Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
Key oil project must count full climate impact - court
24 Jun 2024
The Supreme Court has ruled a local council should have considered the full climate impact of burning oil from new wells - a landmark decision which could put future UK oil and gas projects in question.
US official warns against dropping 2030 climate targets after Dutton refuses to commit to 43% emissions cut
24 Jun 2024
A senior US official has urged Australia and other countries not to back away from their 2030 climate commitments, insisting that “we all have a collective responsibility for the planet we live in”.
California seeks to seize big oil companies’ profits in climate greenwashing suit
24 Jun 2024
California’s Attorney General announced the state would seek to seize the “illegally obtained profits” of several big oil companies, for falsely advertising the environmental sustainability attributes of their products.
Telstra ditches carbon credits to push harder on direct emissions
24 Jun 2024
Australia's telco giant is dumping its carbon credit offset scheme and claims its plans are “carbon neutral” or “carbon offset”, instead moving to a direct-investment model.
#ShowYourStripes Day: what the ‘warming stripes’ tell us
24 Jun 2024
Climate scientist Ed Hawkins created the “warming stripes” visual representations of annual or monthly temperature anomalies for a specific location or region over the past 100+ years.
Fossil fuel use reaches global record despite clean energy growth
21 Jun 2024
Report finds developing countries are increasing reliance on coal, gas and oil as overall demand for energy rises.
Stonehenge covered in powder paint by Just Stop Oil
21 Jun 2024
Part of Stonehenge has been covered in orange powder paint by protesters, the day before celebrations begin for the Summer Solstice at the 5,000-year-old landmark.
“Ineffective, harmful": Science Based Targets initiative and carbon offsetting
21 Jun 2024
The Science Based Targets initiative's announcement that it would allow carbon offsetting to meet Scope 3 emissions reduction targets was a shock — even to people working at SBTi.
Insurer says industry failed to estimate impact of extreme weather
21 Jun 2024
Global insured losses from natural catastrophes exceeded $100bn for fourth consecutive year in 2023.
India reports over 40,000 suspected heatstroke cases over summer
21 Jun 2024
India recorded more than 40,000 suspected heatstroke cases this summer as a prolonged heatwave killed more than 100 people across the country.
Lessons from trade tensions targeting “overcapacity” in China’s cleantech industry
20 Jun 2024
Comment: Clean technology is turning into the next global climate spat. The debate over China’s dominance is highly politicised, but there are ways forward.
New building designs use pumped hydro to generate power
20 Jun 2024
Architects and engineers are collaborating with an energy storage company to design skyscrapers that leverage gravity to generate electricity.
Cars are slowing down in European cities
20 Jun 2024
Across Europe, cities are proving that lowering speed limits makes neighbourhoods safer and more livable while reducing dependence on cars.
Study reveals impact of surface coal mining on carbon sequestration
20 Jun 2024
Surface coal mining and subsequent restoration activities significantly impact regional carbon sinks, particularly vegetation.
Researchers say low-sulphur shipping rules made climate change worse
20 Jun 2024
The rule change resulted in an 80% reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions, a team of scientists said, and may help to explain why last year’s record-breaking heat was so extreme.
Scotland misses another climate change target
20 Jun 2024
The Scottish government has missed another of its key annual targets for reducing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
EU states push past opposition to adopt landmark nature restoration law
19 Jun 2024
The law includes legally binding targets and obligations for not only preserving, but restoring natural habitats.
How climate change is hitting Europe: three graphics reveal health impacts
19 Jun 2024
A growing body of research reveals the deaths and diseases linked to rising temperatures across the continent.
Record-breaking US heat wave scorches the Midwest and Northeast, bringing safety measures
19 Jun 2024
Stifling heat blanketed tens of millions across United States on Tuesday, forcing people and even zoo animals to find ways to cool down as summer arrives in what promises to be a sweltering week.
New finance goal needed to protect climate momentum from a Trump win
19 Jun 2024
Comment: The victims of the climate crisis will need support, and the energy transition will need to be funded, whoever is elected as the next US president.
More than 800 coal plants worldwide could be profitably decommissioned
19 Jun 2024
More than 800 coal-fired power plants in emerging countries could be decommissioned and profitably replaced by cleaner solar energy starting from the end of the decade.
Australia’s foreign affairs minister warns dropping 2030 climate targets would abandon Pacific nations
18 Jun 2024
Foreign Affairs Minister labels the Coalition's decision to rule out setting a 2030 climate target as a move that will increase energy bills and risk further Chinese influence in the Pacific.
UN food chief: Poorest areas have zero harvests left
18 Jun 2024
Droughts and flooding have become so common in some of the poorest places, that the land can no longer sustain crops, said the director of the World Food Programme’s global office.
Global Environment Facility will give $736 million to environmental projects
18 Jun 2024
GEF will consider projects that protect biodiversity, counter climate change and pollution, and support land and ocean health.
Large birds can boost forest carbon storage — if deforestation doesn’t interfere
18 Jun 2024
A new study shows large fruit-eating birds in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest can contribute to a 38% increase in carbon storage by regenerating tropical forest.
Polarisation and risk perception could play important roles in climate policy outcomes
18 Jun 2024
Times of crises often call for strong and rapid action, but in polarised societies, strong top-down policies can backfire.
Deadly heat waves in Mecca and Greece underscore climate crisis
18 Jun 2024
As the U.S. faces another potentially record heat wave this week, the Middle East and Europe's Mediterranean have endured extreme temperatures that have proven deadly.
Bonn climate talks: Key outcomes from UN conference
17 Jun 2024
Climate diplomats have finished another two weeks of intense negotiations in the German city of Bonn, discussing global efforts to cut emissions and protect people from climate hazards.
‘The time is right’ for US to catch up on high-speed rail, says British Amtrak exec
17 Jun 2024
With half a dozen US rail projects in the works, Andy Byford thinks Americans will soon clamor for 200mph train lines.
What grief for a dying planet looks like: Climate scientists on the edge
17 Jun 2024
Desperate climate scientists embrace civil disobedience and specialised therapy to deal with their growing anxiety over global warming.
How congestion pricing makes cities more livable
17 Jun 2024
As New York puts its gridlock-busting plans on hold, the success of congestion pricing elsewhere proves it’s not just smart — it’s popular.
The motley (star-studded) crew that paved the way for Norway’s EV revolution
17 Jun 2024
An activist, a professor and the lead singer of A-ha drove a makeshift electric car across Norway in the 1980s, skirting road regulations, to make a point to the government that policies around EVs needed to change.
This city just made it illegal to advertise SUVs. Here’s why.
17 Jun 2024
Edinburgh became the latest European capital city to ban ads for aviation, SUVs and more.
The world could soon see a massive oil glut
14 Jun 2024
The world could have a glut of oil by the end of the decade because of rising production combined with declining demand as consumers and businesses switch to electric vehicles and renewable energy.
EU hits Chinese EVs with tariffs, drawing rebuke from Beijing
14 Jun 2024
The European Commission said it will impose extra duties of up to 38.1% on imported Chinese electric cars from July, risking retaliation from Beijing.
The Tory network of climate denial and fossil fuel funding
14 Jun 2024
DeSmog catalogues how oil and gas firms have forged ties with the highest levels of government in the UK, as well as with the media and influential think tanks.
Russia’s war with Ukraine accelerating global climate emergency, report shows
14 Jun 2024
Most comprehensive analysis ever of conflict-driven climate impacts shows emissions greater than those generated by 175 countries in a year.
Florida’s 2024 hurricane season arrives with a rainy deluge
14 Jun 2024
Dangerous flooding from a tropical disturbance inundated much of southern Florida, blocking roads, floating vehicles and delaying the Florida Panthers on their way to Stanley Cup games.
G7 coal charade: Funding the fire they claim to fight
14 Jun 2024
COMMENT: Rich countries should take concrete steps to stem the global flow of funds from their commercial banks which are fuelling expansion of the coal industry.
Swiss parliament spurns European climate ruling
13 Jun 2024
The Swiss parliament voted to snub a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that accused the country of being ineffective in fighting climate change.
Nitrous oxide emissions are accelerating with growing demand for fertilizer and meat
13 Jun 2024
Food’s role in climate change has emerged as one of the defining challenges of our time.
China to reach 2030 solar and wind energy target five years ahead of schedule
13 Jun 2024
China is expected to exceed its 2030 solar and wind energy target already in 2025, when its solar and wind capacity is projected to reach 1,720 GW, GlobalData said.
What do the European elections mean for EU climate action?
13 Jun 2024
This week’s European parliamentary election results saw parties on the populist right making big gains in France and Germany, while the historic “green wave” of 2019 receded.
The anti-windfarm 'odd couple' joining forces to fight the renewable energy projects Australia's already failing to build
13 Jun 2024
Deep in coal country, a lifelong environmentalist and one-time Greens candidate is feeling the applause.
Canada signs second deal to guarantee price of captured carbon
13 Jun 2024
The Canada Growth Fund, a federal clean-tech financing agency, signed its second deal to backstop carbon prices with a proposed Alberta facility that would convert landfill waste to electricity and sequester the resulting carbon emissions.
EU climate policies could be slowed in future after rightward shift in election
12 Jun 2024
A more rightward-leaning European Parliament will make it harder to pass ambitious EU climate policies, but the majority of current world-leading green policies are likely to stay put, analysts said.
Bonn bulletin: Fossil fuel transition left homeless
12 Jun 2024
Countries clash over where to negotiate the shift away from dirty energy agreed at COP28, while talks on a new climate finance goal make little progress.
Supreme court ruling delays climate litigation big oil has sought to thwart
12 Jun 2024
The supreme court asked the Biden administration to weigh in on big oil’s request to thwart litigation that could put them on the hook for billions of dollars.
Are we finally hitting a sweet spot in the energy transition?
12 Jun 2024
COMMENT: The race between a rapidly unraveling climate and a rapid buildout of renewable energy will determine just how many people die, how many cities drown, and how many species survive.
Brazil police raid Amazon carbon credit projects
12 Jun 2024
The Brazilian Federal Police arrested people and seized assets linked to some of the country’s largest carbon credit projects.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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'.
