Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Proposal to include non-forestry land in NDC calculation
25 Oct 2023
By Jeremy Rose | A Cabinet minute from July of this year agreed in principle to include non-forest land in New Zealand’s nationally determined contribution.
AgriZeroNZ appoints Wayne McNee as chief executive
25 Oct 2023
Media release | AgriZeroNZ, the public-private joint venture helping farmers reduce their emissions, has appointed Wayne McNee as its chief executive.
Govt defends new charges for forestry in ETS
3 Oct 2023
The government is defending new charges in the Emissions Trading Scheme, which foresters say will discourage planting, and some say could be open to legal challenges.
Programme turns slash into cash
3 Oct 2023
Media release - An Edmund Hillary Fellow and Social Entrepreneur from Botswana has teamed up with EIT | Te Pukenga to help the Tairāwhiti and Wairoa communities eliminate slash and create business opportunities.
Labour announces “climate manifesto”
26 Sep 2023
The Labour Party has released a “climate manifesto” promising to set separate targets for gross emissions and carbon removals, develop a voluntary carbon market framework, and limit exotic afforestation, if it wins the election next month.
Bay of Plenty council and iwi partner to restore degraded wetland
25 Sep 2023
Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council and iwi collective Te Wahapū o Waihī are partnering to restore a coastal wetland on the margins of the Waihī Estuary
$10 million “sheep of the future” could emit less methane
21 Sep 2023
The government is putting $10.5 million towards breeding the “sheep of the future,” which will create fewer methane emissions as well as coping with hotter temperatures as summers heat up.
NZ’s climate emissions at historic low
20 Sep 2023
New Zealand is set to announce its lowest emissions this century, Climate Change minister James Shaw told the Climate Change and Business Conference in Auckland yesterday.
Farmers call for methane review based on flawed report, says expert
19 Sep 2023
The agriculture sector is calling for a review of New Zealand’s methane targets, citing a report suggesting Kiwi farmers are being asked to do more than their fair share in terms of reductions.
Regulations are failing our wetlands: Fish & Game
18 Sep 2023
Current regulations are not working to maintain existing wetland areas and are hindering the creation of new wetlands, Fish & Game New Zealand said.
Upcoming conferences focus on climate change and degrowth
15 Sep 2023
New Zealand's first degrowth conference is coming up this weekend in Wellington, with international and local speakers looking at the transition to a less energy-intensive future.
On-farm solar energy could significantly increase profits for sheep farmers
14 Sep 2023
Media release - Adding solar panels to sheep and beef farms could improve their profitability, and environmental and animal welfare outcomes, finds new research.
Govt and agribusiness invest $4 million in US tech hoping to cut cow methane
13 Sep 2023
A joint venture of major New Zealand agribusiness companies and the government has invested $4.1 million in a US start-up aiming to develop feed supplements to reduce methane emissions from cows.
NZ needs new approach in the face of global inaction on climate
11 Sep 2023
New Zealand needs to work harder at building resilience and adaptation in the face of global failure to meet climate goals, according to an expert.
NZ must improve how it puts together plans for emissions reductions: Environment Commissioner
8 Sep 2023
Make it coherent and have the Prime Minister take the lead: Those are two pieces of advice the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment wants the incoming government to take to heart when formulating plans to cut emissions.
Government backs climate-resilient pasture programme
31 Aug 2023
Breeding pasture designed to thrive in a changing climate is the focus of a new ‘Pasture Accelerator’ programme backed by the Government, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced.
IMF warns NZ at risk of failing international emissions obligations
29 Aug 2023
The International Monetary Fund says New Zealand must do more to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2030, and is off track to meet its international obligations.
Govt cuts more than $200 million from climate funds to “tighten belts”
29 Aug 2023
The government is slashing funding to climate emissions reduction programmes as part of “belt tightening” measures, with more than $235 million in cuts to projects planned to reduce emissions.
Best by the rest...
25 Aug 2023
Is carbon forestry pushing farm prices out of reach? Auckland’s cyclone recovery funding deal; and why sustainability shouldn’t be just an afterthought in space exploration.
California’s top methane emitter is a vast cattle feedlot
22 Aug 2023
A “kid gloves” approach to agricultural emissions, including burping cows, raises questions about an environmentally minded state’s commitment to combating climate change.
Govt delays agricultural emissions reporting and pricing
21 Aug 2023
The government has announced farm-level emissions reporting won’t start until the end of 2024, and emissions pricing won’t start until a year later.
Govt co-funding $33 million to cut industrial emissions
16 Aug 2023
The government has announced its latest round of co-funding for industry to cut emissions, with a $33.3 million investment aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 67,300 tonnes every year.
Farmers welcome EPA approval of first methane inhibitor in New Zealand
11 Aug 2023
The Environmental Protection Authority has approved a feed additive that could reduce methane emissions from livestock by 30%.
NZ needs better emissions data: research
3 Aug 2023
New research shows that New Zealand isn't doing enough to keep track of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change mitigation, with lacking data and modelling capacity in some sectors.
Climate extremes make NZ’s supply chains highly vulnerable – it’s time to rethink how we grow and ship food
26 Jul 2023
By Alan Renwick | Supermarket customers around New Zealand are noticing gaps in the grocery aisles that have nothing to do with the global pandemic or Ukraine war.
Greens and NZ First launch election campaigns
24 Jul 2023
The Greens and NZ First were the first parties to officially launch their election campaigns over the weekend, with the climate crisis a core part of the Greens campaign - while it got only a passing mention at the NZ First launch.
RMA reform bill makes progress in Parliament
24 Jul 2023
Resource management law reform bills completed their second readings in Parliament last week with Labour on track to pass them with Green Party support and National and Act adamant they will repeal them before Christmas if elected to government.
Annual emissions fall
21 Jul 2023
Greenhouse gas emissions fell 3.1% (2,369 kilotonnes) for the year to December 2022, according to new figures from Stats NZ.
Govt gives Fonterra $90 million as part of $790 million spend to cut coal
20 Jul 2023
The government is giving Fonterra $90 million as part of a $790 million investment to cut coal use at six of its dairy factories.
Research into biofilters to cut agricultural methane
18 Jul 2023
Researchers in the South Island are looking at on-farm biofilters to convert potent agricultural methane into carbon dioxide - a much less potent gas in terms of global heating.
Scientists call on govt to develop climate-friendly national food strategy
13 Jul 2023
The directors of six National Science Challenges are joining calls to the government to develop a national food strategy for New Zealand - one that will help reduce emissions as well as increase resilience to the climate crisis.
Govt to include carbon sinks in Emissions Trading Scheme
12 Jul 2023
Cabinet agreed last week to reform the Emissions Trading Scheme to recognise all forms of carbon sinks rather than just forestry.
Forestry lobbying heats up over ETS review
11 Jul 2023
Forestry interests are continuing their campaign to ensure forestry retains value under a reviewed Emissions Trading Scheme, with another open letter to the government saying climate goals are at risk.
New Zealand signs trade agreement with EU with “ambitious” climate commitments
10 Jul 2023
New Zealand and the European Union signed a Free Trade Agreement last night that includes “ambitious” climate commitments, with sanctions if targets are not met.
Two-thirds of fertilizer is lost to run-off. This invention could recycle it.
6 Jul 2023
Researchers fine tune smart farming with an ingenious gel that senses nitrate waste from fertilizer runoff and transforms it into ammonia—to produce healthier crops.
Asparagopsis seaweed: scientists call for stricter oversight in livestock sector
4 Jul 2023
Safety concerns have been raised about the native seaweed asparagopsis, which is now being commercialised to help farmers reduce methane emissions in sheep and cattle.
Emissions down 9% in Wellington region
28 Jun 2023
Greenhouse gas emissions in the Wellington region fell by 9% since 2019, according to a new report.
Canada can now breed for methane efficient dairy cows
26 Jun 2023
Canada is the first country to deliver a national genetic evaluation aimed at lowering methane emissions.
Best by the rest...
23 Jun 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: major risks to NZ’s climate plan; experts argue that the ETS shouldn't be our only weapon against the climate crisis; and the Forever Project’s quarterly magazine looks at future farms.
Dairy in developing nations drives up emissions
23 Jun 2023
Consumers in emerging markets are seeking more varied diets and a better standard of living, research shows.
UN environment chief slams EU nature law opponents
23 Jun 2023
The EU’s flagship biodiversity law must pass, the United Nations’ top environment official warned, condemning what she called “misinformation” spread about the legislation by some political parties.
Campaigners win right to challenge England’s food strategy
22 Jun 2023
Ministers broke the law by failing to make plans to cut consumption of meat and dairy in England, climate activists will argue in a legal challenge after they were granted permission for a full judicial review of the government’s food strategy.
Maori Climate Platform calls for focused action on agricultural emissions
20 Jun 2023
Media release | The Maori Climate Platform has issued an urgent and resolute call to the Government of Aotearoa New Zealand. Our message is crystal clear: it's high time to cease further delay and confront the issue at the core of our country's high greenhouse gas emissions - our agricultural sector.
Vast fossil fuel and farming subsidies causing ‘environmental havoc’
19 Jun 2023
World Bank says subsidies costing as much as $23m a minute must be repurposed to fight climate crisis.
Govt invests millions in agriculture emissions research
15 Jun 2023
The Government is investing millions to support farmers to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, while striving to remain globally competitive.
New research looks at methane-munching microorganisms in forest soils
15 Jun 2023
Scientists are working on new research into how much methane is consumed by microorganisms in New Zealand’s planted forest soils - and what potential these soils have to counteract the country’s outsized agricultural emissions.
Coalition of 30 environmental groups launches 10-point climate action plan
15 Jun 2023
Media release | A coalition of over 30 organisations from across Aotearoa has come together to launch a 10 point plan called “Climate Shift”, which calls for urgent climate action from parties across the political spectrum in the lead-up to the election.
National vows to keep agricultural emissions out of the ETS, restrict forestry planting
13 Jun 2023
By Liz Kivi | The NZ Institute of Forestry says the National Party’s newly unveiled climate and agricultural policy will hinder the country’s climate goals.
Ireland proposes culling 200,000 cows, farmers push back
13 Jun 2023
Countries across Europe are working to fulfill their commitment to shift to a climate-neutral economy.
US Dept of Agriculture Conservation gives millions to farms that worsen climate change
13 Jun 2023
A new report tracks grants from the agency and finds that the largest contracts are going to big California dairies.
Farm-level emissions cuts possible, but almost everything stands in the way
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Progress to slash farming emissions is being blocked by limited farmer confidence in mitigation tools, inconsistent engagement, misinformation and a lack of clear policy signals, according to a new report.
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.
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.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
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.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
Fri 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.
Seven quiet wins for climate and nature in 2025
Fri 19 Dec 2025
This year's environmental backdrop is familiar: emissions are rising and nature is continuing to decline. But there have nevertheless been bright spots in 2025.
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.
Global coal demand hit record high this year but is set to decline by 2030
18 Dec 2025
Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
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.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
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.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
Fri 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.
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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
Fri 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”.
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.”
Westpac NZ announces partnership to form Blue Economy hub in Nelson
17 Dec 2025
Media release | Westpac NZ has announced a new three-year partnership with the Nelson Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to help accelerate the development of a sustainable marine economy – also known as the blue economy.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
12 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says New Zealand restarting fossil fuel exploration and subsidies is an obvious breach of international law, exposing the country to international and domestic litigation.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
15 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams The Government has pushed through legislation under urgency to almost halve New Zealand’s 2050 methane target – a move Opposition parties say disregards scientific advice, breaks the country’s hard-won political consensus on climate action, and shifts the burden of higher warming and higher future costs onto the next generation.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
15 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Despite ‘intransigent’ states blocking multilateralism and a disappointing official outcome, Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu says he left the COP30 climate summit feeling more positive than after previous UN climate conferences.
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.
Insurers welcome govt decision to keep NHC levy unchanged
21 Nov 2025
Media release |The Insurance Council of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s decision to leave the Natural Hazards Commission levy unchanged, amid ongoing concerns around the cost-of-living.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
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.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
11 Dec 2025
Media release | Ten of the world’s largest oil and gas companies would create significantly more shareholder value by ending exploration and sharply curtailing upstream development, according to new analysis released today by ACCR.
Wetlands and biodiversity at risk as mining rules loosen: Greenpeace
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greenpeace says Government changes to national direction instruments under the RMA paves the way for mining in wetlands and biodiversity hotspots and will expose some of Aotearoa’s most fragile ecosystems to irreversible damage.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
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.
Offshore windfarms enhance function of coastal waters and diversity of aquatic life
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Media release | A study conducted by researchers from Murdoch University in Australia and Dalian Ocean University in China has found that offshore windfarms can improve marine ecosystems and diversify aquatic food chains.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
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.
Could tidal energy one day power NZ?
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests Aotearoa holds some of the world’s strongest tidal-stream energy potential – enough to generate up to 93% of today’s electricity use – but one expert cautions that extracting energy at such a scale could have significant impacts and remains highly uncertain.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
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.
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.
The surprisingly convincing case against cars
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Life After Cars dares to imagine how different, and enriching, a car-free world could be.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
14 Nov 2025
Media release: Kaicycle | Since 2015, Kaicycle has grown from a humble pilot project growing kai and collecting compost on bicycles into the thriving urban farm and composting hub that Wellingtonians know and love.
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.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | This year New Zealand had its hottest spring since records began, with widespread heat, rainfall extremes and destructive wind driven by sudden stratospheric warming.
Media round-up
12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
