Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
Fringe climate proposal of a giant space parasol gains interest
8 Feb 2024
A small but growing number of astronomers and physicists are proposing a potential fix that could have leapt from the pages of science fiction: the equivalent of a giant beach umbrella, floating in outer space.
To help Chinese communities adapt to climate change, listen to them
8 Feb 2024
A survey in southern China’s Pearl River Delta, a region prone to flooding and storm surges, provides insights into climate adaptation strategies.
Facing farm protests, EU eases demands in 2040 climate proposal
7 Feb 2024
The EU executive dropped specific references to agriculture emissions cuts as farmers protest across Europe.
Scientists challenge ‘flawed communication’ of study claiming 1.5C warming breach
7 Feb 2024
Scientists have challenged the conclusions of a new study suggesting that the planet has already exceeded the 1.5C warming threshold set under the Paris Agreement.
After 38 attacks on art, climate protesters have fallen into big oil’s trap – it’s time to change tack
7 Feb 2024
Repetition has blunted the art museum protests so much that the pumpkin soup assault on the Mona Lisa felt pathetic. More effective tactics are needed.
How craftivism is powering 'gentle protest' for climate
7 Feb 2024
Twenty years after "craftivism" was born, Future Planet traces its threads through the climate movement.
Shopping ‘wonky’ keeps imperfect goods from going to waste
7 Feb 2024
A trend that started with fresh produce is now giving new life to toys, homewares, beauty products and beyond.
Climate change presents public messaging challenge for scientists
7 Feb 2024
Distinctive meanings for a word like “risk” can have a big impact on public messaging, especially when it comes to issues like climate change.
“Shameful”: Shell uses carbon credits under investigation to meet climate targets
5 Feb 2024
The oil and gas giant offset part of its emissions with over a million credits from Chinese projects suspended because of integrity concerns.
Research undermines claims that soil carbon can offset livestock emissions
5 Feb 2024
Study is “a nail in the coffin” for the idea that the global ruminant sector can be climate positive at its current scale.
China vows to boost farm output, seed research in renewed food security, tech self-reliance push
5 Feb 2024
Annual rural policy blueprint from State Council vows to stabilise grain-planting area and focus on ‘significantly increasing per-unit yield’.
US states consider a new way to make oil companies pay for climate impacts
5 Feb 2024
Vermont joins three others in a multi-state effort to hold Big Oil accountable for the expensive damage wrought by climate change.
Meet the young Peruvians fighting in court for climate action
5 Feb 2024
Seven youth plaintiffs, ages ranging from 14 to 16, argue that the state is violating their right to a healthy environment by failing to curb Amazon deforestation and mitigate climate change.
The Marshall Islands aren’t giving in to sea level rise
5 Feb 2024
The precariously placed island nation has put together a comprehensive—if expensive—plan to survive sea level rise.
The planet is dangerously close to this climate threshold. Here’s what 1.5°C really means
2 Feb 2024
Federal and international climate officials recently confirmed that 2023 was the planet’s hottest year on record — and that 2024 may be even hotter.
Climate change will kill 14.5 million people globally by 2050 — but mostly not directly
2 Feb 2024
Climate change is triggering a global health crisis that may approach the death toll of some of history’s deadliest plagues.
Wildfire rages through national park in Argentina
2 Feb 2024
More than a hundred firefighters are battling to control a forest fire in Chubut province, in southern Argentina.
A veteran adviser is taking over as top US climate diplomat
2 Feb 2024
John Podesta, a Democratic political strategist and energy expert, will succeed John Kerry at a crucial time for President Biden’s climate agenda.
For COP29 to succeed, rich nations must get their parliaments to agree more finance now
2 Feb 2024
Rich nations always say they need their parliament's approval for climate finance at Cops – now is the time to start.
Climate change behind Africa cholera surge, top health officials say
2 Feb 2024
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the continent’s chief health advisory body, has tied the worst outbreak of cholera in three years to climate change.
With the world stumbling past 1.5 degrees of warming, scientists warn climate shocks could trigger unrest and authoritarian backlash
1 Feb 2024
Most of the public seems unaware that global temperatures will soon push past the target to which the U.N. hoped to limit warming, but researchers see social and psychological crises brewing.
China's wind, solar capacity forecast to overtake coal in 2024
1 Feb 2024
The China Electricity Council in a yearly report said grid-connected wind and solar would make up around 40% of installed power generation capacity by the end of 2024, compared with coal's expected 37%.
Saudi Arabia ditches plan to raise oil production
1 Feb 2024
World’s biggest exporter says it will no longer seek to increase output to 13mn barrels a day.
In carbon terms, grass-feed beef is not the greenest choice
1 Feb 2024
When researchers factored in land use, they found pasture-finished beef was significantly more carbon-intensive than the grain-finished alternative.
How many birds do wind farms kill?
1 Feb 2024
Wind farms kill far less than other hazards, but there are still ways that we can reduce them.
China installed more solar panels last year than the US has in total
31 Jan 2024
China is the world leader in renewable energy, including 40 percent of the planet’s entire solar capacity, reported Rystad Energy. The United States comes in second place with 12 percent.
A giant fund for climate disasters will soon open. Who should be paid first?
31 Jan 2024
More than three billion people stand to benefit from a historic climate loss-and-damage fund. But spending it involves agonising choices about who has suffered most.
New York’s first all-electric skyscraper doesn’t use a drop of fossil fuel
31 Jan 2024
The architects behind this 44-story tower explain how they designed it to run on electricity alone.
Scientists think the way humans have evolved may be preventing us from solving climate change
31 Jan 2024
While studying human evolution to find solutions for the growing climate crisis, researchers found a mix of encouraging and depressing results.
As a Swiss glacier melts, a trove of invaluable climate data is being lost
31 Jan 2024
By analysing ice collected from glaciers, scientists can study the past composition of the atmosphere and better understand how humans have altered the climate.
Climate change worsens human trafficking of the poor in Sierra Leone
31 Jan 2024
Sierra Leone’s poorest communities have long been prey to human traffickers. Climate change is making things worse.
East Africa's new love affair with geothermal energy
30 Jan 2024
There has been little interest in geothermal power in East Africa but Kenya's trailblazing energy transformation policy is now inspiring others.
COP29 host Azerbaijan launches green energy unit to sceptical response
30 Jan 2024
Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas firm promises a green push but a lack of climate policies and plans to expand gas production are causing scepticism.
Chicago could be first major Midwestern city to ban gas in new construction
30 Jan 2024
Buildings are Chicago’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, but efforts to decarbonize them are facing union opposition.
Electric vehicles use half the energy of gas-powered vehicles
30 Jan 2024
US residents are collectively burning about 8.9 million barrels of gasoline a day, or a little over one gallon each for every person in the country.
Migratory birds are struggling to adapt to climate change
30 Jan 2024
Alarming new research has uncovered the profound effects of climate change on migratory birds.
The race to build climate-resilient coral reefs
30 Jan 2024
Novel restoration methods can speed up the recovery of threatened corals – but for a lasting impact, they need to be backed by action to stop ocean warming.
Clean energy was top driver of China’s economic growth in 2023
29 Jan 2024
Clean energy contributed a record US$1.6tn to China’s economy in 2023, accounting for all of the growth in investment and a larger share of economic growth than any other sector.
Climate change driving South America dengue spike
29 Jan 2024
South America is seeing a surge in cases of the mosquito-borne disease dengue during the southern hemisphere summer, prompting Brazil to roll out a novel vaccine campaign.
World's largest cruise ship sets sail amid climate concerns
29 Jan 2024
The world's largest cruise ship has set sail from Miami, Florida, on its maiden voyage, but there are concerns about the vessel's methane emissions.
Collaboration key to curbing plastic pollution
29 Jan 2024
OPINION: Investing in industry–academic partnerships is the most effective path to solving the plastic pollution crisis and mitigating harm to the environment and to humans.
How nature can fight climate change - and how it can't
29 Jan 2024
With research showing that nature is already "mopping up" about half of human-caused greenhouse-gas emissions every year, natural climate solutions are moving into the mainstream.
Could 'apocalyptic optimism' be the antidote for 'climate fatalism'?
29 Jan 2024
OPINION: I call myself an apocalyptic optimist. I believe we can save ourselves from the climate crisis that we have caused; I also believe it will only be possible with a mass mobilization driven by the pain and suffering of climate shocks around the world.
Biden administration reportedly pauses approval of ‘carbon mega bomb’ gas export hub
26 Jan 2024
The Biden administration will reportedly pause a decision on approving what would be one of the world’s largest gas export hubs, amid concern from climate experts that greenlighting the project would create a “carbon mega bomb”.
Carbon startups pin hopes on future regulation to boost their fortunes
26 Jan 2024
Carbon credits startup, Ceezer, is part of the new wave of tech-driven offsetting and/or removal platforms trying to bring transparency and cohesion to a sector that has been rocked by charges of “green-washing”.
The propane industry is trying to dupe you
26 Jan 2024
Documents and recordings obtained by HEATED detail a multi-million dollar plan to spin the fossil fuel as "clean" and "renewable".
New Shell files could aid climate cases, attorneys say
26 Jan 2024
Newly-discovered Shell documents dating back decades could help strengthen lawsuits aiming to hold the oil major to account for climate damages, climate attorneys say.
Pre-pesticides, pro-farmer: the rise of agroecology
26 Jan 2024
One part ancient practices, one part worker justice, a new-old way of farming is adapting agriculture for an uncertain world.
Climate change drives Amazon rainforest's record drought, study finds
26 Jan 2024
Climate change is the main culprit for a record drought in the Amazon rainforest that has drained rivers, killed endangered dolphins and upended life for millions of people in the region, according to a study.
IPCC: Govts split on ‘accelerated’ climate reports for next UN global stocktake
25 Jan 2024
Governments have decided against adopting a new structure for the next IPCC assessment cycle, committing instead to the traditional set of three “working group” reports and just one “special” report.
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'.
