Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
US plans to push for curbs on methane emissions worldwide at key UN meet
22 Nov 2023
Curbing methane is the fastest and cheapest way to keep average temperature rise under 1.5 degrees Celsius, a US state department official said.
COP28 must not repeat the mistakes of the Africa Climate Summit
22 Nov 2023
Lobbyists for big emitters in the Global North must not be allowed to push false solutions on COP28.
Anti-green backlash hovers over COP climate talks
21 Nov 2023
War, a fossil fuel boom and populist revolts are sapping the optimism from the fight against climate change. And then there’s Trump.
Oil and gas companies are digging in. That’s why COP28 must force a phase-down of fossil fuels
21 Nov 2023
COP28 is just a few weeks away, and if we are to have any hope of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees and a positive outcome at the conference, we must see the oil and gas sector start to move the needle.
Warming of 2C would trigger ‘catastrophic’ loss of world’s ice, new report says
21 Nov 2023
Global warming of 2C would see “extensive, long-term and essentially irreversible” losses from the Earth’s ice sheets and glaciers, warns a new report.
Gaza at risk from climate crisis: conflict compounds looming environmental disaster
21 Nov 2023
On November 18 2023, the planet’s temperature went past the 2.0 degree Celsius barrier for the first time. It’s temporary—but it’s a terrible reminder that we’re now in the desperate end game for global warming.
Record-breaking heat set to hit southern hemisphere as summer begins
21 Nov 2023
The northern hemisphere experienced a sweltering summer due to climate and meteorological patters. Scientists say the south will not escape.
To meet climate goals, Gulf countries will have to overhaul everything
21 Nov 2023
When Dubai hosts the COP28 climate conference, the tension between Gulf countries’ net-zero targets and reliance on fossil fuels will be front and center.
What happens when you put a fossil fuel exec in charge of solving climate change?
20 Nov 2023
For a taste of the United Arab Emirates, try the cappuccino at Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace hotel. At around $25, it’s a quality cup of coffee, but the gold flakes that come sprinkled on top are its primary selling point.
Neighbourhoods submerged following flash floods in the Horn of Africa
20 Nov 2023
More than 100 people, including 16 children, have died and over 700,000 been forced out of their homes in the Horn of Africa due to flash flooding.
Plants are likely to absorb more CO₂ in a changing climate than we thought
20 Nov 2023
The world’s vegetation has a remarkable ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air and store it as biomass.
Report: Climate change impacts on water are profound and unequal
20 Nov 2023
Climate change is intensifying rainfall and floods, deepening droughts, and shifting weather patterns across the globe, threatening terrestrial freshwater supplies and water quality, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
One solution to fight climate change? Fewer parking spaces.
20 Nov 2023
Less parking could pave the way for denser housing and more accessible public transportation.
Is ocean iron fertilisation back from the dead as a CO₂ removal tool?
20 Nov 2023
Scientists are saying the controversial geoengineering approach to ocean iron fertilisation has the potential to remove “gigatons per year” of carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere.
Global efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C are failing in every way
17 Nov 2023
The world is lagging significantly behind the pace and scale that’s needed to address the climate crisis, according to a new report.
EU greenhouse gas emissions drop 5% in the second quarter
17 Nov 2023
Greenhouse gas emissions in the EU fell by more than 5% in the second quarter of 2023, with the biggest decline recorded in electricity and gas supply.
Eight ways Asia is using nature to adapt to the climate crisis
17 Nov 2023
In just the last few months, Asia has endured droughts, record-breaking heat, and multiple super typhoons, a bout of extreme weather that experts say will only get worse as the planet warms.
Climate change to impact brain function too: study
17 Nov 2023
Scientists are concerned that climate change may not only lead to increased flooding and wildfires, but also have an impact on people’s brains.
Siemens energy suffers $4.9b annual loss, will review wind portfolio
17 Nov 2023
Siemens Energy posted an annual loss of $4.9 billion US in its earnings report, which the company attributed primarily to its beleaguered wind turbine unit.
Heat-related deaths could increase fivefold by middle of 21st century
16 Nov 2023
Heat-related deaths could increase almost fivefold by the middle of the century, according to an international WHO co-authored report by more than 100 researchers.
New study highlights need to address risk of continued global warming after net zero
16 Nov 2023
From scorching heat waves to torrential downpours and devastating storms, the disastrous effects of global warming are sweeping across the world.
Forests could absorb much more carbon, but does it matter?
16 Nov 2023
Protecting forests globally could vastly increase the amount of carbon they sequester, a new study finds, but given our current emissions track, does it really matter?
Amsterdam marchers demand climate action as Dutch election nears
16 Nov 2023
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Amsterdam on Sunday demanding immediate action against climate change, 10 days before the country holds a general election.
New US climate report: land theft and colonisation amplify the climate crisis for Indigenous peoples
16 Nov 2023
The report concludes that Indigenous self-determination is a key climate solution — if the federal government can get behind it.
Documents reveal the gas industry’s use of tobacco tactics over gas stove emissions
16 Nov 2023
A new investigation illuminates the gas industry’s 50-year PR campaign weaponizing science to promote doubt over the health effects of gas stoves and obstruct regulation.
Countries’ emissions plans put the world ‘wildly off track’ to contain global heating, UN assessment shows
15 Nov 2023
The UN has found that even if countries enact all of their current climate pledges, planet-heating pollution in 2030 will still be 9% higher than it was in 2010.
World’s biggest carbon storage project off WA coast burying only a third of what it promised
15 Nov 2023
After seven years of operation US giant Chevron is burying just a third of the carbon pollution it committed to burying at its Gorgon gas export project.
Study: Forests with multiple tree species 70% more effective carbon sinks than monoculture forests
15 Nov 2023
To slow the effects of climate change, conserve biodiversity, and meet the sustainable development goals, replanting trees is vital.
Italy's extreme drought mirrors climate in Ethiopia as climate change creates 'whiplash' of extremes
15 Nov 2023
Climate change is creating a "whiplash effect", with drought-prone areas flooding and wet areas drying out. Researchers say it is having a devastating effect on millions living in poverty.
Why polar bears are no longer the poster image of climate change
15 Nov 2023
For decades distressed polar bears on distant ice caps were an emblem for climate change – until experts began to doubt the effectiveness of these visuals.
The reappearing forests of West Bengal
15 Nov 2023
The trees in this corner of India vanished decades ago, leaving heat waves and drought. What happened when they returned proves the healing power of reforestation.
Defrosting US-China relationship offers tantalising hope for climate action
14 Nov 2023
Even though we now have the Paris agreement, cooperation between the world’s two biggest emitters, US and China, is still crucial.
Oil companies attending climate talks have minimal green energy transition plans, analysis finds
14 Nov 2023
In 2022, a Brazilian oil and gas company had 68 places staked out for oil exploration off the South American coast, searching for new reserves while spending $6.9 billion in oil development projects.
UK manufacturers call for EU-aligned carbon border tax
14 Nov 2023
A new poll of UK businesses has found that almost three-quarters would support the introduction of a carbon border adjustment mechanism that mirrors the one coming into force across Europe.
Continued rise in CO2: "This insanity cannot continue"
14 Nov 2023
OPINION: The cryosphere — Earth’s ice sheets, sea ice, permafrost, polar oceans, glaciers and snow — is ground zero for climate change, and it pays no attention to rhetoric, only to our actions.
China’s emissions set to fall in 2024 after record growth in clean energy
14 Nov 2023
China’s carbon dioxide emissions are set to fall in 2024 and could be facing structural decline, due to record growth in the installation of new low-carbon energy sources.
Does the world have enough minerals for low-carbon electricity?
14 Nov 2023
Total reserves are not the issue – mine construction and geopolitical risks are likely to be larger barriers to progress.
Australia boosts regional security influence with Tuvalu accord
13 Nov 2023
Australia has signed a security, climate change and migration accord with Tuvalu, which analysts say also highlights Canberra’s attempts to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
Countries meet in Kenya to thrash out global plastic pollution treaty
13 Nov 2023
Delegates in Nairobi for talks in what experts say could be most important multilateral treaty since Paris accord.
‘Take it or leave it’: Acrimony flares amid tenuous agreement on climate aid
13 Nov 2023
The U.S. pushed for voluntary payments in a high-stakes negotiation over a global fund for climate disasters.
France moves into action with new climate plan, green industry makeover
13 Nov 2023
France has unveiled a new strategy for climate action with a view to slashing its carbon emissions by 55 percent compared to 1990 levels by the end of this decade.
China on alert for extreme winter weather as El Nino adds to global warming mix
13 Nov 2023
Each part of the country should prepare for its own combination of extreme weather risks this winter, the China Meteorological Administration said.
Which islands will become uninhabitable first due to climate change?
13 Nov 2023
Climate change is raising sea levels, and many low-lying islands are at risk. But determining which communities will be first to leave is impossible to answer.
Extreme heat: 2023 set to be warmest on record
10 Nov 2023
It is now "virtually certain" that 2023 - a year of deadly heatwaves, floods and fires - will be the warmest on record, new data suggests.
Canada on track to miss 2030 emissions targets
10 Nov 2023
Canada is set to miss its 2030 target to cut carbon emissions by at least 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, according to the latest audit from the commissioner of the environment's office.
OPINION: How climate research is polluted by fossil fuel money — and how to fix it
10 Nov 2023
It's no secret that Sultan Al Jaber, president-designate of COP28, has a contradictory role as head of a fossil fuel company. But his situation points to a broader web of conflicts of interest that endangers climate progress.
China unveils action plan to reduce methane emissions
10 Nov 2023
China published its long-awaited plan to tackle climate-warming methane on Tuesday, but included no firm targets for reducing those emissions - only goals for re-using them as fuel.
Amid tensions with US, China tightens controls over exports and imports of key commodities
10 Nov 2023
China has asked exporters to report transactions of strategically important rare earth metals and oxide products, as economic security remains high on the agenda for policymakers.
UK watering down net zero policies 'will lead to rising deaths from global heating'
10 Nov 2023
The ‘watering down’ of net zero policies ‘will ensure that the number of deaths due to the impact of global heating on the UK population will keep on rising’, says climate scientist Bill McGuire.
‘Insanity’: petrostates planning huge expansion of fossil fuels, says UN report
9 Nov 2023
The world’s fossil fuel producers are planning expansions that would blow the planet’s carbon budget twice over, a UN report has found. Experts called the plans “insanity” which “throw humanity’s future into question”.
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'.
