Topics tagged with 'Agriculture'
Government's plan to reduce emissions will hurt economy - NZIER
1 May 2008
The Government’s proposed Emissions Trading Scheme, intended to ensure New Zealand plays its part in helping reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases, is likely to hurt the economy more than necessary, says a report issued today by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (Inc).
Agroforestry the best bet, say Aussies
1 May 2008
Agroforestry and reforestation are the best option for providing carbon offsets in the initial phase of an emissions trading system, according to Australian researchers.
Are our cattle killing the orangutan?
1 May 2008
Greenpeace is accusing the dairy sector of environmental irresponsibility after the Green Party revealed the sector is contributing to tropical rainforest destruction by importing huge quantities of palm kernel for cattle feed.
NEW REPORT: 'households, road users and SMEs' carry multi-billion ETS bill
30 Apr 2008
All sectors of the economy should come into the emissions trading scheme at the same time to avoid the “huge transfer of wealth” that will be the result of the proposed scheme, says the New Zealand Sustainability Council in a report out today.
Tesco launches carbon footprint labels
30 Apr 2008
Major UK supermarket chain Tesco overnight launched carbon food labels, in a move which could have long-term implications for New Zealand suppliers.
Hutt hi-tech could ground overhead pylons fears
30 Apr 2008
Super-conducting technologies developed in the Hutt Valley could sidestep popular fears about overhead pylon transmission.
Poor households’ carbon bill: It’s all about location
30 Apr 2008
The location of poor households in Australia will be an important factor in how much a price on carbon emissions eats into their household budgets with the introduction of an emissions trading scheme, says research released by the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
UN blames US and Europe for soaring food prices
30 Apr 2008
The United States and the European Union have taken a "criminal path" by contributing to an explosive rise in global food prices through using food crops to produce biofuels, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food.
Fine-tuning of emissions trading policies recommended
30 Apr 2008
The Government is being advised to strengthen measures to enhance energy efficiency and provide clear national guidelines to protect natural resources from potential degradation as it moves to address the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
Green Party wants commonsense emissions trading policies
30 Apr 2008
Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons welcomes the release of the Cawthron Institute's environmental assessement of the emissions trading policy.
Leaked report says ETS will cost jobs, cut wages
29 Apr 2008
Wage cuts of $2.30 an hour, 22,000 lost jobs and a cost of households of up to $5000 a year are among the predictions contained in a report into the economic impact of the emissions trading scheme, Carbon News has learnt.
High-powered leadership group endorses emissions trading scheme
29 Apr 2008
A high-powered group of business and community leaders has endorsed the concept of an emissions-trading scheme in New Zealand as a way of managing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saying the impact on the economy will be minimal.
ANALYSIS: At last commonsense leadership on the ETS is heard above vested interest
29 Apr 2008
Did we last night see an agreed whole-of-New Zealand view emerge on the emissions trading scheme?
Climate Change Leadership Forum backs emissions trading scheme
29 Apr 2008
The Climate Change Leadership Forum, including 34 business and other sector leaders, has issued 10 key points of policy advice made so far to the Government and Finance and Expenditure Select Committee on the proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS).
OptiSolar applies to build world's biggest (16 sq km) solar farm
29 Apr 2008
Solar energy specialist OptiSolar (http://www.optisolar.com/) has revealed plans to build the world's largest solar farm at a site in California stretching over nearly ten square miles (16 sq km).
EMA: "Carbon trade proposals could destroy economy"
29 Apr 2008
For common sense to prevail the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) is urging our law makers to think long and hard about the effects of the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill.
$200 million boost for poor farmers to help face food crisis
29 Apr 2008
The United Nations rural development arm announced today that it is providing up to $200 million for poor farmers during the upcoming cropping season as it tries to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of millions of people facing hunger and malnutrition due to soaring food prices.
Woodhouse ready for commercialised carbon trade-off
28 Apr 2008
Low-key investor Seeby Woodhouse indicated at several closed-door discussions in Wellington and Auckland last week that he would step into carbon trading as a kind of one-man carbon exchange and clearing house.
Champion farmers: We have to think differently
28 Apr 2008
Award-winning Far North farmers Lindsay and Erica Whyte say that there are many things that New Zealand farmers can do to improve their farms’ environmental impact – it’s just a case of starting to think differently.
City waste handy down on the farm
28 Apr 2008
A plan is being hatched to turn Auckland’s green-waste into valuable farm mulch.
NZ expert questions US praise of feedlot cattle
24 Apr 2008
An American claim that feedlot cattle are one answer for a world struggling with climate change has been challenged by a leading New Zealand environmentalist.
Deer hunters stalk carbon sink scheme
24 Apr 2008
The Deerstalkers' Association wants to sink a government proposal to wipe out deer from blocks of the Aorangi Forest on the Wairarapa coast.
Carbon storage in soil being researched: Major benefits possible for landowners
23 Apr 2008
A new move to store carbon in New Zealand soil is being formally researched and could be worth hundreds of millions to New Zealand farmers and other landowners.
Green Party pledges to shut Huntly, hobble coal industry
23 Apr 2008
The Green Party is threatening to end thermal coal exports and close the Huntly coal-fired power stations.
UK expert says NZ policy "a brave experiment", warns world not moving fast enough
23 Apr 2008
One of the UK’s leading climate change commentators calls New Zealand’s decision to include agriculture and forest sinks in its emissions trading regime “a brave experiment”.
Small-forest scheme open for business
23 Apr 2008
Applications are now open for the Government's new Afforestation Grant Scheme aimed at getting more trees planted on farms as part of New Zealand's effort to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Farmer leader says carbon price restrictions will restrict food production growth
23 Apr 2008
Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen says New Zealand farmers are concerned about their ability to farm in a sensible and sustainable way.
Polluter California to advise polluted Olympic city
23 Apr 2008
Olympics host Beijing, one of the world’s most polluted cities, is trying to clean up its act with advice from California, one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases.
Farming leadership criticised: industry at enormous risk
22 Apr 2008
New Zealand’s former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is calling for a radical rethink of our farming sector in the face of potential famine from climate change and world shortages of food, water and good-quality soils.
Climate change 'a problem for now'
22 Apr 2008
New Zealanders in the primary production sector believe that climate change is an urgent problem which needs addressing now.
Parker: No emissions credits for new renewable power plant developers
22 Apr 2008
Climate Change Minister David Parker says those building new renewable power stations won’t be rewarded with extra carbon credits under the proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS).
It's not so bad - a Carbon News series on mitigating the impact of emissions trading down on the farm
22 Apr 2008
Fancy a wind turbine in the back paddock? It could be worth about $75,000 a year - a major boost to property profits.
Kiwis dither while Aussie farmers pounce on carbon-trading scheme
22 Apr 2008
While New Zealand farming leaders openly question the existence of climate change, Australian landowners are queueing to join a national carbon-trading programme.
Farm leaders, Agriculture Minister trade words on impact of ETS
21 Apr 2008
A row is brewing over the extent of the impact on farming of the proposed emissions trading scheme.
Farmer leadership slips back into attack on climate change science
21 Apr 2008
Federated Farmers wants the “religion” of climate changed reassessed before an emissions trading scheme is brought in, a stance which has failed to impress the Minister of Agriculture.
Energy’s emissions nearly match agriculture’s
21 Apr 2008
The energy sector is threatening to overtake agriculture as the biggest source of New Zealand’s carbon emissions, the latest edition of the Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows.
Wellington City decides on carbon credit revenue plan from town belts, forests
21 Apr 2008
Wellington City is looking to earn large annual revenues from emission credits by turning its town belts and forests into carbon sinks.
Greens on NZ emissions: When will we turn the corner?
21 Apr 2008
The Green Party says news that New Zealand's greenhouse emissions have continued to rise, though not as fast as previously, is still not good enough.
NZ emissions up .5 million tonnes in 2006
21 Apr 2008
The latest annual greenhouse gas inventory report shows New Zealand’s emissions rose less than 1% between 2005 and 2006.
World ETS expert: global trading needed or ETS unsustainable
21 Apr 2008
The costs of combating climate change are much lower than they might seem, because there are real business opportunities wherever you look, according to Henry Derwent, President and CEO International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).
THE FOOD CRISIS: Long term challenges says Rice
21 Apr 2008
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr., Staff Writer,USINFO. Washington - President Bush is seeking an additional $350 million from Congress to provide immediate emergency food assistance, but the current food crisis has long-term global challenges, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
NZIER foreshadows grim ETS study in pre committee publicity flurry
18 Apr 2008
The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research has publicly revealed its plan to produce a study at the ETS bill select committee hearings - and foreshadows it wants an alternative policy.
ANALYSIS: World food problem: Business as usual not an option
18 Apr 2008
By Lester R. Brown - A fast-unfolding food shortage is engulfing the entire world, driving food prices to record highs.
MAF report prompts call to include agriculture in ETS "now"
16 Apr 2008
The Sustainability Council says MAF’s report on the effects of the ETS on farm profits shows there’s no justification for delaying agriculture’s inclusion in the scheme.
Auckland airport: $30 per tonne will mean $68 under ETS plan
15 Apr 2008
Auckland Airport Limited says it will effectively face an emissions price of $60 a tonne, instead of $30, if it stays out of the emissions trading scheme.
Personal carbon counter coming by year's end
15 Apr 2008
A personal carbon counter developed by a consortium under EU sponsorship will be marketed in New Zealand before the end of this year.
EXCLUSIVE: 'Surprise' MAF report shows some farms will profit from ETS
14 Apr 2008
Already well-off dairy farmers could get a 30 per cent profit boost from the ETS, according to an apparently prematurely released Government report.
National scents votes in $700m R and D "pork barrel"
14 Apr 2008
Opposition leader John Key is surprised the amount of traction he is getting from his outright condemnation of the government’s $700 million research announced for agriculture.
Rotorua breakthrough: methanol removing wastewater nitrates
14 Apr 2008
Rotorua municipal officials have pioneered methanol as an alternate carbon source in taking the nitrates out of wastewater.
Auckland University aims for floating turbine breakthrough
11 Apr 2008
A University of Auckland engineering doctoral student has received a $75,000 thee-year government scholarship to study the feasibility of floating wind turbines.
More Aucklanders than ever taking climate action
Mon 8 Dec 2025
Media release: Auckland Council | Aucklanders are embracing climate action in record numbers, with more people getting involved each year and the momentum is building.
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.
NSW government, energy company under fire after native bird habitat cleared for renewables project
Fri 5 Dec 2025
A New South Wales government-backed renewable energy project has been accused of environmental vandalism after dozens of threatened birds were found in native trees it had cleared.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Forestry biomass could replace as much as 40% of fossil fuel-generated process heat by 2050, but access to supply, regulatory settings and business cases for converting to wood-based heat sources are required, the Government says in a series of documents released yesterday.
Carbon market conduct pioneer passes on the baton
Mon 8 Dec 2025
Media release | The International Carbon Reduction and Offsetting Alliance (ICROA), a pioneer in early voluntary carbon market conduct, has announced that it will wind down operations by late 2026.
What Victoria auditor-general's report actually says about so-called 'transition chaos'
Mon 8 Dec 2025
Mainstream media loves a electricity blackout scare, but in the wake of this week’s report from the Victorian auditor-general on the state of the state’s transition to renewables, the headline hysteria hit new heights.
Carbon auction tipped to be a non-event
2 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Tomorrow’s Emissions Trading Scheme auction is all but certain to fail, with participants blaming the government for destroying confidence as NZUs continue to change hands on the secondary market at a 40% discount on the $68 auction floor.
Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions
Wed 3 Dec 2025
COMMENT: The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts.
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.
$235 billion worth of NZ buildings exposed to flooding
30 Oct 2025
More than 750,000 New Zealanders live in locations exposed to one-in-100-year floods, according to a nationwide study which shows escalating flood risk.
Al Gore's case for optimism
Mon 8 Dec 2025
This year’s United Nations climate summit in Belém, Brazil had everything: A literal flood, a literal fire, a record-breaking 1,600+ fossil fuel lobbyists, and delegates from oil-producing nations working overtime.
Govt ‘scaremongering’ over co-operation – former climate ambassador
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s former top climate diplomat, Kay Harrison, says the Government’s recent comments ruling out buying climate mitigation offshore amount to scaremongering, and the country is missing a chance to give our businesses a boost.
Trans-Tasman ministers push climate cooperation amid NZ retreat from climate commitments
Mon 8 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Last week's 2+2 Climate and Finance Ministers’ Dialogue in Auckland urged deeper trans-Tasman climate cooperation, despite New Zealand’s recent moves to weaken climate policies.
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.
Southland's waters warming faster
Mon 8 Dec 2025
Matthew Rosenberg, Local Democracy Reporter | Waters are warming in Murihiku Southland at higher rates than elsewhere, with implications for fisheries and habitats.
NZ marine heatwaves could double in intensity under high-emissions pathway
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.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Media round-up
Fri 5 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Labour’s chronic evasiveness as the Government reneges on climate change; newly released documents reveal the country's new methane target is associated with 'perilous' 2.7C of warming; and New Zealand's 'pitiful' decision on emissions targets comes with costs.
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.”
Analysis: Why COP30’s ‘tripling adaptation finance’ target is less ambitious than it seems
Fri 5 Dec 2025
One of the headline outcomes to emerge from COP30 was a new target to “at least triple” finance for climate adaptation in developing countries by 2035.
Climate comments ‘outrageous’ – former top climate negotiator
Wed 3 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s former climate ambassador, Kay Harrison, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ recent statements that the Government had ruled out buying offshore climate mitigation are “outrageous”.
TotalEnergies loses in Paris court, marking a turning point for fossil fuel truth-in-advertising
5 Nov 2025
TotalEnergies was found to have misled consumers about its role in the energy transition.
Tribunal warns govt geothermal strategy risks Treaty breach
2 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government's geothermal development strategy risks breaching the Treaty of Waitangi, according to a report from the Waitangi Tribunal released last week.
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.
NZ’s rejection of emission targets fuels risk of international law breach
Mon 8 Dec 2025
By Karen Scott, Professor in Law, University of Canterbury | The New Zealand government’s decision this week to reject all of the Climate Change Commission’s emission target recommendations was just the latest in a string of policy statements that weaken the country’s action on climate.
NZ fails to back ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels at COP
24 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Eighty-six countries including Australia, the UK, Germany, and Ireland backed a proposal at COP30 for national plans on how to quit oil, gas and coal – but New Zealand wasn’t one of them.
Media round-up
28 Nov 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: How the oil and gas industry helped rewrite New Zealand’s drilling rules, confusion reigns as the climate minister appears unaware of his own announcement, and the fierce battle over mining on Denniston Plateau.
Govt's emissions ‘buffer’ an illusion with all NZ's carbon budgets off track
28 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Dr Christina Hood, head of consultancy Compass Climate, says the Government’s claim that New Zealand has a comfortable emissions “buffer” to absorb higher agricultural pollution is misleading, with projections showing emissions budgets are actually set to be missed in real terms.
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.
Storms in the Southern Ocean are producing more rain – and the consequences could be global
Mon 8 Dec 2025
Storms in the Southern Ocean influence weather patterns across Australia, New Zealand and the globe.
Govt rejects advice on international aviation and shipping emissions
Thu 4 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government has rejected all the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations to strengthen emissions targets.
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.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
Thu 4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
Govt to unveil RMA replacement as summer looms
Mon 8 Dec 2025
The last session of Parliament for the year begins this week, and the Government is expected to introduce the legislation that will replace the Resource Management Act.
Shipping movements disrupted as climate change protesters block coal ships
2 Dec 2025
NSW police have arrested 141 people who attempted to block the shipping channel in Newcastle Harbour during Rising Tide protests, which began on Thursday.
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.
Rare win for renewable energy: Trump administration funds geothermal network expansion
Fri 5 Dec 2025
A first-in-the-nation heating and cooling network in Massachusetts is set to double in size.
NZ's ‘missed opportunity’ on aviation and shipping emissions
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s refusal to include international aviation and shipping in New Zealand’s 2050 climate target has been met with disappointment from climate experts, who say the decision undermines accountability for a transport-reliant nation, and misses a critical opportunity to strengthen New Zealand’s climate leadership.
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.
Pollution from coal plants was dropping. Then came Trump and AI.
1 Dec 2025
Data centres’ hunger for electricity is prompting some states to keep their coal-burning power plants from closing – while DC relaxes air pollution limits.
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.
Spain announces $1.5 billion package to boost electric vehicle market
Fri 5 Dec 2025
Spain's plan includes 400 million euros in direct subsidies in 2026 for consumers to buy EVs.
Treasury to offer first stab at climate liabilities pre-election
Thu 4 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Treasury will make a first attempt at accounting for Crown liabilities arising from New Zealand’s international climate change commitments in next year’s pre-election economic and fiscal update.
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.
Study provides a step-change in understanding NZ’s groundwater
28 Nov 2025
Media release | Earth Sciences New Zealand has developed a world-first National Groundwater Age Map and a powerful suite of tools to support the sustainable management of our hidden groundwater resources, from national through to local scales.
‘The effects are already here’: Northland communities face the realities of a changed climate
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Te Taitokerau Northland is facing more intense storms, rising temperatures and shifting seasons – pressures that are reshaping communities, ecosystems, infrastructure and livelihoods across the region, according to a new case study from the Climate Change Commission.
NZ’s energy system at a crossroads – report
21 Nov 2025
A new report says New Zealand’s rapid shift toward a 95% renewable electricity system is at a critical turning point, urging faster consenting, stronger firming solutions and better grid planning.
