Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
COP26 likely to be delayed again
27 May 2020
Vital international climate talks due to be hosted by the United Kingdom are expected to be delayed until late next year because of the coronavirus crisis, it has emerged, dashing hopes they could be reconvened sooner.
Act now, says former fossil fuel company exec
26 May 2020
Ian Dunlop - the former head of the Australian Coal Association - worries about his grandchildren. He worries time is running out.
Why a bullet train could increase greenhouse gas emissions
26 May 2020
Bullet trains are back on Australia's political agenda. As the major parties look for ways to stimulate the economy after the COVID-19 crisis, Labor is again spruiking its vision of linking Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane with high-speed trains similar to the Eurostar, France’s TGV or Japan’s Shinkansen.
Recyclable bricks and concrete the way of the future
26 May 2020
Bricks, concrete and other construction materials could one day be made from recycled PVC, waste plant-fibre or sand, thanks to a remarkable new kind of rubber polymer.
United push for Australia to target emissions in covid recovery
25 May 2020
Australian businesses, unions, investors and environmentalists are joining forces in a call for a covid-19 pandemic economic recovery programme based on energy efficiency.
Green New Deal turns South Korea from climate villain to model
25 May 2020
The country’s youngest MP is on a mission, inspired by Greta Thunberg, as climate moves up political agenda.
German coal generator fights Dutch coal phase-out
25 May 2020
Uniper is threatening to sue the Dutch government over a plan to phase out coal power by 2030, in a case experts warn could have a chilling effect on climate ambition internationally.
Electric bikes could halve transport emissions
25 May 2020
Replacing just 20 per cent of car miles travelled with e-bike travel could cut Britain's greenhouse gas emissions from transport by up to eight million tonnes a year, new research shows.
Fires and pandemic a sign of things to come, letter warns
25 May 2020
Leading health professionals, including a Nobel laureate and a former Australian of the Year, say the Australian Government must put human health “front and centre” in a new generation of environment laws in the aftermath of the Covid-19 and bushfire crises.
It's up to us by how much sea levels will rise
22 May 2020
It’s a racing certainty that sea levels everywhere will go on climbing. Unless the world’s nations act to contain global warming, by 2100 the tides around the world will be one metre higher. And by 2300, they could be five metres higher.
Australian oil and gas producers push back
22 May 2020
Australia’s oil and gas producers have warned against the Morrison government underwriting a massive expansion of the domestic industry, saying the country does not have a gas shortage and intervention could reduce supply and raise prices.
New solar cells pass global test standards
22 May 2020
Scientists have produced a new generation of experimental solar energy cells that, for the first time, pass strict International Electrotechnical Commission testing standards for heat and humidity.
Climate change turning Antarctica's snow green
21 May 2020
Warming temperatures in Antarctica are helping the formation and spread of “green snow” that in places can be seen from space.
Denmark proposes two huge ‘energy islands’
21 May 2020
Denmark plans to build two “energy islands” totalling 4GW of offshore wind capacity, under plans to reduce emissions by 70 per cent from 1990s levels by 2030 and become a green energy exporter.
Supermarket chains threaten Brazil boycott
21 May 2020
British supermarkets have warned Brazil they might have to boycott its products if lawmakers there pass a contentious bill that could enable faster destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Seattle permanently closes 20 miles of street
21 May 2020
Seattle has made bold moves to put pedestrians and cyclists first by permanently closing up to 20 miles of roadways to nonessential through traffic to encourage people to exercise safely.
Startups invest $4bn in UK battery factory
21 May 2020
Two British startups have announced plans to invest as much as $4 billion in building the UK’s first large-scale battery factory, in a move that could prove a major boost to the country’s struggling car industry.
Scott Morrison is still Coal-Mo to the core
20 May 2020
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just celebrated the first anniversary of his surprise election win in May, 2019. And he’s been getting some glowing reviews from some predictable quarters.
Europe plans for three billion trees in 10 years
20 May 2020
The European Commission this week will launch a sweeping effort to tackle the global biodiversity crisis, including a call for three billion trees to be planted by 2030 and a plan to better protect the continent’s last primeval forests.
Spain sets out to cut gas emissions by 2050
20 May 2020
Spain’s Cabinet is set to approve a bill setting out a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050, putting it on course to join a handful of wealthy nations that have written the target into law.
Nuclear tests affected weather 60 years ago
20 May 2020
Cold War nuclear tests did change the weather in the 1960s. The Earth did not catch fire, but a hard rain did begin to fall.
Australia ... further to fall, harder to rise
20 May 2020
"Pestilence is so common," writes Albert Camus in The Plague: There have been as many plagues in the world as there have been wars, yet plagues and wars always find people equally unprepared. When war breaks out, people say: ‘It won’t last. It’s too stupid.’ And war is certainly too stupid, but that doesn’t prevent it from lasting.
Investing and tech will be megatrends of the 20s
19 May 2020
Responsible investing and technology will inevitably be the top two megatrends of the 2020s, says the head of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations.
Natural forests are best at storing carbon
19 May 2020
Two new studies have freshly confirmed an argument unchallenged for more than three decades: the best way to absorb and permanently store carbon from the atmosphere is to restore and conserve existing natural forests.
Largest Arctic science expedition finds itself on thin ice
19 May 2020
Covid-19 is just one of many setbacks for hundreds of scientists pursuing critical climate questions in the world’s most remote and inhospitable environment.
Saucy sugar joins drive to find us better food
19 May 2020
Australia’s sugar industry is joining forces with health experts to call for a complete change to the world’s food systems.
Do these bottles herald the end of plastic?
18 May 2020
Beer and soft drinks could soon be sipped from “all-plant” bottles under new plans to turn sustainably grown crops into plastic in partnership with major beverage makers.
Experts are back in fashion – so, get them talking
18 May 2020
British cabinet minister Michael Gove once sneered that “people have had enough of experts from organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong.”
Alaska patiently awaits ice-melt tsunami
18 May 2020
A melting glacier in Alaska might trigger a landslide that would cause a major tsunami, scientists have warned.
At last, a fair deal for our atomic love affair
18 May 2020
However you view the argument, nuclear passions run strong. A new film gives us a breathless ride through our atomic love affair.
Could New York's youth convince the State to divest?
18 May 2020
One analyst says oil, gas and coal were the biggest pension contributors for 30 years, but now are the worst performing sector—and there are no signs of improvement.
Big Business backs a better economy
15 May 2020
Chief executives from more than 330 businesses, including Microsoft, Nike and Visa, are calling on US bipartisan federal lawmakers to build back a better economy from covid-19 by infusing resilient climate solutions.
Trump buying one million barrels of oil
15 May 2020
The Trump Administration is planning to buy one million barrels of oil from US companies after funding to make a larger purchase failed to pass Congress.
Don't forget the other curve - the climate one
15 May 2020
If any image has singularly captured the public’s attention during the coronavirus pandemic, it has been The Curve.
Biden taps Ocasio-Cortez and Kerry to fight climate
15 May 2020
Presidential hopeful Joe Biden has appointed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the avatar of the Green New Deal, and former Secretary of State John Kerry, an architect of the Paris climate agreement, to his climate team.
Bangladesh to double fossil fuel imports
15 May 2020
Bangladesh is expected to double its imports of fossil fuels in the coming decade and will miss its 2020 clean-energy target.
Wind might pass coal sooner than we thought
14 May 2020
A milestone in the clean energy transition may arrive earlier than expected, with renewables overtaking coal as a leading source of electricity by the end of this year.
How Australia can build a green economy
14 May 2020
As the Australian government prepares plans for economic recovery, investors and green groups alike say this is a once-only opportunity to move towards zero emissions.
Pandemic will permanently change car industry
14 May 2020
Plunging sales could force car factories to close and lead to takeovers and mergers, but also bolster sales of electric vehicles.
Lessons from the rush on toilet paper
14 May 2020
The speed of official reaction to covid-19 has prompted some people to ask whether modern societies can act as fast to protect themselves, not only from another pandemic, but against a possible comparable global threat such as climate change.
Plastic waste now litters Antarctic shore
13 May 2020
British and German scientists have identified "sickening" levels of plastic waste in the Southern Ocean that washes around Antarctica.
World could lose half its sandy beaches
13 May 2020
Sea level rise fueled by man-made climate change threatens to consume half the world's sandy beaches by the end of the century, according to a new study.
Fossil fuel giants set for virus bailout bonanza
13 May 2020
Fossil fuel companies and coal-powered utilities in the US are set for a potential bonanza under federal government plans for a bond bailout, part of the rescue package for the coronavirus crisis.
Bad soil fungi will welcome warmer weather
13 May 2020
Rising temperatures will increase crop losses as warmer soils encourage the growth of pathogenic soil fungi, scientists say.
Bolsonaro sends in his soldiers
13 May 2020
Brazil has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect the Amazon rainforest as the government mounts a response to surging deforestation ahead of the high season for forest fires.
Ammonia is the energy future, say scientists
12 May 2020
Forget hydrogen – the energy future is ammonia, Australia researchers say.
Will the virus crisis trump the climate crisis?
12 May 2020
The battle over how to spend recovery funds — to quickly restore the old economy or invest in a greener one — will define the post-pandemic world.
Extreme heat set to trap millions indoors by 2060
12 May 2020
Extreme heat and humidity are increasing across the globe, threatening millions of lives and economies in places where it could become fatal to work outdoors.
Belt and Road backers failing to protect nature
12 May 2020
The financial backers of China’s Belt and Road Initiative are being accused of failing to require safeguards to protect nature.
Plastic piles up as covid sidelines pollution fight
12 May 2020
Green groups worry about a plastic "onslaught" in Southeast Asia as home deliveries during lockdowns add to mountains of waste.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
$30m airline fund risks ‘burning public money’ without lasting benefit – expert
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A $30 million government package to support regional air routes risks delivering poor value for money while increasing emissions, according to transport strategist Tim Adriaansen.
Signs of jet fuel hoarding emerge in Asia on Iran oil shock
26 Mar 2026
Signs are growing that Asian countries are hoarding jet fuel after the Iran war sent oil prices surging, reflecting growing strain on the aviation industry.
New protections for NZ migratory species under UN convention
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New international protections for migratory species, including several found in New Zealand, are a positive step – but global protections won’t halt the decline of migratory species on their own, experts say.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
3 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Economic contraction will impact carbon market
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | While higher fossil fuel prices strengthen the long-run economics of decarbonisation, the current fuel crisis won’t inspire near-term confidence in the carbon market, according to Lizzie Chambers of Carbon Match.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
Asia ramps up use of dirty fuels to cover energy shortfall triggered by Iran war
Thu 2 Apr 2026
South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plants
Death toll in Afghanistan flooding increases to 28, authorities say
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Afghan authorities said Monday that the death toll from severe weather that has struck swathes of the country over the past four days has increased to 28, with 49 people injured. Dozens of people have died from extreme weather in the country so far this year.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
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.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
Watts’s last stand: Simeon Brown takes energy portfolio
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Energy Minister Simon Watts has lost the portfolio to Cabinet fixer Simeon Brown in a reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this morning.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Dairy farmers' lack of climate action 'even bleaker' than water inaction – Upton
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government projections for cutting agricultural emissions are being undermined by low farmer uptake, with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warning the country is relying on “heroic” assumptions to meet its methane targets.
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.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Labour mulls GIDI 2.0 as factory closures mount
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Factory closures across the country could have been prevented if the last Labour-led government’s GIDI fund to assist companies with the cost of electrification hadn't been scrapped, Labour energy spokesperson, Megan Woods, says.
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.”
FMA to ease conditions for green bond issues
31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Green, social and sustainability-linked bonds will face lower disclosure requirements and regulatory costs under a class exemption newly granted by the Financial Markets Authority.
Five trees can’t offset a car: Lawyers accuse Mazda of greenwashing
9 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action NZ is taking Mazda to the Advertising Standards Authority over its claims that a tree-planting programme will offset vehicle emissions.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
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.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
Media round-up
20 Mar 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Crown lawyers agree High Court could quash emissions plan if found unlawful; NZ is locked in 'disaster inertia'; and climate change is notably absent from new development laws.
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.
Lawyers complain to ombudsman over Govt failure to release LNG modelling
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman over the Government’s failure to release information about its controversial decision to build a LNG import terminal.
Cleantech expo coming to Auckland
26 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s first national cleantech expo is set to bring together 30 innovators, in what organisers say is the country’s fastest growing area in the tech sector.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
27 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has pledged an additional $20 million to climate resilience work in Tuvalu, more than doubling Aotearoa's aid to the tiny island nation in the current financial year.
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.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
Govt process to change climate plan ‘fundamentally flawed’, says judge
18 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The government’s 2024 changes to New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan was “as fundamentally flawed a process as I think I have ever seen”, the judge presiding in a case challenging climate change decision-making has said.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Media round-up
Thu 2 Apr 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The widening political gap is deepening cracks in NZ's climate consensus, Christchurch recorded more than 30,000 extra cycling trips over two weeks, and is the energy crisis a renewable inflection point?
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
25 Mar 2026
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Opposition in Golden Bay to a controversial gold mine at Sams Creek has flared up over the weekend after several activists briefly occupied a drilling site.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
Sci-tech prioritisation report is a joke that could cost NZ dearly, says NZ Association of Scientists
Thu 2 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Association of Scientists | The Prioritisation Report released yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Science Innovation and Technology Council makes a poor case for further cuts and changes to our research system.
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.
AI’s arrival complicates Big Tech climate goals, and some worry it’s locking in more fossil fuels
Thu 2 Apr 2026
Six years ago, Google was confident that by 2030 it would power all operations with electricity generated from clean sources, including wind and solar power, and remove as much pollution as it produced. Today it calls those goals a “moonshot.” Microsoft says it’s still aiming to remove more carbon than it creates by 2030 but now describes the effort as “a marathon, not a sprint.”
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.
Momentum speeds up for low-emissions heavy transport
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s heavy vehicle sector is starting to move toward lower-emissions alternatives, with electric vehicles now delivering cost savings as well as lower emissions.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
‘Stop burning fossil fuels’ pleads scientist as extreme rain causes floods yet again
27 Mar 2026
Northland and Auckland have again been lashed by heavy rain, with hundreds of people evacuated last night because of extensive flooding in the Far North, and some areas hit by more than a month's average rainfall in just 24 hours.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Record wind output helps shield the UK from worst of Iran war fallout
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Record output from wind farms has helped boost total clean power supplies in the United Kingdom to new highs so far in 2026, and allowed power firms to pare use of fossil fuels to multi-year lows.
