Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
Momentum grows over a 'just' climate transition in Japan
1 May 2023
It is perhaps fitting that April’s Group of Seven Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment was held in Sapporo, because the view on final approach to New Chitose Airport provides a good education on the trickier aspects of Japan’s climate challenge.
Could climate change fuel war in the Arctic?
1 May 2023
Climate change is warming the Arctic up to 7 times faster than the rest of the planet. And it’s threatening peace as well as the wildlife.
‘Phenomenal’ logjam in the Canadian Arctic stores millions of tonnes of carbon: study
1 May 2023
Researchers say they have mapped the world’s largest known cumulative logjam in the Canadian Arctic and it holds millions of tonnes of carbon, representing an important but understudied part of the carbon cycle.
How religious groups are fighting climate change
1 May 2023
Many people have lost faith in the ability of governments to fight climate change. Projects involving fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas, the main culprits for the climate crisis - are going ahead in violation of scientific warnings.
Orbiting methane 'speed cameras' are catching polluters in the act
1 May 2023
Think of them as speed cameras, but for methane. Just like roadside instruments used to identify drivers breaking traffic rules, new powerful satellites are starting to catch oil and gas operators releasing the planet-warming gas into the atmosphere.
Supreme Court deals blow to oil companies by turning away climate cases
28 Apr 2023
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has allowed lawsuits brought by municipalities seeking to hold energy companies accountable for climate change to move forward in a loss for business interests.
How the world is spending $1.1 trillion on climate technology
28 Apr 2023
Big money — from the three biggest economies in the world, as well as scores of ambitious venture capitalists — is suddenly flying toward startups promising to help the world build a carbon-free future.
Victoria’s new public energy utility begins search for first renewables and storage deal
28 Apr 2023
Labor’s election promise to revive the SEC put forward a 10-year plan to invest “at least” $1 billion re-establishing the generation (and possibly retail) utility, based in the Latrobe Valley to give the state’s coal centre a key role in the energy transition.
Wall Street can help improve oceans: Belize minister
28 Apr 2023
“Belize has proven it can be done,” said Kevin Bender, senior director of sustainable debt at The Nature Conservancy. “We reduced debt burden overnight and there have been many successes in conservation so far. There were commitments to do things like move mangrove swamps to public lands and those have all been met.”
German climate activists disrupt traffic in central Berlin
28 Apr 2023
Climate activists continued their protests in Berlin on Thursday, blocking more than a dozen streets by gluing themselves to the ground.
What it takes for a volcano to impact Earth's climate
28 Apr 2023
By Erik Klemetti - Discover | Whenever images of giant ash plume show up in the news, one of the first questions that arrives in my inbox is whether that eruption will impact the Earth's climate.
Europe's ETS sets tougher target
27 Apr 2023
EU countries have given the green light to the biggest overhaul to date of the bloc’s carbon market, raising costs for polluting industries and increasing its emissions reduction target from 43% to 62% by 2030.
Record ocean temperatures put Earth in ‘uncharted territory’: scientists
27 Apr 2023
Temperatures in the world’s oceans have broken fresh records, testing new highs for more than a month in an “unprecedented” run that has led to scientists stating the Earth has reached “uncharted territory” in the climate crisis.
Germans willing to sacrifice for climate
27 Apr 2023
Two-thirds of people in Germany said they were willing to make personal sacrifices to fight climate change, according to a YouGov poll, further demonstrating the varied attitudes toward lifestyle changes for the environment among European Union countries.
Tesla’s carbon footprint is bigger than it let on
27 Apr 2023
Tesla released its 2022 Impact Report this week, and it gives the clearest picture yet of the electric car company’s carbon footprint. Tesla disclosed numbers on its supply chain emissions for the first time, which makes its overall carbon footprint much bigger than it has reported in the past.
Replacing methane with hydrogen to heat homes is a bad idea – here’s why
27 Apr 2023
Ran Boydell - The Conversation | Hydrogen is an energy-rich gas, which releases no carbon emissions when burned. It can be used in most equipment where fossil fuels such as natural gas (methane) or LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) are currently used. In your home, that might mean a gas boiler, heater, cooker or all three.
Wind farms and birds are learning to coexist
27 Apr 2023
The Fryslan wind farm in the Netherlands is a sprawling array of 109-meter turbines situated in the deep blue waters of Lake Ijssel, north of Amsterdam.
Europe’s biggest petrochemical plant in 30 years a ‘carbon bomb’, court to hear
26 Apr 2023
Environment groups challenge the decision to approve a £3.5bn Ineos facility in Antwerp, saying it will make the climate crisis worse.
EU, Norway to bolster clean energy ties, with focus on carbon and hydrogen
26 Apr 2023
The EU and Norway have established a Green Alliance to strengthen their joint climate action, environmental protection efforts and cooperation on clean energy.
Biden’s newest big climate rule will rest on rarely used technology
26 Apr 2023
The Biden administration will plunge into political and legal fights as soon as this week by proposing stringent requirements on utilities to reduce carbon emissions.
Border tax on carbon dioxide offers huge opportunity to fight climate change, say researchers
26 Apr 2023
A tax on CO2 emissions from products entering the EU offers unprecedented opportunities in the fight against global warming.
Blackout-beset South Africa may delay closing coal stations
26 Apr 2023
President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa may delay the timetable for shutting down many of its highly polluting coal-fired power stations as the nation deals with crippling daily electricity blackouts.
A Canadian businessman spent $1 million to offset his carbon footprint
26 Apr 2023
A globetrotting millionaire has calculated his carbon footprint — and then paid $1 million to offset it.
Study finds that media's climate crisis coverage sparks fear and favours avoidance
24 Apr 2023
A study has revealed that the media's coverage of climate research is, to a large extent, carried out in a way that doesn't provoke action.
Report highlights climate change danger to children's education in Pacific
24 Apr 2023
Like many mothers, Janet Iaticknu gets up in the morning and helps her children get ready for school.
Why the debt ceiling debate is also a climate fight
24 Apr 2023
Congress is once again fighting over the nation’s debt ceiling, the legal limit on how much the United States can borrow.
Panamanian tribe to be relocated from coastal island due to climate change: "There's no other option"
24 Apr 2023
For hundreds of years, the ocean has protected the Guna Yala culture on Cardi Sugdub, or Crab Island, located off the coast of Panama.
Record breaking heatwaves cause 15,000 deaths in Europe
24 Apr 2023
Record-breaking heatwaves over the last few years, affecting the Europen continent and parts of China during the summer, have caused nearly 15,700 deaths, an analysis published by the United Nations Agency for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology, and Geophysics, claimed.
Earth Day — climate, protest and policy in 2023
24 Apr 2023
As activists mark Earth Day this Saturday, it feels like the climate coverage in the first months of 2023 has been dominated by extreme weather events including droughts, fires and floods, and by images of angry protesters demanding action. But some initiatives offer a glimmer of hope and possible ways to tackle climate emergencies.
World’s first carbon import tax gets green light
21 Apr 2023
The European Parliament has approved the world’s first “carbon tax” for imported goods, imposing tariffs based on the amount of emissions generated in their production.
Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth
21 Apr 2023
Growth in oil and gas production ends immediately in Shell’s latest pathway for staying below 1.5C, new Carbon Brief analysis reveals.
Caribbean island's quest to become the world's first climate-resilient nation
21 Apr 2023
The Caribbean island of Dominica is one of the world's most at-risk places from climate change. Can it fulfil plans to become the world's first climate-resilient nation?
California researchers attempt ocean climate solution
21 Apr 2023
Atop a 100-foot barge tied up at the Port of Los Angeles, engineers have built a kind of floating laboratory to answer a simple question: Is there a way to cleanse seawater of carbon dioxide and then return it to the ocean so it can suck more of the greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere to slow global warming?
World's climate plans make for a worrying read
21 Apr 2023
According to the climate plans submitted to the UN by 50 countries, 12 gigatons of CO2 per year will continue to be emitted by 2050 -- and need to be removed from the atmosphere.
Austria's 'Climate Shakira' has come up with a novel way to try and escape deportation
21 Apr 2023
"It is sometimes quite painful. Especially when you have glued your hand already on several occasions as I did then the skin irritation gets greater each time."
The 'ninjas' fighting climate change denial on Twitter
20 Apr 2023
Secretive internet vigilantes have made it their mission to fight climate change denial on Twitter. But, as a vicious information war rages online, do they risk becoming the very trolls they claim to be targeting?
TikTok to remove climate change denial videos and direct users to 'authoritative information'
20 Apr 2023
TikTok is to start removing videos that deny the existence of climate change.
The global jet set feels the heat over climate change
20 Apr 2023
There was once a time when the global jet set aroused the admiration and envy of ordinary people when they boarded private jets for a pleasure trip to the latest in-vogue destination. These days, however, amid climate change, public attitudes have turned negative.
Australia introduces vehicle pollution rules to boost EV uptake
20 Apr 2023
Australia said on Wednesday it would introduce new standards targeting vehicle emissions to boost the uptake of electric cars, as it looks to catch up with other developed economies.
Facing brutal climate math, US bets billions on direct air capture
19 Apr 2023
The world is failing to cut carbon emissions fast enough to avoid disastrous climate change, a dawning truth that is giving life to a technology that for years has been marginal – pulling carbon dioxide from the air.
Climate pledges of world's top carbon emitters
19 Apr 2023
Despite their 2015 pledge to limit global warming by slashing carbon emissions, big countries' commitments so far still fall short of meeting the targets of the Paris Agreement, monitors say.
EU Parliament adopts 'holy trinity' of climate laws
19 Apr 2023
The European Parliament has approved three climate laws that form the heart of EU efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
Germany reaches 2022 CO2 targets, but not thanks to climate measures
19 Apr 2023
Germany met its emissions reduction targets for 2022, according to preliminary data from the country’s Climate Expert Council (Expertenrat fur Klimafragen).
Revisiting the Green Climate Fund in the Pacific
19 Apr 2023
Global climate funds have faced much criticism for failing to deliver fast and flexibly enough to match the urgency of the climate crisis, especially for the world’s most climate vulnerable countries.
'No one was prepared’: Vanuatu feels cost of climate crisis
19 Apr 2023
On the waterfront in Port Vila, Mark Philips runs an adventure tours business.
G7 vows more effort on renewables but sets no coal phaseout deadline
18 Apr 2023
The Group of Seven richest countries set higher 2030 targets for generating renewable energy, amid an energy crisis provoked by Russia's war on Ukraine, but they set no deadline to phase out coal-fired power plants.
Australian super funds sink $25 billion into coal, oil and gas
18 Apr 2023
Australia’s 15 largest super funds have invested a total of more than $25 billion into new and expanding coal, oil and gas projects, according to an analysis from The Australian Conservation Foundation.
Climate council warns Germany against 'pushing off' responsibility to Europe
18 Apr 2023
Germany must increase efforts to reduce emissions even as the European Union introduces stricter climate legislation, said Brigitte Knopf, deputy chairwoman of the country’s Council of Experts on Climate Change.
Restaurant menu labels could help fight climate change: new research
18 Apr 2023
If people had more information about the carbon footprint generated by the food they eat, would they make different decisions when ordering in restaurants?
Slow start on World Bank reform angers climate-hit countries
18 Apr 2023
The World Bank meetings were supposed to be a first step in a new era of affordable loans for developing nations hard hit by climate change like Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s Barbados, one of many Caribbean islands battered by worsening hurricanes.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
From war to weather: A ‘super El Niño’ event poses fresh risks to global food costs
Today 12:15pm
An unusually powerful El Niño later this year could exacerbate food security fears as disruption caused by the Iran war strains supply for crucial fertilier products.
$30m airline fund risks ‘burning public money’ without lasting benefit – expert
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A $30 million government package to support regional air routes risks delivering poor value for money while increasing emissions, according to transport strategist Tim Adriaansen.
Media round-up
Today 12:15pm
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Past fuel price spikes failed to shift Kiwis out of their cars with signs suggesting it’s happening again, a 'she’ll be right' attitude is not enough in a climate crisis, and should forestry be listed as critical in the government's national fuel plan?
Environmental groups launch legal action over Govt's 'tick-box approach' to conservation land
Wed 8 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Forest & Bird and the Environmental Defence Society are taking the Government to court over decisions about the future of publicly-owned land on Te Tai Poutini/the West Coast.
New alliance wants renewable-led energy – and Govt to press pause on LNG
Thu 9 Apr 2026
A newly formed coalition of business, consumer and energy organisations has unveiled a renewable-led strategy it says will strengthen the country’s energy security, and it’s calling on the Government to pause its plan for an LNG import terminal.
Carbon ‘stockpile’ up 9 million in March quarter
Today 12:15pm
By Liz Kivi | The ‘stockpile’ of pollution permits (NZUs) in private accounts has increased by just over 9 million to almost 145 million since the end of 2025, according to the latest figures from the Environmental Protection Authority.
Economic contraction will impact carbon market
1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | While higher fossil fuel prices strengthen the long-run economics of decarbonisation, the current fuel crisis won’t inspire near-term confidence in the carbon market, according to Lizzie Chambers of Carbon Match.
Activist ends five-day tree-top protest at West Coast coal mine
Today 12:15pm
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A climate activist has ended a five-day tree-top occupation that blocked access to Bathurst Resources’ Cypress Mine on the West Coast, in a protest against plans to expand what could become New Zealand’s largest coal mine.
Supply-side pressures and political uncertainty ahead for carbon market
Tue 7 Apr 2026
By Kristen Green | ANALYSIS: With failed auctions, a surge of new forestry registrations, and an election a few months away, the NZ ETS in 2026 will be subject to a mix of supply-side pressures and political uncertainty.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
Govt tweaks consenting rules for EV chargers
Today 12:15pm
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government has announced a national reset of planning rules for EV chargers, which it says aim to address infrastructure shortages which have put the brakes on electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Climate change means a 2004-level flood would likely be worse today
Today 12:15pm
By Rebecca Hogan, Local Democracy Reporter | If floods equivalent to the devastating 2004 event hit Manawatū today, it is predicted the outcome would be more extreme “as a result of climate change”.
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.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Genesis fires up pellet study with Nature’s Flame
Wed 8 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Genesis Energy is extending its quest for locally produced torrefied wood pellets to supplement coal and gas to fuel its Huntly power station, announcing it is investigating plant construction with established local solid fuels player Nature’s Flame.
A matter of strategy
Tue 7 Apr 2026
COMMENT: Even on the brink of a global commodities crisis, the possibilities for climate action aren't hopelessly foreclosed. Strategy can turn our fortunes around, writes David Hall.
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.”
FMA to ease conditions for green bond issues
31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Green, social and sustainability-linked bonds will face lower disclosure requirements and regulatory costs under a class exemption newly granted by the Financial Markets Authority.
New protections for NZ migratory species under UN convention
2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New international protections for migratory species, including several found in New Zealand, are a positive step – but global protections won’t halt the decline of migratory species on their own, experts say.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
Media round-up
20 Mar 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Crown lawyers agree High Court could quash emissions plan if found unlawful; NZ is locked in 'disaster inertia'; and climate change is notably absent from new development laws.
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.
Lawyers complain to ombudsman over Govt failure to release LNG modelling
1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman over the Government’s failure to release information about its controversial decision to build a LNG import terminal.
EA entrenches 10kW export limit for residential solar
Wed 8 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The Electricity Authority intends to require all electricity networks to offer at least a 10 kilowatt (kW) export capacity for residential rooftop and other small-scale distributed generation.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
27 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has pledged an additional $20 million to climate resilience work in Tuvalu, more than doubling Aotearoa's aid to the tiny island nation in the current financial year.
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.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
Renewable build-out runs into grid and firming limits
Wed 8 Apr 2026
New Zealand's electricity market entered 2026 with renewable generation at record levels and a substantial build pipeline finally moving from paper to construction. The harder question is whether the wider system can absorb and firm that capacity fast enough.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
25 Mar 2026
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Opposition in Golden Bay to a controversial gold mine at Sams Creek has flared up over the weekend after several activists briefly occupied a drilling site.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
Solar energy, cheap battery storage can meet 90% of India’s power demand at affordable costs: Ember report
Thu 9 Apr 2026
Battery storage is now cheap enough in India that solar power can meet 90% of the country’s power demand at lower lifetime costs than current average purchase rates in most states, a new study has found, a finding that could potentially point to a future buffer against global energy shocks.
Sci-tech prioritisation report is a joke that could cost NZ dearly, says NZ Association of Scientists
2 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Association of Scientists | The Prioritisation Report released yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Science Innovation and Technology Council makes a poor case for further cuts and changes to our research system.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
AI’s arrival complicates Big Tech climate goals, and some worry it’s locking in more fossil fuels
2 Apr 2026
Six years ago, Google was confident that by 2030 it would power all operations with electricity generated from clean sources, including wind and solar power, and remove as much pollution as it produced. Today it calls those goals a “moonshot.” Microsoft says it’s still aiming to remove more carbon than it creates by 2030 but now describes the effort as “a marathon, not a sprint.”
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.
Free fares call as fuel crisis impacts school attendance
Wed 8 Apr 2026
An open letter is urging the Government to make public transport free for all school children and subsidised for students under 25, as rising fuel costs begin to impact attendance and access to education across the country.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
Dairy farmers' lack of climate action 'even bleaker' than water inaction – Upton
1 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government projections for cutting agricultural emissions are being undermined by low farmer uptake, with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warning the country is relying on “heroic” assumptions to meet its methane targets.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Fast-track approved project could deliver NZ’s largest wind farm
Tue 7 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Government |Fast-track approval has been granted for New Zealand’s largest wind farm project.
