Topics tagged with 'Carbon Credits'
ECAN wants exotics removed from ETS permanent settings
6 Jul 2022
A Banks Peninsula case study has convinced Canterbury’s regional council that removing exotics from the permanent settings of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is the right move.
Review of Australia’s carbon credit units announced
5 Jul 2022
The Australian government has announced the appointment of an independent panel (Panel) to review the integrity of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).
Gabon to sell €275m worth of carbon credits before COP27
5 Jul 2022
For Gabon, forests are rich in with economic opportunity. The country plans to create 187 million carbon credits and sell half of them on the offset market.
CarbonCrop to renew trading next week
1 Jul 2022
The on-again-off-again trading of Native CarbonCrop units (CCUs) will be on again next week.
Best by the rest…
1 Jul 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: questions about new carbon offsets; wrestling with methane metrics; and He Waka Eke Noa’s programme director argues Kiwi innovation will be key to reducing emissions.
Trading paused on new voluntary carbon market platform after a single day
30 Jun 2022
Carbonnz - a voluntary carbon credit trading platform launched on Tuesday - has temporarily paused trading.
Pandemic slashes NZTE’s carbon emissions by nearly 70%
29 Jun 2022
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s first sustainability report shows the pandemic slashed a whopping 68.8% from the government agency’s carbon emissions.
New voluntary carbon unit will incentivise landowners to preserve regenerating native bush
28 Jun 2022
A new voluntary carbon unit, launched today, will incentivise landowners to protect areas of regenerating native bush currently ineligible for NZUs under the ETS.
Best by the rest...
23 Jun 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: New Zealand’s offshore energy revolution; climate policy’s winners and losers; and how climate change is putting marae at risk.
Carbon Markets set to continue growth as countries double down on climate ambition: IETA Survey
22 Jun 2022
Carbon markets around the world are set to continue growing rapidly as countries double down on climate ambition, and as corporates continue to pursue net-zero goals, finds IETA’s latest annual Market Sentiment Survey
Best by the rest...
17 Jun 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: The leaky logic of the farming sector's climate plan; analysis of how effective government policies will be at slashing carbon; and can governments boost defence spending while cutting emissions at the same time?
ETS auction clears at $76.00
15 Jun 2022
THE second NZ ETS auction of the year cleared at a price of $76 today.
Hold applause on carbon tax rebates: Toronto Sun
13 Jun 2022
The good news is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is about to begin sending out “climate action incentive payments” directly to households in the four provinces where he imposed his carbon tax.
HWEN proposes burp levy with proceeds recycled to agricultural research
8 Jun 2022
He Waka Eke Noa, the Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership, is proposing a farm-level split gas levy as its preferred alternative to pricing agriculture emissions through the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Researchers push for carbon credit payments for Australian farmers who fence their dams
8 Jun 2022
Scientists are lobbying for farmers to be financially rewarded in the form of carbon credits for cleaning up their dams.
China's Carbon Emission Allowance price at $8.76/mtCO2e
31 May 2022
The daily weighted average price of a Carbon Emission Allowance, or CEA, under China's national carbon market was at Yuan 59/mtCO2e (US$8.76/mtCO2e) on May 27, and weekly trade volume totaled 551,351 mtCO2e, according to data from Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, or SEEE.
Carbon credit standards body Verra suspends blockchain, crypto tokenization
27 May 2022
Yesterday Verra, the Washington-based non-profit that sets voluntary carbon credit standards, said it is immediately stopping the practice of creating blockchain tokens or instruments based on retired credits
Price of NZUs edging higher
25 May 2022
The price of NZUs on the spot market has edged past the $77 mark this week for the first time since the middle of last month.
Kiwi founded company aiming to shake up global carbon markets
23 May 2022
By Liz Kivi | A Kiwi founded tech company, launched last month, is aiming to revolutionise the global carbon market with new technology that can accurately measure emissions in real-time and is much cheaper than current methods.
ACT proposes blitzkrieg of climate bureaucracy
10 May 2022
The ACT Party says it would scrap the Climate Change Commission and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and ditch all climate change related subsidies and environment-related job schemes, in its alternative budget launched yesterday.
Te Paati Maori comes out in support of permanent pine forests
10 May 2022
Debbie Ngawera-Packer, Te Paati Maori co-leader and climate change spokesperson, has come out in support of pine forests, attacking government proposals to remove exotic species from the permanent forestry category of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Now we know the flaws of carbon offsets, it’s time to get real about climate change
26 Apr 2022
Last month former Australian carbon market watchdog Andrew MacIntosh blew the whistle on Australia’s carbon offset market. He described the scheme as a “rort” with up to 80% of carbon offsets “markedly low in integrity”.
Aussie native tree planting projects can be stopped if 'adverse' to communities"
1 Apr 2022
Australia's Agriculture Minister will have the power to stop new carbon farming projects from next week.
ETS auction spurs demand on spotmarket
17 Mar 2022
Buyers were out in force following yesterday’s ETS auction, with the CommTrade and Carbon Match platforms trading in excess of 600,000 NZUs before the close of trade.
Windfall for Aussie farmers as government changes carbon credit rules
4 Mar 2022
Australian carbon farmers and landholders are set for a potential windfall of almost $2.6 billion from a surprise Morrison government decision that allows them to tap into surging market demand for Australian Carbon Credit Units.
Timber giant quietly converts Congo logging sites to carbon schemes
4 Mar 2022
A major European logging firm may have illegally converted more than a dozen of its timber concessions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo into so-called conservation concessions, a new investigation can reveal.
Govt proposes excluding permanent exotic forests from ETS
3 Mar 2022
The government has released a discussion document that proposes removing exotic forests – such as pinus radiata – from being registered under the permanent post-1989 category of New Zealand’s Emission Trading Scheme
Carbon correction
28 Feb 2022
After reaching a high of $86.25 on the spot market earlier this month, NZUs closed at $80.75 on Friday.
Island states meet to discuss suing Global North over climate change
21 Feb 2022
Leaders of small island nations met on Tuesday to discuss suing countries in the Global North for the damage caused by emissions.
Carbon farmers could “walk away” from liabilities: report warns
17 Feb 2022
A discussion document, funded by farming groups and councils, is warning investors could plant pinus radiata at high density for carbon only yields and then "walk away" from their emission liabilities (and pest, disease and fire risk) by winding up their limited liability companies.
Aboriginal group launches new carbon farming body
11 Feb 2022
A new Indigenous carbon farming body has today been launched, with the aim of assisting native title groups and Aboriginal leaseholders to enter carbon markets.
ANZ economist warns of price volatility in carbon market
8 Feb 2022
ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby has warned that the price of carbon "could move sharply in either direction" in an in-depth backgrounder on New Zealand's carbon market.
10 YEARS AGO...
31 Jan 2022
Ten years ago, the government said it was considering reducing the number of carbon credits allowed into the NZ ETS, as carbon prices continued to drop in Europe.
Number of NZUs entering ETS could be cut
26 Jan 2022
The number of NZUs on offer could be reduced in the future to take account of the extra units entering the system through the cost containment reserve mechanism, climate change minister James Shaw says.
The rise of voluntary carbon markets
26 Jan 2022
The voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) are poised for explosive growth in 2022. At the conclusion of COP26 in Glasgow, 632 of the world's largest 2000 public companies by revenue had announced plans to achieve Net Zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
10 YEARS AGO...
24 Jan 2022
Ten years ago, the price of carbon was crashing internationally as a result of an oversupply in Europe and uncertainty over the future of the Kyoto Protocol. A tonne of carbon in Europe could be bought for less than NZ$6 compared to around NZ$150 now.
ETS revenue should be returned to the people: NZ Initiative
17 Dec 2021
The government is missing a chance to make the ETS progressive by not returning its revenues to ordinary New Zealanders in the form of a dividend, NZ Initiative economist Matt Burgess says.
10 YEARS AGO...
17 Dec 2021
Ten years ago, a group of countries at the Durban COP committed to adopting a legally binding agreement to keep the average global temperature rise to below 2 degrees by no later than 2015.
Aussie carbon price outpacing house gains
13 Dec 2021
On Woomargama station 50 km north of Albury on the NSW-Victorian border, Clare Cannon is excited about the future.
Carbon trading gets a green light from the U.N., and Brazil hopes to earn billions
7 Dec 2021
Carbon emissions trading is poised to go global, and billions of dollars — maybe even trillions — could be at stake. That's thanks to last month's U.N. climate summit in Glasgow Scotland, which approved a new international trading system where companies pay for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions somewhere else, rather than doing it themselves.
Corporations are turning to forest credits in the race to go 'carbon-neutral.' Advocates worry about 'greenwashing.'
6 Dec 2021
In the forests of Guatemala, China and Scotland, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is planting tens of thousands of trees that suck greenhouse gas out of the air, allowing customers who buy its fuel to claim their driving is carbon-neutral — at least on paper.
NZ ETS Look-Up tables should be altered to include planted native forests: Pure Advantage
3 Dec 2021
New research by environmental group Pure Advantage shows that the difference in carbon sequestration rates of pine and planted native forests is much less than previously thought.
Is colonial history repeating itself with Sabah forest carbon deal?
2 Dec 2021
To the surprise of Indigenous and local communities, a huge forest carbon conservation agreement was recently signed in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo.
ETS auction clears at $68
1 Dec 2021
THE final NZ ETS auction of the year cleared at a price of $68 today.
Where to now for the price of carbon?
30 Nov 2021
In contrast to some offshore markets where carbon prices have surged to all time highs following COP26, in New Zealand they’ve plateaued at around $65.
Polluters face price pain as global carbon trading system moves forward
22 Nov 2021
A Cop26 breakthrough means emissions trading schemes can work together worldwide with less fear of being gamed.
Half-baked carbon market rules fail to take heat off the climate: Carbon Market Watch
15 Nov 2021
After over five years of dithering and two weeks of intensive negotiations, the world’s governments settled on slimmed-down ground rules for carbon markets under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.
Bornean communities locked into 2-million-hectare carbon deal they don’t know about
11 Nov 2021
Leaders in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, have signed a profit-sharing deal to market carbon and other natural capital from more than 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of the state’s forests for at least the next 100 years. But the communities living in and around those forests know next to nothing about it.
ClimCom looking into potential farm subsidies
9 Nov 2021
The Climate Change Commission is looking into what, if any, assistance should be provided to farmers to meet the costs of an agriculture pricing scheme.
On forestry, COP26 must avoid double counting of carbon removals: scientist
28 Oct 2021
Global leaders must not allow the double counting of emissions removals from forestry during negotiations at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, says Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele.
Hutt City Council slashes gas emissions
Mon 3 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Hutt City Council is set to cut its gas emissions by 60% by 2026 as it speeds up phasing out fossil fuels from public facilities.
Govt delays will damage carbon market confidence, experts warn
Today 12:00pm
By Liz Kivi | Emissions Trading Scheme experts have warned the Government that its move to delay decisions on the country’s emissions budgets will further undermine confidence in an already weak carbon market.
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.
Celebrities slam mining plans
28 Oct 2025
Actor Sam Neill has slammed plans for a gold mine in Otago, while Denniston Rose author Jenny Pattrick is backing a petition that would stop a coalmine on the West Coast.
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.
Brazil opens three weeks of COP30-linked climate events
Today 12:00pm
Brazil on Monday opens three weeks of events linked to the COP30 climate summit, hoping to showcase a world still determined to tackle global warming
Carbon price drops, now trading 30% below auction floor
Mon 3 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Secondary carbon market prices took a sharp downward turn last week, with traders blaming a continued lack of interest from buyers.
Scrutiny on energy security
Mon 3 Nov 2025
A special debate in Parliament put the Government’s energy security agenda under scrutiny, with parties splitting sharply over the role of gas, the place of an LNG import terminal, and how far to push market reform to ease pressure on power bills.
'Little to be hopeful about' – NZ scientists caution ahead of COP30
Fri 31 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Record heat, worsening climate impacts and global backsliding on emission reduction commitments have left some New Zealand climate experts with little optimism as COP30 approaches.
$235 billion worth of NZ buildings exposed to flooding
Thu 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.
No high-level US representatives will go to UN climate talks, Trump officials say
Mon 3 Nov 2025
Decision to stay away from Cop30 meeting in Brazil underscores administration’s hostility to climate action.
‘Plain old dull’: NZU market continues to limp sideways
24 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The NZU market has been “plain old dull” in recent months, with activity driven mainly by credit opportunities or a specific need to raise cash, according to Lizzie Chambers of trading platform Carbon Match.
Lake Onslow battery project set for revival?
Wed 29 Oct 2025
A newly formed private consortium has emerged with plans to finance and build the massive Lake Onslow pumped-hydro project, despite the coalition government’s decision to abandon the scheme.
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.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council welcomes new flood data
Mon 3 Nov 2025
Media release | Hawke’s Bay Regional Council welcomes the release of the National Flood Tool and accompanying data by Earth Sciences New Zealand. This is an important contribution to understanding the impacts of climate change for New Zealand.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 31 Oct 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: A controversial seabed mining project could lead to sediment flows knocking over rigs and damaging wind turbines; weather-related insurance claims climb; and is the government playing Russian Roulette with our future over methane targets?
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.”
Bank of England must better address climate risk to tackle inflation
Today 12:00pm
The central bank is being urged to take a series of actions to better respond to environmental risks.
No major banks have yet committed to stop funding new oil, gas and coal, research finds
24 Oct 2025
‘The objectives of the Paris agreement are slipping further out of reach,’ say researchers.
Z Energy settles greenwashing case over ‘quitting petrol’ claims
Today 12:00pm
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Z Energy has settled a landmark greenwashing case over claims it misled the public about moving away from petrol – a result Lawyers for Climate Action NZ says delivers long-overdue accountability.
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.
Vero warns losses to rise 26% by 2050 over extreme weather
Wed 29 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Extreme weather could drive a 19–26% spike in annual insurance losses by 2050, fuelled by rising seas and more intense flooding, according to Vero’s latest Climate-Related Disclosures Report.
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 says Greenpeace must pay $345 million in pipeline lawsuit, cutting jury amount nearly in half
Fri 31 Oct 2025
A North Dakota judge has ordered Greenpeace to pay damages of $345 million, reducing an earlier jury award after it found the environmental group and related entities liable for defamation and other claims in connection with protests of an oil pipeline nearly a decade ago.
Nelson commuters urged to ditch car once a week
22 Oct 2025
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Nelson has a bold carbon emission reduction target and residents are being encouraged to leave the car at home one day a week to help meet it.
Global oil demand won't peak until 2032, Wood Mackenzie report says
Fri 31 Oct 2025
“Global oil demand will not peak until 2032, two years later than earlier thought, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a report on Wednesday that blames continued momentum in the use of hydrocarbons for transport and petrochemicals.”
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.
Climate impacts hit NZ with increasing wild weather
23 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand is facing a triple whammy of climate impacts today, with severe winds and rainfall predicted for much of the country while some areas are still dealing with wildfires ignited earlier in the week.
Ardern: 'We must not give up on 1.5'
Fri 31 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Former prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern says the world must not abandon the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal, warning that a decade on from COP21 “too many of the debates we thought were settled are still being had.”
Carbon Finance Program upscales efforts to close climate investment gap in climate vulnerable nations
22 Oct 2025
Media release | The Climate Vulnerable Forum and its V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) will work with the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) to upscale the Carbon Finance Program in reach and impact, supporting more climate-vulnerable countries to host high-integrity carbon projects that yield tangible climate, nature, and sustainable development benefits.
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.
Experts warn new science curriculum sidelines climate urgency
Mon 3 Nov 2025
Climate change education has been pushed too late and too lightly in the Government’s draft science curriculum, experts say, with students not formally learning about climate change until Year 10.
Judge dismisses suit by young climate activists against Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies
17 Oct 2025
Plaintiffs had ‘overwhelming evidence’ of climate crisis but a court injunction would be ‘unworkable’, ruling says.
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.
Here comes the sun: solar surge gathers pace
Today 12:00pm
More than $700 million of new solar investment advanced last week, underscoring the pace of the renewable buildout.
AgriZero backs Aussie IVF innovator
Mon 3 Nov 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The NZ government-led low carbon agriculture consortium AgriZero has invested A$1.5 million (NZ$1.7m) in a Queensland-based start-up looking to bring down the cost of inserting fertilised embryos into livestock.
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
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.
How ‘vehicle-to-grid’ technology could boost China’s electricity system
Fri 31 Oct 2025
China’s surging electric vehicles ownership – now exceeding 25.5m – is opening the door to a new technology that can help to enhance the flexibility of electricity supply.
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.
Council buys dairy farm to help clean up Lake Rotorua
21 Oct 2025
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has bought a 266-hectare dairy farm in the Lake Rotorua catchment and plans to retire it from production to reduce nitrogen entering the lake.
Adaptation plan at odds with public sentiment: survey
21 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s position on climate adaptation buyouts shows a disconnect with public opinion, according to survey findings from insurer Suncorp NZ.
‘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.
