Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
At least 30 killed and several missing as heavy rains and floods lash northern China
Today 11:45am
Thousands of people were evacuated as the region, including the capital Beijing, braced for more rainfall overnight.
Tax on AI and crypto could fund climate action, says former Paris accords envoy
Today 11:45am
Laurence Tubiana urges governments to consider levies on energy-hungry technology.
A third of ‘slum residents’ in global south are exposed to disastrous flood risks
Today 11:45am
One in three people in informal settlements in the global south live in floodplains and are at risk of a “disastrous flood”.
As US climate data-gathering is gutted, Australian forecasting is now at real risk
Today 11:45am
As damage from climate change intensifies, political change overseas is threatening Australia’s ability to track what’s happening now, and predict what will happen next.
320 million trees die each year from lightning, and climate change is making it worse
Today 11:45am
Every year, lightning kills around 320 million trees across the globe, not with raging wildfires but through direct strikes that often go unseen.
The World Court finally opens the door to 'climate reparations'
Today 11:45am
COMMENT: The International Court of Justice’s landmark opinion means big polluters must answer for climate harm.
UN climate chief urges Australia to 'go big' on 2035 emissions target
Tue 29 Jul 2025
One of the world's top climate diplomats has urged the federal government to commit to an ambitious 2035 target to cut carbon emissions, saying Australia can reap "colossal" economic rewards if it embraces clean energy.
Climateflation could push up UK food prices by more than a third by 2050, report says
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Increasingly extreme weather threatens production and supply chains in Britain and elsewhere.
Wildfires rage in Greece and Turkey as extreme heat persists
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Greece continued to battle major wildfires across the country amid a severe heatwave, but firefighters have brought many outbreaks under control.
Toxic algae are turning South Australia’s coral reefs into underwater graveyards
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Since March, a harmful algal bloom, fueled by a marine heat wave, has been choking South Australia’s coastline.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
Tue 29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Dire warning aid cuts are stopping vulnerable nations from preparing for climate disaster
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Funding cuts plus the failure to agree a financial target to help poorer countries adapt to climate change is already having a stark impact.
Europe and China agree to take action on climate change and nothing else in tense Beijing summit
Mon 28 Jul 2025
China and the European Union have issued a joint call to action on climate change during an otherwise tense bilateral summit in Beijing on Thursday riven with major disagreements over trade and the war in Ukraine.
‘Total infiltration’: How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet.
India misses chance to tackle UK carbon tax in trade pact
Mon 28 Jul 2025
India’s efforts to secure a concession for its small and medium enterprises under the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism did not materialise, as the text of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement made no mention of a resolution on the contentious issue.
World’s largest carbon projects unlikely to deliver emissions cuts despite reforms
Mon 28 Jul 2025
So far, carbon markets have not led to a promised decrease in planet-heating emissions – and efforts to tighten standards have yet to prove their worth.
China's carbon emissions may have peaked thanks to renewables push
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Climate experts say China's carbon emissions may have peaked, which could affect global climate targets, the fight against global warming – and the Australian coal industry.
$22B in US clean energy projects canceled so far this year
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Thousands of jobs and billions in investments have been ditched in the first half of this year as President Trump’s administration has pushed back on new green energy investments, according to a new report.
Greenpeace hails Italy court ruling allowing climate lawsuit against energy company to go ahead
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Italy’s highest court has ruled that a lawsuit brought by climate activists against Italian energy company ENI and its government shareholders can go ahead.
India to issue climate risk disclosure rules for banks in the next few months, sources say
Fri 25 Jul 2025
India's central bank is close to finalising rules for banks and financial institutions to disclose and manage risks from climate change, three sources aware of the matter said.
Trump and the energy industry are eager to power AI with fossil fuels
Fri 25 Jul 2025
At a Pittsburgh summit, the Trump administration, energy executives, and tech barons joined as one to promote AI as the future of fossil fuels.
Dad concerned about climate change shifts company away from oil and gas
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Jordi Zonneveld says his first decade in the oil and gas industry was great. But in 2015 he realised he could pull his company toward a greener future by working on hydrogen to replace fossil fuels.
Top UN court singles out fossil fuels as part of states’ climate duty
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Landmark opinion says those that fail to prevent climate harm could be liable for compensation and restitution.
COP30 must make good on past climate commitments
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Jacinda Ardern, Carlos Lopes, and Laurence Tubiana | COMMENT: COP presidencies tend to seek fresh agreements and ambitious initiatives, but when the celebrations are over, implementation often falls short. That is why Brazil’s COP30 presidency must eschew flashy results in favour of pragmatic pathways to deliver on past agreements.
Switching to renewables is ‘smart economics’ - Guterres
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The global energy transition is now “unstoppable” due to “smart economics”, UN secretary-general António Guterres has said in an online speech titled: “A moment of opportunity.”
SBTi releases Net Zero Standard for banks, investors
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The Science Based Targets initiative announced the release of its finalised Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, aimed at enabling banks and investors to set net zero-aligned targets for their lending, investing, insurance and capital markets activities.
Extreme weather events are the new frontline of online climate denial – report
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Climate science deniers are flooding social media with false claims during extreme weather events, drowning out reliable information and putting lives at risk.
Root intelligence: How old trees learn to suck more CO2 from the air
Thu 24 Jul 2025
New research finds that centuries-old oaks can dynamically rewire how they absorb nutrients—suggesting forests may be more resilient allies in the climate fight than once believed.
Global oil and gas emissions standard put on pause after Shell and others walk away
23 Jul 2025
Shell and other leading energy groups have abandoned a six-year-long attempt to define a net zero emissions strategy after being told that such a standard would require them to stop developing new oil and gas fields.
The tiny Pacific nation of Vanuatu turns to the world court as climate disasters mount
23 Jul 2025
The International Court of Justice will issue an advisory opinion on what legal obligations nations have to address climate change and what consequences they may face if they don’t.
Heatwave causes water shortages in Iran as temps top 50C
23 Jul 2025
Reservoirs of the dams supplying water to Tehran are currently at their lowest level in a century.
Climate denial is tearing our nation apart — we can’t wait much longer to act
23 Jul 2025
OPINION: The United States currently tolerates a national government whose climate and energy policies are diametrically opposed to what most Americans say they want.
Africa wants climate compensation, not loans
23 Jul 2025
The $1.3 trillion pledged by rich nations to the developing world to combat climate change should be in the form of compensation rather than loans, an African ministerial conference argued.
Climate catastrophes are creating a ‘new market reality’ for insurance carriers
23 Jul 2025
Raging wildfires and severe storms contributed to record-high global insurance losses — totalling an estimated US$84 billion — for the first six months of the year.
Gas flaring created 389m tonnes of carbon pollution last year, report finds
22 Jul 2025
Rules to prevent ‘enormous waste’ of fuel are seen as weak and poorly enforced and firms have little incentive to stop.
Only three years left – new study warns the world is running out of time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change
22 Jul 2025
We are living in a world that is warming at the fastest rate since records began. Yet, governments have been slow to act.
At least 17 dead in South Korea floods and landslides
22 Jul 2025
At least 17 people have died in floods and landslides caused by days of torrential rain in South Korea, the country's disaster management office has said.
China embarks on world's largest hydropower dam, capital markets cheer
22 Jul 2025
China's Premier Li Qiang announced construction had begun on what will be the world's largest hydropower dam, on the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau, at an estimated cost of at least $170 billion.
16 times extreme weather drove higher food prices since 2022
22 Jul 2025
UK potatoes, South Korean cabbage and west African cocoa are just some of the foods that became markedly more expensive after extreme weather events in recent years, according to new research.
US: Environmental Protection Authority slashes science division
22 Jul 2025
The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans on Friday afternoon to shut down its research arm and fire hundreds of biologists, chemists, toxicologists, and other scientists whose work helps determine safe pollution levels for regulations.
Brazil’s Congress passes ‘devastation bill’ in major environmental setback
21 Jul 2025
In the early hours of July 17, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to ease environmental licensing, which NGOs and environmentalists have dubbed the “devastation bill” and consider the nation’s most significant environmental setback in nearly 40 years.
A ‘Himalayan tsunami’ has just devastated Nepal. It should be a wake-up call
21 Jul 2025
Massive glacial bursts are becoming more frequent and more dangerous due to the climate crisis, experts tell , warning: ‘They are not going to stop anytime soon’.
He helped Microsoft build AI to help the climate. Then Microsoft sold it to Big Oil.
21 Jul 2025
A former Microsoft project manager reveals how the tech giant is using AI to help Big Oil drill—and how he and his partner are now pushing for change.
Why the hurricane season hasn’t heated up — even though the Atlantic has
21 Jul 2025
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, yet we've seen remarkably little activity compared to the hyperactive seasons of recent years.
Torres Strait leaders lost their landmark case. How can governments be held to account on climate?
21 Jul 2025
Experts and advocates say it’s time for the law to change after judge says matters based on climate policy cannot be decided by courts.
Kenyan start-up aiming to generate carbon credits from thin air
21 Jul 2025
In the scrublands of central Kenya, technicians monitor four large metallic tanks where steam heated by the Earth's crust is used to pull carbon dioxide from the air in an effort to limit global warming.
EU seeks 'fair competition' with China on green energy
18 Jul 2025
The European Union is seeking "fair competition" with China and not a race to the bottom in wages and environmental standards, the bloc's vice president for the clean transition told AFP in Beijing on Monday.
Germany's wind power expansion picks up, but targets still missed, says lobby
18 Jul 2025
Germany's onshore wind power sector recorded its strongest half-year since 2017, but the expansion still falls short of the legally mandated targets, the BWE wind power lobby said on Tuesday.
Why flash floods like those in Texas and New York are becoming more common
18 Jul 2025
Storms sweeping through the U.S. this summer have dumped intense rain on cities across the country, left towns flood-ravaged and forced water rescues.
Activists sue US development bank over $4.6bn loan to massive Mozambique gas project
18 Jul 2025
Environmental groups claim loan is ‘unlawful’ in legal filing.
Governments must vote in favour of moratorium on deep sea mining
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Media release - Greenpeace | The 30th session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has ended with Greenpeace saying governments are continuing to fall short in protecting the deep sea.
Does NZ need a national incentive scheme for wetlands?
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | An expert is calling for a national incentive programme to restore New Zealand’s wetlands and wants to stop schemes to drain these vital carbon-sequestering ecosystems.
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.
Airlines risk legal challenges by advertising jet fuel as “sustainable”, NGO warns
18 Jul 2025
Amid suspected fraud in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a new report says the airline industry should stop calling all alternatives to kerosene “sustainable”.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
Tue 29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
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.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
Bearish sentiment lingers for carbon market
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.
Multi-day protest continues at coal mine
Today 11:45am
Bathurst Resources has been forced to truck coal from its Stockton mine as climate activists occupy coal buckets at the mine for a third day.
Forestry can be a big plus for sheep and beef farmers – but there are caveats
22 Jul 2025
By Keith Woodford | OPINION: These are good times for sheep and beef farmers with record product prices for meat, which is precisely why now is the time for sheep and beef farmers to be looking again at farm forestry.
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.
NZ voluntary carbon market’s sad state
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.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
Tue 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.
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.
At least 30 killed and several missing as heavy rains and floods lash northern China
Today 11:45am
Thousands of people were evacuated as the region, including the capital Beijing, braced for more rainfall overnight.
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.
Wilding pines threaten Molesworth Station
Mon 28 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Without increased support, the unchecked spread of wilding pines will continue to creep across Marlborough’s high country – putting iconic landscapes and one of New Zealand’s top five biodiversity hotspots at serious risk, according to an expert.
EV sales fall, but it’s complicated
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Imports of fully electric vehicles fell over 50% in value during the 12 months to June 2025, compared with the year ended June 2024, according to Stats NZ.
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.
SBTi releases Net Zero Standard for banks, investors
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The Science Based Targets initiative announced the release of its finalised Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, aimed at enabling banks and investors to set net zero-aligned targets for their lending, investing, insurance and capital markets activities.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Media release - Earth Sciences New Zealand | A world-first study of marine life, including sea creatures found in New Zealand's dark, cold, pressurised ocean depths, has revealed that deep-sea life is surprisingly more connected than previously thought.
‘Ideological sludge’: How NZ is quiet quitting climate action
17 Jul 2025
New Zealand once stood out as a world leader on climate change. In June it became the first country in the world to abandon a commitment to phase out oil, gas and coal.
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.
Taranaki mayors want hydrogen kick-start from Wellington
Mon 28 Jul 2025
By Craig Ashworth, Local Democracy Reporter Taranaki mayors want central government to partner up with their councils to kick-start a hydrogen industry. This despite ongoing questions about the gas’s effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions.
Climate catastrophes are creating a ‘new market reality’ for insurance carriers
23 Jul 2025
Raging wildfires and severe storms contributed to record-high global insurance losses — totalling an estimated US$84 billion — for the first six months of the year.
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.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
All aboard for passenger rail in the golden triangle
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Media release – The Future Is Rail | New Zealand’s national passenger rail advocacy group, The Future is Rail, has announced its strong support for the Green Party’s proposal to establish a new passenger rail service connecting Auckland and Tauranga.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand is making progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but more work is needed – urgently – to set up for future reductions, according to the latest report from the Climate Change Commission.
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.
Toxic algae are turning South Australia’s coral reefs into underwater graveyards
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Since March, a harmful algal bloom, fueled by a marine heat wave, has been choking South Australia’s coastline.
NZ govt’s fossil fuel plans could break international law
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government could be breaching international law with its plans to subsidise and expand fossil fuel extraction, following a ruling overnight from the world’s highest court.
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
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”.
‘Total infiltration’: How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet.
Media round-up
Fri 25 Jul 2025
In our round-up of the climate coverage in local media: Dairy conversions surge; Gore is hit with a drinking water crisis; meanwhile farming lobby groups Groundswell and Federated Farmers are up in arms about a plan to classify environmental impacts in the agriculture and forestry sector.
As US climate data-gathering is gutted, Australian forecasting is now at real risk
Today 11:45am
As damage from climate change intensifies, political change overseas is threatening Australia’s ability to track what’s happening now, and predict what will happen next.
Activists sue US development bank over $4.6bn loan to massive Mozambique gas project
18 Jul 2025
Environmental groups claim loan is ‘unlawful’ in legal filing.
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.
China's carbon emissions may have peaked thanks to renewables push
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Climate experts say China's carbon emissions may have peaked, which could affect global climate targets, the fight against global warming – and the Australian coal industry.
Ocean heatwaves may signal climate tipping point
Fri 25 Jul 2025
A recent study that tapped into satellite data has revealed that 2023 marked an unprecedented year for marine heatwaves, with record-breaking levels of duration, reach and intensity across the world's oceans.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Can robot taxis solve NZ's transport woes?
23 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Ministry of Transport has tested the idea of driverless taxis as a futuristic fix. But while new modelling explores how "robotaxis" could ease congestion and reduce car ownership, critics say it misses a crucial point – the country’s worsening transport 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.
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.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
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.
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.
