Topics tagged with 'Biodiversity'
More in: Biodiversity
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
Fri 11 Jul 2025
In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, the UK city of Exeter recently played host to the second international conference on “tipping points”.
Markets aren't going to save us – Carr
9 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Consumerism is reaching its ecological and economic limits, and only systemic change - not market tweaks - can steer us away from climate catastrophe, according to former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
Unlocking economic growth on conservation land
9 Jul 2025
Media release - New Zealand Government | A targeted effort to reduce the backlog of applications for use of conservation land is accelerating economic growth without compromising conservation values, says Conservation Minister Tama Potaka.
Experts question business case for nature credits as European Union publishes plan
9 Jul 2025
To protect and restore nature, the world needs to spend $700bn a year, says the Global Biodiversity Framework. The European Commission on Monday published a plan for how nature credits can play their role in boosting biodiversity funds.
In Latin America, the energy transition stirs a rise in human rights lawsuits
8 Jul 2025
A new report shows that more than half of the 95 energy transition-related lawsuits recorded globally since 2009 took place in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Biodiversity plan is ‘light on detail and heavy on vague intentions’
1 Jul 2025
Media Release - WWF New Zealand | The government’s plan to tackle Aotearoa New Zealand’s biodiversity crisis lacks ambition and fails to match the scale and urgency of the challenge.
IRD will stop using wetland destruction in ‘how-to’ for claiming expenses
27 Jun 2025
By Liz Kivi | Environmental organisation Forest & Bird has welcomed the Inland Revenue’s decision to stop using wetland destruction as an example of a tax-deductible agricultural expense in future guidance.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
Could an unexplained carbon forest sink solve govt’s billion-dollar climate woes?
23 Jun 2025
By Liz Kivi | A groundbreaking study shows that New Zealand’s native forests are absorbing far more carbon dioxide than previously thought.
Govt hopes to lure international investors with nature credits
19 Jun 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government is hoping its support for a biodiversity credits market in New Zealand will see at least $20 million of investment stay in the country.
Biodiversity market needs govt regulation to avoid fraud risk
17 Jun 2025
By Liz Kivi | Participants have applauded the government’s pilot programme for New Zealand’s voluntary biodiversity market, but an expert says the emerging market needs better regulation to avoid reputational risk and fraud.
Forestry consents and relaxed rules in erosion zones sow seeds of future disaster
13 Jun 2025
OPINION: The government’s move to restrict exotic forestry on our best food-growing soils will push even more forestry investment onto high erosion risk land on the East Coast, with the worst land becoming the only land left for the most intensive and destructive land use, writes Manu Caddie
'Time is right' for nature credits
13 Jun 2025
Media release | Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and Ekos are thrilled to be partnering with central government on the development of a voluntary Nature Credits Market pilot programme, announced by Associate Minister for the Environment Andrew Hoggard yesterday.
Pará’s Amazon forest carbon deal in doubt as prosecutors move to block it
13 Jun 2025
The Brazilian state’s contract with foreign governments and companies has run into trouble over concerns it was premature and agreed without consulting Indigenous communities.
Rapid action vital following UN Ocean Conference – experts
12 Jun 2025
New Zealand-based experts are calling for rapid and transformative action to restore nature - and our relationship with it - at the third UN Ocean Conference in France this week.
IRD offers tax tips for destroying precious wetlands
12 Jun 2025
Media release | Forest & Bird is asking Inland Revenue Te Tari Taake whether the fines for illegally draining a wetland are also tax deductible, after the department published a "how-to" on claiming expenses for destroying critical habitats.
Microplastics found in sand on dozens of NZ beaches
4 Jun 2025
Scientists have extracted microplastics from the sand of 22 beaches from the Far North to Banks Peninsula.
Govt's RMA overhaul sparks fears for nature and climate
30 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government has opened public consultation on the biggest overhaul of environmental planning rules in New Zealand’s history, with critics warning it puts nature and climate at risk in favour of fast-tracked development and industry expansion.
Urban rewilding combats global biodiversity decline
28 May 2025
Media release | A new study led by the University of Sydney reveals how cities around the world are restoring wildlife to their former habitats in the face of ongoing urban sprawl.
Govt budgets $200m for would-be gas investors
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | Energy Resources Aotearoa has welcomed the government's plan to co-invest $200 million in fossil gas expansion, while environmental and climate groups have reacted with horror.
Nature is not an economic handbrake: Environmental Defence Society
16 May 2025
Nature is not a handbrake on economic growth – the two must go hand in hand, attendees heard on the final day of the Environmental Defence Society’s Dollars and Sense conference this week.
Forest & Bird slams govt’s biodiversity priorities
13 May 2025
The country’s biggest environmental organisation is questioning the government’s biodiversity strategy after the announcement yesterday that the government was moving to provide protected status to a feral pest.
EU farm plan: More cash for disaster relief and looser green rules
12 May 2025
Proposals to slash red tape risk clashing with earlier recommendations to make farming more resilient.
Ambitious goal for predator free 2050 within reach?
8 May 2025
A discussion document on the Predator Free 2050 programme says it has an ambitious goal to eradicate possums, rats and mustelids from our country, but that some of the programme’s goals are not currently plausible.
Green Party plans to bring back industry decarbonisation fund
6 May 2025
The Greens want to bring back the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund and use it to kickstart sustainable forestry for building and fuel.
Govt releases proposals to fund biodiversity
5 May 2025
The government is looking for ways to increase revenue and non-government funding for biodiversity, and is consulting on proposals including developing a new revenue model for accessing public conservation areas, as well as a system for nature-based financial disclosures, reporting and investment.
Media round-up
2 May 2025
In our weekly round-up of climate coverage in local media: Ministers rejected advice advice to take a hard look at hundreds of millions of dollars in 'climate grants' to big polluters; more sea snakes could show up on New Zealand beaches thanks to climate change; and shifting more freight from trucks to trains has numerous benefits including cuts emissions, so why aren't we doing it?
Where Labor and the Coalition stand on nature and environment policies this federal election
2 May 2025
So what are political parties offering when it comes to our nature laws?
Global livestock industry exposed for rampant rainforest destruction, despite no-deforestation pledges
23 Apr 2025
Media release | Greenpeace Aotearoa says a new investigation revealing that the world’s largest meat company, JBS, will fail to meet its deforestation-free commitment is yet more proof of false promises from the intensive livestock industry.
Environment Court rules Mackenzie biodiversity deserves bespoke protection
17 Apr 2025
Media release | In a decision years in the making, the Environment Court has upheld EDS’s contention that Te Manahuna / the Mackenzie Basin’s significant ecology and indigenous biodiversity warrants a bespoke planning regime to protect it from farming intensification.
Environmental group takes legal action against Shane Jones for failure to protect dolphins
14 Apr 2025
The Environmental Law Initiative is taking legal action against Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones for what it says is a failure to adequately protect Māui and Hector’s dolphins.
New Zealand’s glacier volume down 42% since 2005
14 Apr 2025
Media release | Total glacier ice volumes in Aotearoa New Zealand decreased by 42 percent between 2005 and 2023, according to figures released by Stats NZ.
'Don't tinker with the ETS': forestry groups
10 Apr 2025
Foresters have hit back against the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s call to remove forestry from the Emissions Trading Scheme, saying the move would threaten New Zealand’s climate goals.
East Coast advocates join calls to take forestry out of the ETS
10 Apr 2025
Sustainable land-use advocates in Tairāwhiti are demanding immediate government action on the Environment Commissioner's recommendation to phase forestry out of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Climate implications of quarterly action plan?
9 Apr 2025
While the government's second quarterly action plan for 2025 doesn't make much - if any - mention of climate, several items on the checklist could impact emissions, including plans for legislation to limit farm-to-forestry conversions in the ETS, decisions on scaling up a biodiversity credit market, and moving all vehicles to Road User Charges instead of petrol taxes.
'Sobering' state of NZ environment
8 Apr 2025
Mounting environmental pressures across the country could cause serious consequences for people’s health, housing, livelihoods, and overall quality of life, a new report reveals.
Question mark over Government modelling for pine planting on public conservation land
8 Apr 2025
Media release | Forest & Bird is concerned about modelling revealing that meeting the Government’s climate commitments would require planting vast areas of conservation and other Crown land in permanent pine forests, in a desperate attempt to meet Aotearoa New Zealand’s net zero emissions 2050 goal.
Contact to appeal Southland wind farm rejection
1 Apr 2025
Contact Energy says it will appeal the Southland Wind Farm consent rejection and reapply under the new Fast-Track consent process.
Why middle class Brits who think collapse is coming still stay silent
28 Mar 2025
OPINION: In one hand, an oat latte. In the other, a phone with social feeds full of doom-scroll posts about the end of the world. Across Britain, a quiet transformation is happening.
Floodplain grazing phase-out on cards
25 Mar 2025
By Emily Ireland, Local Democracy Reporter| Grazing on 576 hectares of regional-council owned flood protection land in Wairarapa could be heavily reduced in favour of emissions-friendly activities.
Greens call for agriculture in, forestry out of ETS
20 Mar 2025
Yesterday's failed Emission's Trading Scheme auction is 'another indictment' on the government's climate credibility, says Green Party co-leader and climate change spokesperson Chloe Swarbrick.
Science-based targets for ocean stewardship unveiled
20 Mar 2025
Businesses can now set science-based targets covering ocean and maritime protection, under the latest guidance introduced by the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN).
As the sea level rises, who will pay? Councils seek answers
Tue 15 Jul 2025
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter | North Canterbury's councils are seeking guidance from Government over who pays for protections from sea level rise, flooding and weather events.
Researchers unveil new tools to accurately track methane emissions
Mon 14 Jul 2025
Breakthrough methane monitoring tools developed by Earth Sciences New Zealand are set to transform how farmers, landfill operators, and wastewater facilities track and tackle their methane emissions.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
Nations agree to tax premium flyers, private jets
2 Jul 2025
A group of countries, including France, Kenya, Spain and Barbados, pledged on June 30 to tax premium-class flying and private jets in a bid to raise funds for climate action and sustainable development.
Sustainability claims questioned as renewable diesel surges
14 May 2025
Critics are sceptical about industry claims of renewable diesel life-cycle greenhouse gas emission cuts and warn renewable diesel carbon releases will surge if sourcing is scaled up, triggering tropical deforestation as producers convert forests to energy crops, such as oil palm and soy.
NZ voluntary carbon market’s sad state
Mon 14 Jul 2025
By John O’Brien | OPINION: A combination of scandals, challenging economic times, and cheaper offshore carbon credits, mean that the domestic voluntary carbon market in New Zealand remains absolutely tiny.
HSBC becomes first UK bank to quit industry’s net zero alliance
Tue 15 Jul 2025
Campaigners condemn ‘troubling’ move that follows departure of six of largest US banks after Trump’s election.
Bearish sentiment lingers for carbon market
Fri 11 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The compliance carbon market could be set for a gradual upward trajectory, however unsold volume from the quarterly Emissions Trading Scheme auctions continues to act as ‘a price ceiling,’ according to an expert.
EU wants to see China take more ambitious climate action
Tue 15 Jul 2025
The world needs China to show more leadership on climate action, highlighting the importance of cutting planet-heating emissions and reducing the Chinese economy's reliance on coal.
A credible UN carbon market needs rules that count – we’ve just set them
11 Jun 2025
COMMENT: The broad standards for a more ambitious market are now in place. But without a steady flow of investment, this progress will remain largely on paper.
Common low-grade clay strengthens low-carbon concrete
5 Jun 2025
Media release | Engineers at RMIT University have converted low-grade clay into a high-performance cement supplement, opening a potential new market in sustainable construction materials.
Cuts to climate finance put exports in jeopardy: Lawyers
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has halved international climate finance, a move aid organisations describe as “devastating,” and which lawyers say could put our Paris Agreement commitments and export market access at risk.
Carbon price grinds higher - where to from now?
30 Jun 2025
By Liz Kivi | The carbon price has continued to grind slowly higher since this month’s failed auction, with prices at their highest since March, although still languishing well below this year’s auction floor price.
Govt urged to make moves on electricity market
Tue 15 Jul 2025
Lobbying is increasing ahead of the release of the Frontier Economics report and the Government’s decisions on electricity market reforms.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
4000 hectares of forest uprooted by extreme winds in Nelson-Tasman storms
Tue 15 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | Foresters are facing a massive clean-up and tens of millions of dollars worth of damage from recent climate change-fuelled storms at the top of the South Island, with initial reports of 4000 hectares of wind-thrown production forestry.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
‘Weaponised timber torpedoes’ – call for forestry changes after flooding
Mon 14 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | A climate scientist is calling for changes to forestry practices, after the second ‘one-in-one-hundred-year’ climate-fuelled flash flood to hit the top of the South Island in two weeks unleashed a torrent of pine forest waste, wiping out homes and a campground.
Climate backtracking could impact trade relationships: Labour
9 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | Labour Party Energy spokesperson Megan Woods says the government needs to be upfront about how its energy policies will impact trade relationships, following revelations New Zealand was warned by other governments that backtracking on climate policies jeopardised its membership of an international alliance.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
Debanking bill 'financially dangerous'
Tue 15 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A private member’s bill aiming to stop financial institutions from considering ESG factors has been slammed by leading investment groups, legal experts, and climate finance advocates as misguided, financially dangerous, and legislative overreach.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
Fri 11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
Can you trust climate information? How and why powerful players are misleading the public
Fri 11 Jul 2025
The climate crisis is more urgent than ever, so why is there a disconnect between stated policies and actual practices?
Methanex closure comes early this year
14 May 2025
The almost-now-annual closure of Methanex has come earlier this year, giving more confidence that the electricity system will get through the winter without a fuel shortfall.
Electric firebricks: decarbonising high-temperature industrial heat
13 Jun 2025
By Ian Mason | A new technology could offer a more cost-effective solution than hydrogen to decarbonise one ‘hard-to-abate’ sector of New Zealand’s economy, as well as having ample potential for demand response as the electricity grid becomes more renewable.
‘Significant gaps’ in proposed approach to climate adaptation
Thu 10 Jul 2025
A new report into climate adaptation doesn’t suggest how development in high-risk areas should be avoided - an issue that needs urgent action with thousands of homes still being built in hazardous areas, according to the Environmental Defence Society.
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.
In Latin America, the energy transition stirs a rise in human rights lawsuits
8 Jul 2025
A new report shows that more than half of the 95 energy transition-related lawsuits recorded globally since 2009 took place in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Clear-sighted view to trade-offs crucial to reimagining our relationship with the land
7 Jul 2025
By Nick Swallow | COMMENT: New Zealand could see a 70% drop in the value of dairy land if we pursue our emissions targets for agriculture, according to a new report.
Unlocking economic growth on conservation land
9 Jul 2025
Media release - New Zealand Government | A targeted effort to reduce the backlog of applications for use of conservation land is accelerating economic growth without compromising conservation values, says Conservation Minister Tama Potaka.
Emissions Trading Scheme needs deep reform - commissioner
Fri 11 Jul 2025
The government’s attempt to limit forestry conversions on rural land is unlikely to lead to meaningful change, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
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.
Millions of tons of tiny plastic particles are polluting the ocean, study finds
Tue 15 Jul 2025
At least 27 million tonnes of nanoplastics are estimated to be floating in the North Atlantic Ocean, weighing more than all wild land mammals combined.
'Back-to-basics' approach for councils ignores climate risk
Fri 11 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | While ACT is standing local government candidates to oppose councils' attempts to manage emissions and ministers are calling for local authorities to 'get back to basics' - or even suggesting scrapping regional councils altogether - one expert says this narrative is putting communities at risk in the face of climate change.
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
Fri 11 Jul 2025
In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, the UK city of Exeter recently played host to the second international conference on “tipping points”.
Microplastics found in sand on dozens of NZ beaches
4 Jun 2025
Scientists have extracted microplastics from the sand of 22 beaches from the Far North to Banks Peninsula.
“Compliant deception”: MPs warn of oil industry greenwashing at debate on proposed fossil ad ban
Mon 14 Jul 2025
UK’s first parliamentary debate on the issue drew comparisons both with tobacco industry tactics and the industry’s now widely accepted ad ban.
UK: Thousands lobby MPs to demand climate action
Thu 10 Jul 2025
More than 5,000 people from across the UK arrived in Westminster on Wednesday to meet their MPs and demand urgent climate action to protect their communities.
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.
North Canterbury locals get say over huge solar farm
Thu 10 Jul 2025
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter | North Canterbury residents are being encouraged to have their say on a proposed 180 hectare solar farm on a property near their village.
1500 deaths in the recent European heatwave were due to climate change
Mon 14 Jul 2025
We now have the ability to rapidly assess the death toll of climate change after extreme heat – a first-of-its-kind analysis has shown that it nearly tripled the death toll from the most recent European heatwave
Green budget 'ludicrous la-la land' – govt
15 May 2025
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the budget was "clown show economics" and an "absolute circus".
Kiwi ‘smart panel’ startup aiming to reduce energy bills and emissions
4 Jul 2025
NZ start-up Basis this week launched an ‘intelligent’ panel to replace traditional electrical switchboards in homes, which it says can save the average home $1,200 NZD annually on bills and lead to lower emissions.
United Nations carbon market rules agreed but concerns remain
25 Nov 2024
New carbon market rules agreed at the fractious UN climate summit will be a relief to New Zealand and Singapore, who were leading the negotiations, but concerns about greenwashing and disadvantaging nature-based solutions remain.
Fast, sustained phase-out of fossil fuels: best-performing countries in coal and transport sectors
Thu 10 Jul 2025
By Robert McLachlan | It’s true that climate change is getting worse – it will continue to get worse until emissions fall to near zero. But is action on phasing out fossil fuels really stalling?
UN Human Rights Council fails to call out fossil fuels after decision cuts mention
Fri 11 Jul 2025
A proposal by the Marshall Islands and Colombia calling for a transition away from fossil fuels at the UN Human Rights Council failed to make it into the council’s declaration on climate change and human rights issued on Tuesday.
Waste Levy risks becoming ‘slush fund’ under proposed changes – Commissioner
5 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Proposed changes to New Zealand's waste legislation risk undermining public trust in the waste levy scheme, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
NZ urgently needs to change approach to flood management - experts
2 Jul 2025
Experts say climate change is squarely to blame for flooding in Nelson - but isn’t getting the media attention it deserves - and the country urgently needs to change its approach to flood management in the face of climate change.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
