Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
UK to relax electric car rules as US tariffs hit
8 Apr 2025
The government has announced a relaxation of electric vehicle sales targets to help the car industry in the face of trade tariffs from the US.
Space probe to map carbon content of world’s remotest tropical forests
8 Apr 2025
Revolutionary scanner to be fired into Earth orbit this month to measure effects of deforestation.
Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer
7 Apr 2025
The climate crisis is on track to destroy capitalism, a top insurer has warned, with the vast cost of extreme weather impacts leaving the financial sector unable to operate.
How Trump’s tariffs could spark a new plastic crisis
7 Apr 2025
Amid escalating trade tensions and tariffs on recyclable materials, the president’s policies threaten environmental progress and may drive consumers back to disposable plastics.
Offsets discredited
7 Apr 2025
Eight critical flaws in industry reports expose how misleading data analysis is used to promote the carbon offset industry.
The truth about Trump’s Greenland campaign
7 Apr 2025
When the president talks about security in the Arctic, he’s talking about climate change.
Finland's last active coal-fired power and heat plant shuts down
7 Apr 2025
Finland's last coal-fired power and heat plant in active production will shut down permanently on Tuesday, enabling Helsinki energy group Helen to cut its emissions and put an end to rising energy costs for its customers, its chief executive said.
‘Fossil fuels are killing us’: Major study details how fossil fuels are driving climate, health and biodiversity crises
7 Apr 2025
In a new review published in the journal Oxford Open Climate Change, scientists have issued an urgent warning that the fossil fuel industry and its products are driving intertwined crises threatening humans, wildlife and our shared future on this planet.
What Donald Trump’s dramatic US trade war means for global climate action
4 Apr 2025
US President Donald Trump’s new trade war will not only send shockwaves through the global economy – it also upsets efforts to tackle the urgent issue of climate change.
US banks predict climate goals will fail – but air conditioning firms will thrive
4 Apr 2025
Reports predict global heating will bring catastrophes and that air conditioning market could grow by 41%.
Former world leaders urge EU to hold the line on climate
4 Apr 2025
A group of former world leaders is urging Europe to keep pushing its green agenda even as trade wars and defence spending distract attention from climate issues, Ireland's former President Mary Robinson told Reuters on Tuesday.
Rewilding death in the Appalachian mountains
4 Apr 2025
A growing conservation burial movement is challenging the funeral industry’s environmental footprint while healing the land.
New EV solar charger can supply enough power for short daily trips
4 Apr 2025
GoSun, a solar technology company, is accepting deposits for its new EV solar charger. The device mounts onto the roof rack of the car, unfolds over the length of the electric vehicle and plugs into the charging port to turn solar energy into power for the car.
What’s the best way to make the tomato industry more carbon-efficient? Hint: It’s not local.
4 Apr 2025
Tomatoes are the most-farmed vegetable in the world. Researchers set out to quantify the carbon footprint of this ballooning industry—and then identify ways to shrink it.
Macron vows to defend science as host of UN oceans summit
3 Apr 2025
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to defend science from attacks by "major powers" as he tried to rally global support behind an upcoming UN summit on ocean conservation.
China can greatly reduce its reliance on coal, but probably won’t
3 Apr 2025
Even though solar and wind power are growing at a blistering pace.
Properties destroyed as ‘horrendous’ waves batter Sydney coast
3 Apr 2025
Residents have been evacuated, properties flooded and coastal infrastructure damaged after a large swell combined with a king tide to batter the Australian shore.
Behind the scenes at Kyoto: Drama and diplomacy on the world stage
3 Apr 2025
What did it take to get nearly 200 nations to agree on tackling climate change in 1997? And what have we learned in the decades since?
By zapping seawater with electricity, scientists make a solid carbon-negative building material
3 Apr 2025
In a double whammy, the method sucks up carbon dioxide and upcycles it into a material that can be used to make concrete, cement, plaster, and paint.
Is the Earth losing resilience, and does it matter?
3 Apr 2025
Part 2: What the Earth might be telling us about resilience and climate sensitivity.
More than 1,900 scientists write letter in ‘SOS’ over Trump’s attacks on science
2 Apr 2025
Members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine warned Americans of ‘real danger in this moment’.
Banks see a dire climate future — and ways to profit
2 Apr 2025
Top banks are quietly advising their clients on how to build a financial life raft — or perhaps life yacht — from the wreckage of runaway climate change.
Global warming of more than 3°C this century may wipe 40% off the world’s economy, new analysis reveals
2 Apr 2025
The damage climate change will inflict on the world’s economy is likely to have been massively underestimated, according to new research by my colleagues and I which accounts for the full global reach of extreme weather and its aftermath.
Study finds deforestation is a leading indicator of Ebola outbreaks
2 Apr 2025
A new CDC-led study identifies deforestation as a leading indicator of Ebola virus spillover. Using machine learning and two decades of satellite data, researchers found that forest loss and fragmentation were among the strongest predictors of where the virus might jump from animals to humans. The model doesn’t prove causation—but it does help identify environmental patterns that could guide preparedness in regions facing rising ecological pressure.
Scientists shielding farming from climate change need more public funding. But they’re getting less
2 Apr 2025
Erin McGuire spent years cultivating fruits and vegetables like onions, peppers and tomatoes as a scientist and later director of a lab at the University of California-Davis. Then the funding stopped.
Disaster as Trump’s energy policy totally disregards climate change
2 Apr 2025
COMMENT: Energy — where we get it, how we use it and what it costs — is fundamental to the quality and stability of modern life. It influences virtually everything we do and affects everything we hope to have in the future.
Rain records to fall in Queensland with Townsville to set new annual high
1 Apr 2025
Queensland cities and towns are dealing with the effects of flooding – including extensive stock losses and widespread damage – after a year’s worth of rain fell in a matter of days.
Trump administration cancels clean energy grants as it prioritises fossil fuels
1 Apr 2025
President Donald Trump’s administration is terminating grants for two clean energy projects and roughly 300 others funded by the Department of Energy are in jeopardy as the president prioritises fossil fuels.
Hosting the UN climate summit is far from ‘madness’ – here’s how Australia stands to benefit
1 Apr 2025
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton would withdraw Australia’s bid to co-host next year’s global climate summit if the Coalition wins the federal election.
Commentary: Welcome to the age of Big Oil's managed decline
1 Apr 2025
Top oil and gas companies are losing confidence in the outlook for their core businesses.
London police arrest six people at climate change meeting
1 Apr 2025
British police raided a Quaker meeting house in London on Thursday and arrested six women attending a meeting on climate change and the war in Gaza, according to a statement from Quakers UK.
The case against a carbon credit farm in Madagascar
1 Apr 2025
The Italian multinational Tozzi Green has begun planting trees on land that local residents claim was stolen from them.
Christians worldwide urged to take legal action on climate crisis
31 Mar 2025
Christians around the world are being encouraged to take legal action against polluters and those who finance them.
Digging for minerals in the Pacific’s graveyard: The $20 trillion fight over who controls the seabed
31 Mar 2025
Today, the ocean that Kahoʻohalahala and so many other Indigenous peoples crossed, cared for, and survived on is on track to be mined for polymetallic nodules.
EU encourages stockpiling of 72 hours of food for emergencies
31 Mar 2025
European households will be encouraged to stockpile 72 hours of food to deal with emergencies, according to a plan to prepare for a crisis proposed on Wednesday by the commission.
Arctic ends winter with lowest sea ice cover on record – scientists
31 Mar 2025
The new record shows how Arctic sea ice has ‘fundamentally changed’ from earlier decades, scientists said.
What the ESG backlash reveals—and what comes next
31 Mar 2025
There was a time, not long ago, when the corporate world spoke with confidence about Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Every major firm had a sustainability strategy. Reporting teams expanded. Investor decks were reworked. Boards set net-zero targets, and executives attended climate summits. The shift felt real—perhaps even irreversible.
Global soil moisture in ‘permanent’ decline due to climate change
31 Mar 2025
A new study warns that global declines in soil moisture in the 21st century could mark a “permanent” shift in the world’s water cycle.
EU appears to back down on carbon levy on international shipping
28 Mar 2025
The long-awaited carbon levy on international shipping that was to supply vital climate finance looks set to be significantly diluted, after the EU appeared to be backing down in global talks, in a blow to vulnerable countries.
Parisians vote to ban cars from 500 more streets
28 Mar 2025
Parisians have voted in favour of pedestrianising 500 more streets in the French capital, bolstering City Hall’s ongoing campaign to reduce car usage and enhance air quality.
Climate investors see opportunity in Trump’s anti-climate push
28 Mar 2025
US President Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies spell opportunity for some climate investors.
Green hydrogen has stalled in nearly every corner of Australia. So why is the government still revving it up?
28 Mar 2025
The green hydrogen revolution wasn’t supposed to go like this. In September, the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, declared Australia “the green hydrogen capital of the world” with “50-plus companies on the ground” and a pipeline of investments worth $200bn.
COP30 president vows to defend global climate fight
28 Mar 2025
Brazil's UN COP30 president on Tuesday said that this year's summit would aim to defend climate action by governments against "serious" geopolitical challenges, while also pushing the private sector to contribute more to the fight.
Why middle class Brits who think collapse is coming still stay silent
28 Mar 2025
OPINION: In one hand, an oat latte. In the other, a phone with social feeds full of doom-scroll posts about the end of the world. Across Britain, a quiet transformation is happening.
Indonesia confirms $20 billion climate deal despite US exit
27 Mar 2025
The Indonesian government confirmed a $20 billion commitment from rich nations to help it shut polluting coal plants and transition to cleaner energy sources remains in place, despite the US exit from the agreement.
China to expand carbon trading market to steel, cement and aluminium
27 Mar 2025
China released plans on Wednesday to expand its carbon trading market into the steel, cement and aluminium smelting industries, a move that will require an additional 1,500 firms to purchase credits to cover their emissions, the environment ministry said.
Colombia’s top oil company concealed environmental damages: Investigation
27 Mar 2025
A newly released investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Earthworks into the workings of Colombia’s largest company, oil and gas giant Ecopetrol, reveals a pattern of environmental negligence and corporate misconduct.
Strong support among Europeans for banning fossil fuel ads, study finds
27 Mar 2025
Almost half of people surveyed across the European Union are in favour of banning fossil fuel advertising — nearly twice as many who oppose such a move, according to a new study.
Farmers are reeling from Trump’s attacks on agricultural research
27 Mar 2025
A "rollercoaster" of funding cuts and layoffs have gutted critical agricultural research projects across the nation.
More European oil refineries to close, convert in next 10 years, panel says
27 Mar 2025
European oil refineries will have to adapt to the energy transition or face a heightened risk of closure by 2035, a panel of executives said at the Financial Times Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne on Monday.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
Fri 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.
Media round-up
Fri 20 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: 'Every tonne matters': The climate scientist who wants to give you hope; Minister says managed retreat is an option; and climate change is here – is New Zealand ready?
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.
Singapore sets first ever sustainable aviation fuel levy, as Southeast Asia’s fuel industry grows
Tue 17 Feb 2026
Flying in and out of Singapore, home to Southeast Asia’s busiest airport, will get slightly more expensive this year as the city state begins imposing a levy of between 75 cents to $32 per ticket to fund sustainable aviation fuel.
Greens slam move to disband Environment Ministry
Fri 20 Feb 2026
The Green Party has joined climate and health advocates in condemning the Government's decision to disestablish the Ministry for the Environment as part of a multi-ministry merger.
Govt’s own modelling shows LNG leads to higher electricity prices than other solutions
Thu 19 Feb 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: According to modelling conducted by Concept Consulting for MBIE, either developing the Tariki gas storage facility or managing electricity demand would deliver lower wholesale electricity prices than the Government’s preferred solution of an LNG import terminal.
New study looks to nature markets to accelerate climate response
Wed 18 Feb 2026
The Nature Conservancy is teaming up with local groups to study the most affordable and effective ways of restoring native habitats at the top of the South Island, including ways to fund the work using international voluntary carbon markets and biodiversity credits.
Carbon price drops as volatility continues
Tue 17 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market is still displaying extreme volatility, with prices dropping back to below $40 yesterday, after trading as high as $46.25 last week.
Flawed decision-making around taxing electricity to fund LNG import terminal
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: The Government's decision to back an LNG import terminal exemplifies an egregious failure in public policy and energy sector governance.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
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.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
Thu 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 market rallies but auction floor still out of reach
13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market has rallied, with secondary market prices up more than 25% in the past two weeks, although current prices in the mid-$40s are still far below this year’s $71 auction floor, with the first auction of 2026 less than three weeks away.
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.
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.
Slash for cash turns storm debris into jobs and climate resilience
Thu 19 Feb 2026
A community-led initiative in Tairāwhiti is transforming storm-damaged forestry slash into jobs, soil regeneration and long-term climate resilience.
Calls for action to reduce emissions as extreme weather bites
Tue 17 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Renewable energy advocates and environmental groups are calling for more action to reduce emissions and increase resilience as severe weather wreaks havoc across the country.
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.”
European Central Bank's green supervision grows teeth, but will banks avoid being bitten?
13 Feb 2026
After several years of issuing guidance and repeatedly calling on banks to take climate and environmental risk management seriously, the European Central Bank is moving from guidance and expectations to enforcement.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
Wed 18 Feb 2026
Tech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.
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.
Media round-up
13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
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.
Australian gas producer Santos wins court fight over net zero claims
Wed 18 Feb 2026
An Australian court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit against gas producer Santos that alleged the company misled the public on its plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
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.
Seabed miners quit South Taranaki fast-track bid
Fri 20 Feb 2026
By Craig Ashworth, Local Democracy Reporter | Would-be seabed miners have abandoned their fast-track bid to mine in South Taranaki waters, saying they can’t change the minds of the panel that rejected their application.
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.
Partnership to advance Pacific science and environmental leadership
Thu 19 Feb 2026
Media release | Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in Pacific-led science, research and capacity-building, with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and ocean stewardship.
Lawyers seek answers on climate impacts of LNG import facility
13 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action has written to Climate Change and Energy Minister Simon Watts warning that the Government's plan for an LNG import terminal could be in conflict with New Zealand’s climate obligations and emissions reduction targets.
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.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
78% of NZers want bottom trawling banned as Govt pushes to catch more coral in South Pacific
Tue 17 Feb 2026
Media release | New polling shows overwhelming support from New Zealanders for a ban on bottom trawling in the South Pacific high seas, says Greenpeace.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
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.
IEA Declaration strengthens international co-operation on critical minerals
Fri 20 Feb 2026
Media release – NZ Government | New Zealand has joined international leaders at the 2026 International Energy Agency Ministerial meeting in committing to strengthen global co-operation on critical minerals to strengthen long‑term energy security.
Antarctic sediment core reveals past ice sheet retreat during warmer climates
Wed 18 Feb 2026
A record-breaking sediment core drilled from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is giving scientists new insight into how the ice sheet responded to warmer climates in the past — and what that could mean for future sea-level rise.
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-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
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.
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.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
Wed 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.
Climate ambassador moves on
13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government is on the hunt for a new top climate diplomat, with previous climate ambassador Stu Horne moving on to a posting in Honolulu as New Zealand’s Consul General to Hawai’i.
EU to ban destruction of unsold clothes and shoes
12 Feb 2026
The European Commission has adopted new measures that will require medium and large companies to stop discarding unsold clothing and footwear, in the bloc’s latest move to target textile waste.
New research on climate adaptation as severe weather hits
Mon 16 Feb 2026
As extreme weather batters the country yet again, researchers have published the first ever empirical study of climate adaptation justice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Study finds warming world increases days when weather is prone to fires around the globe
Fri 20 Feb 2026
The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy — ideal to spark extreme wildfires — has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
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.
