change, habitat degradation and biodiversity loss.
Lobby group launches ‘blueprint’ for ocean management reform
18 Sep 2025
The Environmental Defence Society yesterday released its plan to tackle widespread ecological decline in our oceans.
Councils need funding tools to address climate challenges – LGNZ
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Media release | Local Government New Zealand is welcoming the Government’s new National Adaptation Framework, while cautioning that councils will struggle to meet its new expectations without additional funding tools.
Students repeat request for Victoria University to divest from fossil fuel investments
24 Sep 2025
Media release | A group of students campaigning for climate action at Victoria University of Wellington have dropped a banner protesting against the university’s lack of action on its 2014 commitment to divest from fossil fuels.
Straterra has a new name: the New Zealand Minerals Council
16 Apr 2025
Media release | Straterra has been renamed as New Zealand Minerals Council, says chief executive Josie Vidal.
Record global renewable energy growth remains short of climate target, report says
Thu 16 Oct 2025
A new report finds that a record amount of global renewable energy capacity was added last year, but that still leaves countries “short of targets towards meeting a UN climate goal to triple capacity by 2030”.
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.
Climate scientists and republican lawyers are taking aim at Big Tech’s emissions
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Technology companies have long been one of the biggest investors in clean energy, but new accounting rules could upend that.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
31 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government is expected to repeal the oil and gas ban today, with a last-minute amendment handing discretionary power to two ministers over the controversial issue of decommissioning.
For Australia to get moving on electric vehicles, we must ban petrol and diesel cars by 2035
Fri 17 Oct 2025
COMMENT: If nothing is done, transport is projected to be Australia’s largest emissions source by 2030.
Fix it, don't ditch it: University of Auckland hosts first Repair Cafe
9 Oct 2025
Media release - Auckland University | The University's first-ever Repair Cafe is bringing students and staff together to give broken items a new lease on life, while promoting a culture of repair and reuse.
Farmers face heightened solvency risks as climate changes: research
10 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Increasingly volatile weather patterns, higher insurance costs driven by climate change risk and global financial volatility represent risks to New Zealand farmers’ capacity to service debt and remain solvent, according to new research by Christchurch-based research firm Kōmanawa Solutions.
‘Con,’ ‘scam,’ ‘hoax’: Trump’s UN speech on climate
24 Sep 2025
The president used a large chunk of his hour-long speech to world leaders to condemn climate science and clean energy policies.
Trump administration moves to revoke permit for Massachusetts offshore wind project
24 Sep 2025
The Trump administration has moved to block a Massachusetts offshore wind farm, its latest effort to hobble an industry and technology that President Donald Trump has attacked as “ugly” and unreliable compared to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.
