Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
Carbon footprint of a total knee replacement in Australia on par with driving a car from Brisbane to Sydney
27 Nov 2024
Researchers have calculated the greenhouse gas impact from a single knee replacement. A three-hour operation has similar emissions compared to a 914-kilometre car trip.
The huge, high-tech, low-carbon kitchens feeding young Kenyans
27 Nov 2024
The Giga Kitchen is the jewel in the crown of Food4Education, a Kenyan nonprofit using high-tech, low-carbon and centralized kitchens to feed students en masse in what is Africa’s largest locally led and independently run school feeding program.
COP 29’s new carbon market rules offer hope after scandal and deadlock
26 Nov 2024
Governments have given the sector fresh hope by signing off rules that will create an international carbon trading system for countries to meet their Paris commitments.
How does $300 billion stack up?
26 Nov 2024
Countries agreed at the U.N.'s COP29 climate conference to spend $300 billion on annual climate finance. Here are some ways of understanding what that sum is worth:
Global Plastic Treaty: Talks begin to finalise deal for curbing plastic pollution
26 Nov 2024
Global plastic production has increased over 200-fold to hit almost 460 million tonnes annually since 1950.
170 climate protesters arrested after allegedly disrupting shipping in New South Wales
26 Nov 2024
Two protesters have been granted bail after facing court on charges relating to an anti-fossil fuel demonstration that allegedly disrupted the shipping channel leading into the world's largest coal port.
Climate change ‘burnout’ is taking its toll
26 Nov 2024
Activists and others on the front lines of the climate crisis, one therapist says, “are living in fight-or-flight mode constantly.” Here’s their battle-tested advice.
Inside the frantic manoeuvres that saved COP29 talks at a cost
26 Nov 2024
Two weeks of difficult negotiations came to the brink of failure before settling on a $300 billion deal that flashes warnings for the future of climate diplomacy.
Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Baku
25 Nov 2024
Developed nations have agreed to help channel “at least” $300bn a year into developing countries by 2035 to support their efforts to deal with climate change.
Study finds four global policies could eliminate >90% of plastic waste and 30% of linked carbon emissions by 2050
25 Nov 2024
A study released in Science determines that just four policies can reduce mismanaged plastic waste—plastic that isn't recycled or properly disposed of and ends up as pollution—by 91% and plastic-related greenhouse gases by one-third.
Tuvalu: The disappearing island nation recreating itself in the metaverse
25 Nov 2024
Facing erasure due to climate change, the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu is digitally backing up everything from its houses to its trees as it endeavors to save whatever it can.
Athletes see climate change as threatening their sports and their health. Some are speaking up
25 Nov 2024
Athletes spoke at the United Nations climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan to talk about the threat that climate change poses to them, to fans and to sport itself.
Group of nations make COP29 pledge on no new unabated coal power
22 Nov 2024
A total of 25 countries and the European Union are pledging to commit to no new unabated coal power in their next round of national climate plans, the latest global pledge aimed at curbing use of the fuel.
'A walking conflict of interest' - oil giants' favourite PR firms at climate talks
22 Nov 2024
Fossil-friendly communications companies are represented on some national delegations to the UN climate summit, analysis finds.
A draft deal on climate money for developing world is silent on how much as UN summit nears end
22 Nov 2024
Countries of the world took turns rejecting a new but vague draft text released early Thursday which attempts to form the spine of any deal reached at United Nations climate talks on money for developing countries to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change.
Europe’s Azerbaijan gas gambit is good news for Russia
22 Nov 2024
Europe keeps striking deals with Azerbaijan, even at COP29. And while it might not be Russian gas, Moscow is still likely to benefit.
Ford cuts jobs claiming weak demand for electric cars
22 Nov 2024
The company said it had to act because of difficult trading conditions, including intense competition and weak demand for electric vehicles.
Vatican in row at climate talks over gender rights
21 Nov 2024
The Vatican has blocked discussions over women’s rights at the UN climate summit following a row over gay and transgender issues, sources have told BBC News.
‘Underwhelming’: Poor countries push for way more climate funding than the EU is floating
21 Nov 2024
Privately, however, some conceded they may have to settle for the lower figures for now as COP29 talks amble toward the finish line.
Trump’s top staff choices could have far-reaching consequences for the climate
21 Nov 2024
Several of President-elect Donald Trump’s high-ranking staff choices have close ties to the fossil fuel industry.
Billionaires, frequent flyers, oil and gas: Who could fund COP29’s $1tn finance target?
21 Nov 2024
“It makes common sense to tax mega polluters and the mega-rich to ensure that we have the money needed for climate action at home and globally” according to one campaigner.
Australia commits additional $50 million to deal with climate change
21 Nov 2024
The Australian government has committed an extra $50 million towards a global fund to deal with the loss and damage caused by climate change.
World’s 1.5C climate target ‘deader than a doornail’, experts say
20 Nov 2024
Scientists say goal to keep world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is not going to happen despite talks at Cop29 in Baku.
UN climate lead says millions of lives are at stake and delegates should 'cut the theatrics'
20 Nov 2024
As COP29, the annual U.N. global climate conference, heads into its second and final week, the United Nations' top climate representative is reminding delegates of what's at stake if they fail to act now.
Climate skeptics urge Trump to boost coal, gut science in agencies
20 Nov 2024
Activists who downplay climate change delivered a wish list to Trump’s transition team, with one calling his win “a tremendous opportunity” to reverse US policy.
'Out of sync': The trillion-dollar climate puzzle that's become a diplomatic nightmare
20 Nov 2024
Climate negotiators at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, are discussing the details of how much money rich countries should provide to poor countries to help them mitigate emissions and cope with climate impacts. What they haven't decided yet is how much it will be – or many of the other details, such as the target date to deliver the money and who will contribute.
Australia accused of ‘exporting climate destruction’ on tiny Pacific neighbours with massive gas expansion plans
20 Nov 2024
Pacific governments at a UN climate summit are criticising Australia’s plans for a massive gas industry expansion in Western Australia, saying it could result in 125 times more greenhouse gas emissions than their island nations release in a year.
G20 talks in Rio reach breakthrough on climate finance, sources say
19 Nov 2024
Diplomatic tensions over global warming spilled over into the G20 summit negotiations in Brazil this week, with sources saying the 20 major economies reached a fragile consensus on climate finance that had eluded U.N. talks in Azerbaijan.
China concerned about Trump’s climate impact, says Beijing envoy
19 Nov 2024
“Everybody’s concerned about next steps,” Beijing’s top climate envoy Liu Zhenmin tells reporters.
What is the ‘new collective quantified goal’ on climate finance?
19 Nov 2024
Countries need to invest trillions of dollars to build clean-energy systems, prepare for an increasingly hotter world and deal with the aftermath of climate change-fuelled disasters, and the UN climate convention specifically requires developed nations to provide climate finance to help developing countries do this.
Fossil fuel giants paying thousands to sponsor COP29 events
19 Nov 2024
Oil and gas majors are splashing the cash in order to have a presence at the flagship climate talks in Azerbaijan.
Is Australia's migration system ready for rising numbers of climate refugees?
19 Nov 2024
Australia is now obligated to help Tuvalu when it calls for help to respond to "the devastating impacts of climate change."
The Guardian view on Cop29: 1.5C has been passed – so speed up the green transition
19 Nov 2024
Predictions that this will be the first calendar year in which the 1.5C warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement is surpassed provide a stark backdrop to the UN’s 29th climate conference.
COP29: Six key reasons why international climate finance is a ‘wild west’
18 Nov 2024
Developed nations have committed to providing billions of dollars of “climate finance” to developing countries, as part of the global effort to tackle climate change.
The UN climate summit upends daily life in Baku
18 Nov 2024
For the millions living in and around Baku, hosting the COP29 climate summit has brought disruption — and even hardship — to their daily lives.
Barbados PM asks Donald Trump for face-to-face meeting on climate
18 Nov 2024
Mia Mottley, who has championed climate action, says she would seek common ground with the US president-elect.
Oil and gas are a 'gift of God', says COP29 host
18 Nov 2024
President Aliyev accused the West of hypocrisy for criticising country’s fossil-fuel dependence while buying its oil and gas.
‘COP Fatigue’: Experts warn that size and spectacle of global climate summit is hindering progress
18 Nov 2024
Streamlining the process by breaking up the annual climate conference into smaller events could speed progress toward limiting dangerous global warming.
Global carbon emissions inch upwards in 2024 despite progress on EVs, renewables and deforestation
15 Nov 2024
Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels continue to increase, year on year. This sobering reality will be presented to world leaders at the international climate conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
We study climate change. We can’t explain what we’re seeing
15 Nov 2024
The Earth has been exceptionally warm of late, with every month from June 2023 until this past September breaking records. It has been considerably hotter even than climate scientists expected.
UK unveils principles for voluntary market in nature credits
15 Nov 2024
The UK is setting out its own principles for the voluntary market for nature credits, representing a vote of confidence in a largely experimental financial product that’s intended to protect biodiversity.
US ‘likely’ to pledge new climate target, says White House
15 Nov 2024
Donald Trump’s return raised doubts over whether the Biden administration would still produce the plan ahead of a February deadline.
Poorer nations need $1tn a year by 2030 in climate finance, top economists find
15 Nov 2024
Study says funding to cope with climate breakdown needed five years earlier than expected.
The 100 most influential climate leaders in business for 2024
15 Nov 2024
Finance is the climate story of 2024, with decision makers, executives, researchers, and innovators around the world working to help unlock the necessary funding and resources needed to drive successful and equitable climate action.
COP29: Countries’ early delivery of national climate plans welcome, but more ambition required, say health orgs
14 Nov 2024
Media release | Welcoming the announcement of new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets by several countries during the COP29 climate summit, the Global Climate and Health Alliance said today that some of the commitments require greater ambition and clarity to lead the way on climate action that will protect people and planet.
EU all but guaranteed to miss global deadline for climate targets
14 Nov 2024
Europeans want other countries to promise ambitious action but are behind on their own plans.
Authoritarian fossil fuel states keep hosting climate conferences – how do these regimes operate and what do they want?
14 Nov 2024
For the third year in a row, the United Nations Climate Change Conference will be hosted by an authoritarian state that sells fossil fuels.
What 1.5C overshoot would mean for climate impacts and adaptation
14 Nov 2024
With average global temperatures set to see another record high this year, the chances of holding warming to no more than 1.5C continue to dwindle.
New research reveals that microplastics could be changing Earth’s climate
14 Nov 2024
Scientists discovered that microplastics act as ice nucleating particles in clouds, potentially influencing weather, climate, and even aviation safety. Microplastics in the atmosphere may alter precipitation and cloud formation, affecting climate patterns.
Critics say approval of ‘climate credits’ rules on day one of COP29 was rushed
13 Nov 2024
Agreement on rules paving way for rich countries to pay for cheap climate action abroad breaks years-long deadlock.
Farm-level emissions cuts possible, but almost everything stands in the way
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Progress to slash farming emissions is being blocked by limited farmer confidence in mitigation tools, inconsistent engagement, misinformation and a lack of clear policy signals, according to a new report.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
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.
‘Cali Fund’ aiming to raise billions for nature receives first donation – of just $1,000
16 Dec 2025
A major biodiversity fund – which could, in theory, generate billions of dollars annually for conservation – received its first donation of just $1,000 in November.
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.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
Fri 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.
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.
Global coal demand hit record high this year but is set to decline by 2030
18 Dec 2025
Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
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.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
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.
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.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
Fri 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.
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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
Fri 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”.
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.”
Westpac NZ announces partnership to form Blue Economy hub in Nelson
17 Dec 2025
Media release | Westpac NZ has announced a new three-year partnership with the Nelson Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to help accelerate the development of a sustainable marine economy – also known as the blue economy.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
12 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says New Zealand restarting fossil fuel exploration and subsidies is an obvious breach of international law, exposing the country to international and domestic litigation.
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.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
29 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Green hydrogen pioneer Hiringa Energy is deep in planning to develop an “eight-to-nine figure” methanol plant near Whanganui, using a combination of biomass and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
Insurers welcome govt decision to keep NHC levy unchanged
21 Nov 2025
Media release |The Insurance Council of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s decision to leave the Natural Hazards Commission levy unchanged, amid ongoing concerns around the cost-of-living.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
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.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
11 Dec 2025
Media release | Ten of the world’s largest oil and gas companies would create significantly more shareholder value by ending exploration and sharply curtailing upstream development, according to new analysis released today by ACCR.
Wetlands and biodiversity at risk as mining rules loosen: Greenpeace
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greenpeace says Government changes to national direction instruments under the RMA paves the way for mining in wetlands and biodiversity hotspots and will expose some of Aotearoa’s most fragile ecosystems to irreversible damage.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
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.
Offshore windfarms enhance function of coastal waters and diversity of aquatic life
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Media release | A study conducted by researchers from Murdoch University in Australia and Dalian Ocean University in China has found that offshore windfarms can improve marine ecosystems and diversify aquatic food chains.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
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.
Could tidal energy one day power NZ?
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests Aotearoa holds some of the world’s strongest tidal-stream energy potential – enough to generate up to 93% of today’s electricity use – but one expert cautions that extracting energy at such a scale could have significant impacts and remains highly uncertain.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
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.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
31 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government is expected to repeal the oil and gas ban today, with a last-minute amendment handing discretionary power to two ministers over the controversial issue of decommissioning.
The surprisingly convincing case against cars
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Life After Cars dares to imagine how different, and enriching, a car-free world could be.
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.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | This year New Zealand had its hottest spring since records began, with widespread heat, rainfall extremes and destructive wind driven by sudden stratospheric warming.
Media round-up
12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
