Topics tagged with 'Carbon Credits'
Foresters draw up wishlist for ETS review
16 Mar 2015
The Emissions Trading Scheme review is likely to be pushed into next year, forest owners say.
Let's cut emissions, not worry about how
2 Mar 2015
Australia had an emissions trading scheme with a fixed price; it was one good way to encourage carbon cuts throughout the economy.
Nats' Waitangi promise: We'll talk to Maori about climate change
9 Feb 2015
The Government has said it will work with Maori on the two big climate change/carbon pricing decisions it faces this year – the post-2020 emissions reduction target and the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
India gives nothing away in climate talks with US
2 Feb 2015
Hopes that India and the US might announce ambitious plans to co-operate in tackling climate change have proved wide of the mark.
Government stays quiet on emission trading plans
27 Jan 2015
The Government still isn’t talking about this year’s scheduled review of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
We're facing a $3b carbon crisis ... and it could be worse
8 Dec 2014
New Zealand has a $3 billion carbon headache looming – and Treasury says that’s the conservative estimate.
Mighty River contests paying for carbon units
1 Dec 2014
MightyRiverPower has claimed in the High Court that it shouldn’t have to pay for carbon units issued for years prior to the start of its contract with New Zealand Carbon Farming in 2013, which it entered as part of its effort to offset emissions from electricity generation.
Anxious foresters await review of foreign credits ban
13 Oct 2014
A controversial decision to make foresters the only emitters banned from using cheap foreign carbon credits to offset their greenhouse gas emissions is under review.
MIA ... but it doesn't mean China's not interested
29 Sep 2014
There were a few notable absentees among the more than 120 world leaders gathered in New York for last week's United Nations Climate Summit - and perhaps most notable of all was the head of the world’s highest-emitting nation, China’s President Xi Jinping.
Labour vows to scrap emitters' one-for-two deal
1 Sep 2014
The one-for-two deal that halves emitters’ carbon liabilities would be scrapped by a Labour government.
NZ gifts Rio Tinto $6m free carbon credits bonus
4 Aug 2014
The company that threatened to leave New Zealand if it introduced the Emissions Trading Scheme has had a $6 million windfall from taxpayers in the form of free carbon credits.
ETS pay-off puts millions into climate projects
18 Jul 2014
The sale of carbon credits for the first time will finance projects that help to tackle climate change.
Australian farmers led astray on carbon farming
11 Jul 2014
Australian farmers and rural land owners are being told that they will be given powerful and direct incentives to store carbon in the land under the federal government’s new climate policy.
NORMAN: The longer we wait the more it will cost
11 Jul 2014
By RUSSEL NORMAN, Green Party co-leader.- Thanks to Federated Farmers’ incoming president William Rolleston for taking the time to write about the Green Party’s Climate Tax Cut in last week’s Carbon News.
Maori act to mobilise carbon-conscious voters
20 Jun 2014
Maori angry about the Government’s twin failures over carbon prices and sustainable economic development are looking to mobilise the crucial 18-to-34-years-old vote.
Australia's emissions fund could start short
13 Jun 2014
Australia's Emissions Reduction Fund is likely to be under-supplied when it comes to market next month, a new report says.
How to save our seas: stop all fishing
13 Jun 2014
Marine biologists have delivered the most radical proposal yet to protect biodiversity and sequester carbon: stop all fishing, they say, on the high seas.
Angry iwi to file carbon prices Treaty claim
30 May 2014
A $600-million Treaty of Waitangi claim over the Government’s climate change policies and carbon prices is to go ahead.
Foresters threaten to pull out of ETS
23 May 2014
Participation by forestry in the Emissions Trading Scheme will come to a sudden halt because the Government has shown it will change the rules at the drop of a hat, industry sources say.
Government took easy option on forest credits
23 May 2014
The Government feared that an “arbitrage loophole” allowing forest owners to move in and out of the Emissions Trading Scheme could cost it up to $231 million over the next two years.
Maori unhappy about having to back carbon move
16 May 2014
The Maori Party says it is being forced against its will to support Government moves to stamp out arbitrage by one sector of the carbon market.
Offsets flow from China, Ukraine and Russia
16 May 2014
China, the Ukraine and Russia continue to be the major source of offsets entering the European Emissions Trading Scheme, latest figures show.
Australia expects slow start with emissions fund
16 May 2014
The Australian Government expects that less than half of the $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund will be spent over the next four years.
Market trades 34 million carbon credits
9 May 2014
Nearly 34 million carbon credits were traded on the New Zealand market last month – up 10 million on the previous month but down on the same time last year.
Canberra finds ways to implement emissions plan
9 May 2014
The Australian Government will be able to implement its Emissions Reduction Fund in July - but business may bypass the scheme in year one.
At last, we're moving on wood carbon rules
24 Apr 2014
New Zealand is finally moving to recognise carbon stored in wood products – two years after it could have done so.
March busy month for trading carbon units
4 Apr 2014
TWENTY-THREE million carbon units were traded on the New Zealand market last month.
Carbon price breach of rights, says Maori leader
21 Mar 2014
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has weighed into the row over low carbon prices, describing the loss of value of credits given to Maori in Treaty of Waitangi settlements as a breach of human rights.
Canberra outlines new farm opportunities
21 Mar 2014
The Australian Government says it is making it easier for farmers and landholders to be able to participate in the Emissions Reduction Fund by storing carbon in their soil, improving farm productivity and contributing to action on climate change.
Beehive still silent on demand to lift carbon prices
14 Mar 2014
There’s still no word from the Government on whether it will boost carbon prices to avoid a $600 million Treaty of Waitangi claim.
Farmers remain free of emissions obligations
14 Mar 2014
The Government is all but ruling out making agriculture responsible for its greenhouse gas emissions next year.
Reluctant PM fends off $600m iwi ultimatum
7 Mar 2014
The Prime Minister says he accepts that 50,000 new jobs would be created by Maori following through on a promise to plant one million hectares of new forest if the Government lifts carbon prices.
Carbon credit trading close to 12 million
7 Mar 2014
Nearly 12 million carbon credits were traded on the domestic carbon market last month.
Big emitters cash in on free carbon credits
21 Feb 2014
A loophole allowing heavy industrial emitters to coin it at the expense of taxpayers by selling free carbon credits is likely to be closed under a Labour-Greens government.
Angry Maori take carbon case to UN
21 Feb 2014
Frustrated Maori will take their carbon price grievances to the United Nations next week.
Iwi ultimatum earns support of political parties
21 Feb 2014
Iwi threatening to take a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal over carbon prices have the support of at least two major political parties.
Iwi forest plan key to processing boom
14 Feb 2014
A proposal by iwi to plant a million hectares of new forest over 10 years could provide the economies of scale needed to kick the New Zealand industry into large-scale processing.
Angry Maori table $600,000 carbon ultimatum
7 Feb 2014
Maori say they will lodge a $600 million Treaty of Waitangi claim if the Government doesn’t move fast to shore up carbon prices.
Beehive seems set to block cheap foreign credits
6 Dec 2013
The Government today is expected to announce moves to restrict the flow of cheap foreign carbon credits into New Zealand.
Abbott fund has high price, says analyst
22 Nov 2013
Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund is likely to cost its government $A20 a tonne, and possibly $40 a tonne, an analyst says.
California approves first forest carbon offsets
22 Nov 2013
The first California forest carbon credits issued under the cap-and-trade offset protocols have been issued by the Air Resources Board.
Why it's important that we do our bit
15 Nov 2013
With COP19 under way in Warsaw, CARBON MARKET SOLUTIONS looks at the background to international climate change agreements:
Doha decision forced hand on setting 5% emissions target, says Groser
1 Nov 2013
New Zealand’s expulsion from international carbon markets was a factor in the Government’s setting of this country’s 2020 emissions reduction target.
NZ turns away Australian carbon units
18 Oct 2013
More than two million Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) issued under that country’s Carbon Farming Initiative will not be eligible for surrender in New Zealand.
Govt still silent on auctioning credits
4 Oct 2013
The Government says it has made no decisions yet on the auctioning of carbon credits.
NZ Steel takes almost $5m in free credits
20 Sep 2013
New Zealand Steel is once again the biggest recipient of free carbon credits, receiving nearly $5 million worth from the Government.
Science sees human waste as weapon in war against climate change
20 Sep 2013
Human waste could be the next weapon in the fight against climate change, according to an Australian academic.
Give carbon farm back to the cattle, says Govt
6 Sep 2013
The Northern Territory Government says it is determined to see a cattle station bought with Australian Government funding two years ago for the purposes of carbon farming returned to cattle production, now that it is back on the market.
Forest figures meaningless, say growers
16 Aug 2013
One hundred and seventy owners of post-1989 forests left the Emissions Trading Scheme last year.
Auckland Council opens $1m Climate and Emergency Readiness Fund
4 Feb 2026
Community groups across Tāmaki Makaurau are being invited to apply for a new $1 million Climate and Emergency Readiness Fund, designed to support locally led action on climate change, disaster preparedness and climate adaptation.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Construction is set to start this month on Hiringa Energy’s long delayed green hydrogen project in South Taranaki, after years of consenting fights that culminated in the Court of Appeal rejecting Greenpeace’s challenge in late 2023.
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.
World fight against invasive species comes to Auckland
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Media release: University of Auckland | From countering invasive pink salmon in Norway to controlling feral cats in the Cayman Islands, knowledge on eradicating invasive species will be shared by international experts in New Zealand.
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.
IPBES: Four key takeaways on how nature loss threatens the global economy
Wed 11 Feb 2026
The “undervaluing” of nature by businesses is fuelling its decline and putting the global economy at risk, according to a major new report.
Minister’s letters: Mildly positive or just virtue signalling?
5 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market was buoyed slightly yesterday, after letters between the Government and the Climate Change Commission were proactively released.
LNG plan risks fossil fuel dependency: Environment Commissioner
Wed 11 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Importing liquefied natural gas risks creating a “new path dependency on fossil fuel” unless LNG is ring-fenced for use only in the electricity system and only during extended periods of hydro-electricity water shortages, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: By deciding to underwrite the private construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, the Government has made a rational choice in favour of energy security and affordability.
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.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
EU weighing options to support industry in carbon market overhaul
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The European Commission is looking at various ways to support industries in an upcoming overhaul of the EU carbon market to prevent them moving to areas with lower pollution standards, the head of the Commission’s climate department said late on Wednesday.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
Wed 11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
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.
$8.9m research project to map future ocean change around Aotearoa
Tue 10 Feb 2026
The major research project aims to better understand how warming oceans are driving extreme weather events around New Zealand, from heavy rainfall to tropical cyclones.
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.
'Damning' report challenges forestry’s role in Tairāwhiti as sector rejects conclusions
4 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New independent analysis commissioned by Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti challenges long-standing claims that industrial forestry underpins the Tairāwhiti economy.
Australian ministers met Japanese gas companies 20 times amid fossil fuel lobbying push
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Australian government ministers met Japanese gas company executives more than 20 times in the last term of parliament as Labor encouraged investment in the fossil fuel industry.
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.”
US is canceling almost $30 billion in Biden-era energy loans
27 Jan 2026
The Trump administration said it’s canceling almost $30 billion of financing from the Energy Department’s green bank after reviewing transactions approved under former President Biden.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
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”.
Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
4 Feb 2026
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
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.
Greenpeace set to take UK Government to court over deep-sea mining licences
5 Feb 2026
Environmental NGO Greenpeace has kick-started a legal challenge against the UK Government’s decision to approve the transfer of two seabed exploration licences to a newly-formed mining company with US links.
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.
Ministers celebrate fast-track milestone amid criticism
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government is marking the first anniversary of its fast-track approvals regime, saying it is helping “build New Zealand’s future”, despite continued criticism from environmental groups, opposition parties, and industry voices following several controversial project decisions.
Govt looks to Commission for ways to shore up carbon price
4 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government has asked the Climate Change Commission to look at lower auction volumes and an increase in the auction floor price as options to revive the Emissions Trading Scheme, as carbon prices remain weak.
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.
A turning point for our ocean: why the High Seas Treaty matters for the Pacific
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Media release: UNDP | The global ratification of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty marks a decisive moment in international cooperation and ocean governance. Referred to as the High Seas Treaty, the agreement establishes a legally binding framework to protect marine biodiversity in areas of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction.
Out of Paris, but will the US formally quit the UN climate regime?
30 Jan 2026
The Trump administration has decided to withdraw the US from the broader UN climate convention, raising questions about the legality of the move and what it means in practice.
Commentators slam Govt inaction in aftermath of climate change-fuelled storms
30 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | Climate action - or inaction - is shaping up to be an election issue, with multiple commentators drawing a line between the Coalition Government’s backsliding on climate targets and the deadly extreme weather events of the past week.
Major health risks linked to plastics emissions set to soar by 2040
28 Jan 2026
The adverse health consequences stemming from the global plastics system are projected to more than double by 2040, driven by greenhouse gases, air pollutants and toxic chemicals released throughout its lifecycle.
Rushed resource management reform bills unworkable: Environmental Defence Society
Wed 11 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Environmental Defence Society says significant amendments are needed to the government’s Natural Environment and Planning Bills, warning the proposed reforms risk weakening environmental limits, public participation, and regulatory certainty.
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.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
Mon 9 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand and the United States' negotiations over critical minerals have raised questions for the Waitangi Tribunal’s long-running inquiry into climate change.
Australia's renewables boom delivers coveted power price payoff
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Australia's wholesale electricity prices fell to the lowest in four years in 2025, bucking the rising price trends seen elsewhere and validating claims that renewables-heavy power system overhauls can help lower consumer power costs.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
Mon 9 Feb 2026
Media release | A new Antarctic science partnership with a leading UAE university will grow New Zealand’s advanced engineering and modelling capability, supporting high-value jobs, encouraging economic growth, and enabling smarter climate risk management, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says.
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.
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.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
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.
China maximises battery recycling to shore up critical mineral supplies
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Beijing is bracing for a tsunami of spent EV batteries by taking steps to boost recycling – a strategy that could also cut its reliance on imports of clean energy minerals.
Vanuatu introduces draft UN resolution on ICJ demanding full climate compensation
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Media release: Vanuatu Government | Vanuatu has introduced the zero draft of a United Nations General Assembly resolution to endorse the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change, delivered on 23 July 2025.
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.
Argentina fires ravage pristine Patagonia forests, fueling criticism of Milei’s austerity
4 Feb 2026
The wildfires, among the worst to hit the drought-stricken Patagonia region in decades, have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (174 square miles) of Argentina’s forests in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
World's first 20 MW offshore wind turbine powers grid in China
Tue 10 Feb 2026
The world's most powerful offshore wind turbine has begun feeding electricity into the grid off the coast of southeast China, marking a major technological leap in the country's wind power industry.
