Topics tagged with 'Carbon prices'
The carbon tax wasn’t a ‘slug’ to the economy and Direct Action may be a waste of money
29 Jun 2015
Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, writing in the Fairfax opinion pages, has said that the now abolished carbon tax was a far more expensive way to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions than the Direct Action policy that replaced it.
Quiet on local market
26 Jun 2015
Carbon continues to be quiet, with spot NZUs closing at $6.70. OMFinancial reports:
Spot NZUs quiet
23 Jun 2015
Carbon had a quiet day Monday; spot NZUs closed at $6.85. OMFinancial reports:
NZUs hold buyers' interest
22 Jun 2015
Carbon closed at $6.75 Friday, with good interest, and depth both ways. OMFinancial reports:
Spot NZUs corrects slightly but remains a buy
19 Jun 2015
NZUs closed at $6.80 yesterday, correcting slightly from $7.10, but remains firm. OMFinancial reports:
Spot NZUs remain firm
17 Jun 2015
NZUs traded at $7.10 yesterday and closed at $7.05 on Commtrade; well bid and offered into the close. OMFInancial reports:
European power is slipping away from King Coal
15 Jun 2015
Coal, the muscle that for two centuries powered Europe’s economic dominance of the world, is steadily losing its grip as cleaner fuels take its place and energy efficiency cuts electricity consumption, according to new analysis.
Spot NZUs equal April's high
15 Jun 2015
Carbon closed at $6.70 on Friday, back at the previous recent high seen on April 8. OMFinancial reports:
Prices continue to rise
10 Jun 2015
Carbon traded up to $5.55 on small volume following yesterday’s big day. OMFinancial reports:
Good volumes of spot NZUs traded
9 Jun 2015
Spot NZUs traded 385,000 tonnes yesterday between $5.30 and $5.55. OMFinancial reports:
Spot NZUs may have bottomed
8 Jun 2015
Spot NZUs traded 70k on Friday to close unchanged at $5.40. OMFinancial reports:
Spot NZUs trade up
5 Jun 2015
It was quite a busy day for NZUs yesterday, with spot carbon closing up 13 cents to $5.40 on 50,000 tonnes.
Treasury tells Government how to cut emissions
2 Jun 2015
Treasury has told the Government that if it wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions it should introduce a carbon price floor, get rid of the two-for-one provisions or cut the number of free carbon credits it gives to emitters.
It's a Mexican stand-off...
27 May 2015
There was no change in spot carbon yesterday, with NZUs fixing at $5.27. OMFinancial reports:
Spot NZUs could go lower, but are still good buying
25 May 2015
Spot carbon traded at $5.15 on Friday. OMFinancial reports:
NZUs trade to six-month low
21 May 2015
Another busy day for spot NZUs, with the market dealing $5.35 in early trading before closing at $5.20 on 150k.
Forest policy action pleases timber industry
18 May 2015
The Government appears to be putting in place the ingredients of a national forestry policy, an industry leader says.
Why the Government's forestry policies are not working
18 May 2015
Labour Party climate changes spokesperson MEGAN WOODS on why the Government’s forestry policies are failing:
Spot NZUs hit $6.05 on small volume
14 May 2015
Spot NZUs got paid at $6.05 today on very small volume. OMFinancial reports:
At last, Government reveals cost of gases reduction
11 May 2015
The Government has revealed how much it thinks cutting greenhouse gases might cost the country.
Keep buying the dips
6 May 2015
Spot NZUs traded at $6 yesterday for 15,000 tonnes. OMFinancial reports:
NZ carbon is domestic at last
4 May 2015
Spot NZUs continue to cling to the $6 level, closing at $6.07 on CommTrade Friday. OMFinancial reports:
Apparently, we're going to slash thousands of tonnes of emissions by 2020
28 Apr 2015
The Government expects the Emissions Trading Scheme to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 10,000 kilotonnes in 2020.
NZUs settle at the end of the week
28 Apr 2015
A quiet end to the week for carbon, ahead of a long weekend. OMFinancial reports:
Procurement interest still there
20 Apr 2015
Spot NZUs drifted down on Friday, ending at $6.30 on 60,000 NZUs. OMFinancial reports:
Spot NZUs may head lower in the short-term
17 Apr 2015
You might think we call this market only one way, says OMFinancial:
Quiet day on the market
16 Apr 2015
The market was reasonably quiet overall yesterday. OMFinancial reports:
We could be heading for a multi-billion-dollar carbon hangover
13 Apr 2015
New Zealand’s “rugby, big cars and beer” culture could leave the country with an annual carbon hangover edging into the billions of dollars.
Quiet end to the week
13 Apr 2015
It was another quiet day for spot NZUs on Friday, closing at $6.52 on CommTrade. OMFinancial reports:
Time for a united front on carbon
10 Apr 2015
It was a quiet day yesterday for spot NZUs, which closed at $6.50 on CommTrade. OMFinancial reports:
NZUs well-traded and well-quoted
9 Apr 2015
NZUs traded at $6.50 on reasonable volume yesterday. OMFinancial reports:
Register shows up changes in carbon market
7 Apr 2015
Changes to the New Zealand carbon market are showing up in traffic through the emissions unit register.
BP’s extreme climate forecast puts energy giant in a bind
7 Apr 2015
BP’s annual Energy Outlook report details the results from modelling of what it sees as the “most likely” energy scenario out to 2035.
NZUs remain bid
7 Apr 2015
NZUs finished the week firm closing at $6.70 on the Thursday before Easter. OMFinancial reports:
Nothing to push this market lower
1 Apr 2015
The Spot NZU market traded and closed at $6.60 yesterday. OMFinancial reports:
Market grinding upwards
31 Mar 2015
A quiet start to the week yesterday, with NZUs closing at $6.57 on CommTrade. OMFinancial reports:
Forest experts are wrong, say climate change ministers
30 Mar 2015
The Government is sticking to its guns – forest planting is down because of the cyclical nature of the industry, and not because carbon prices are too low to encourage planting.
We're watching carbon prices, says Government
30 Mar 2015
The Government says it is watching carbon prices creep higher.
Liquidity not far away
30 Mar 2015
NZUs closed at $6.60 on Friday, after opening at $6.50. OMFinancial reports:
Stability is what we need
25 Mar 2015
We are hearing that some buyers, or representatives of buyers, are complaining to the Government about the illiquidity in this market, and the fact they cannot get set. OMFinancial reports:
Buyers starting to queue
24 Mar 2015
Carbon traded at $6.50 yesterday, with on-going bidding interest at $6.45 and little offering interest about. OMFinancial reports:
Fossil-fuel investment risk not on our radar, says Treasury
23 Mar 2015
Fossil-fuel investment exposure might be worrying the Bank of England, but it has failed to cause any ripples at New Zealand’s Treasury.
Memo Jo: Foresters need a bit more than praise
23 Mar 2015
Forest owners want the Government to put its money where its mouth is on sustainable forestry – and are gathering the numbers to back their case.
NZUs remain firm
23 Mar 2015
Carbon closed at $6.47 on Friday, after trading at $6.40. OMFinancial reports:
NZUs move higher
20 Mar 2015
NZUs closed at $6.55 yesterday as buyers came in late. OMFinancial reports:
NZUs quiet at $6.45
19 Mar 2015
A quiet day for NZUs yesterday, with the market closing on CommTrade at $6.45. OMFinancial reports:
A quiet start to the week
17 Mar 2015
NZUs traded smalls at $6.50 and closed at $6.45 yesterday on CommTrade. OMFinancial reports:
Why is pumping CO2 underground stuck in second gear?
16 Mar 2015
There are many uncertainties with respect to global climate change, but there is one thing about which I have no doubts: we will not solve climate change by running out of fossil fuels.
The long march continues
16 Mar 2015
NZUs closed at $6.45 on Friday - the highest traded price since June 2012. OMFinancial reports:
‘Stop burning fossil fuels’ pleads scientist as extreme rain causes floods yet again
Fri 27 Mar 2026
Northland and Auckland have again been lashed by heavy rain, with hundreds of people evacuated last night because of extensive flooding in the Far North, and some areas hit by more than a month's average rainfall in just 24 hours.
Beef production drives 40% of agriculture-linked forest destruction, Brazil leads
Thu 26 Mar 2026
Beef production is the leading driver of agriculture-linked deforestation, accounting for 40% of all forest clearing done to open space for food production, according to details of a study released on Tuesday.
$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.
Signs of jet fuel hoarding emerge in Asia on Iran oil shock
Thu 26 Mar 2026
Signs are growing that Asian countries are hoarding jet fuel after the Iran war sent oil prices surging, reflecting growing strain on the aviation industry.
Planting mānuka might bring birds, bats and insects back to farms
23 Mar 2026
Media release | New research published today in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology shows that Mānuka forests planted to support honey production provide positive nature-related impacts.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
3 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
Fri 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.
US cannot meet Iran war-induced LNG shortfall: industry leaders
Fri 27 Mar 2026
Business leaders are warning that the United States lacks the infrastructure to alleviate a global LNG shortage caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has kept a fifth of the world's energy supplies from leaving the Gulf.
NSW to ban new coalmines in major shake-up for $23bn industry
23 Mar 2026
A major shake-up is on the way for one Australian state’s single biggest export, which powers homes here and abroad.
Hormuz crisis critical to New Zealand
10 Mar 2026
By Nathan Surendran | COMMENT: Why the Hormuz crisis is a symptom, not the disease – and what it means for New Zealand.
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
Thu 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.
WWF boss joins Opportunity Party with centrist climate pitch
Thu 26 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Opportunity Party has unveiled its first slate of candidates ahead of November's election, including World Wildlife Fund Aotearoa chief executive Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, as the party positions itself as a 'centrist environmental force' ahead of the election.
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.
Gisborne $29.7m recovery funding bid awaits Government decision
Fri 27 Mar 2026
By Zita Campbell, Local Democracy Reporter | Gisborne leaders are awaiting the Government’s response to a $29.7 million funding bid for a joint agency/iwi-led recovery plan after January’s severe weather event.
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.
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.
LNG sold as insurance, but modelling points to a bigger role
19 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s gas market is heading for a sharp contraction whether the country sticks with domestic supply alone or introduces liquefied natural gas imports.
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.”
Gaps in adaptation taxonomies hinder climate finance in Asia: report
5 Mar 2026
Without clearer criteria and metrics in adaptation taxonomies, Asia risks widening its climate financing gap, warns a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Top scientist speaks out against Trump regime’s attack on premier research centre
23 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | Kevin Trenberth, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, now based in New Zealand, has told the Trump administration he is “appalled” at its attempt to break up the international research centre he has been associated with for nearly 50 years.
Five trees can’t offset a car: Lawyers accuse Mazda of greenwashing
9 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action NZ is taking Mazda to the Advertising Standards Authority over its claims that a tree-planting programme will offset vehicle emissions.
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
Wed 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.
Govt process to change climate plan ‘fundamentally flawed’, says judge
18 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The government’s 2024 changes to New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan was “as fundamentally flawed a process as I think I have ever seen”, the judge presiding in a case challenging climate change decision-making has said.
Cleantech expo coming to Auckland
Thu 26 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s first national cleantech expo is set to bring together 30 innovators, in what organisers say is the country’s fastest growing area in the tech sector.
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
Wed 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.
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
Wed 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.
Close questioning over ‘ministerial latitude’ at climate hearing
17 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Lawyers challenging the legality of the government’s emissions reduction plans faced close questioning on the limits of ministerial foresight in the first of three days of hearings at the Wellington High Court yesterday.
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?
Govt’s relief package risks entrenching fossil fuel dependence, critics warn
Wed 25 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s $373 million fuel relief package is facing criticism for propping up petrol use rather than reducing demand, as prices surge and some experts predict fuel shortages due to conflict in the Middle East.
Media round-up
20 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: 'Every tonne matters': The climate scientist who wants to give you hope; Minister says managed retreat is an option; and climate change is here – is New Zealand ready?
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 is Southeast Asia’s cheapest buffer against future shocks
Thu 26 Mar 2026
Southeast Asian countries’ planned expansion of gas power could increase the cost of generating electricity to $109 billion by 2030 based on future price projections — more than double the cost of generating the same amount of electricity with solar.
World-leading plasma torch takes aim at NZ's most potent greenhouse gases
Tue 24 Mar 2026
Media release | A high-tech plasma torch was lit up today as Minister of Conservation, Hon Tama Potaka, officially opened the $10 million National Refrigerant Destruction Facility – signalling a new era in addressing the environmental impact of New Zealand’s most potent greenhouse gases.
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.
Why the Iran war may have just killed the AI boom
Thu 26 Mar 2026
The $1.5 trillion in committed AI infrastructure spending by major tech companies is built on an assumption of a functional global supply chain, which the Iran conflict has fundamentally broken.
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.
Govt's $50m EV charging boost to double network
23 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | More than 2,500 new EV chargers are set to be rolled out across New Zealand, more than doubling the public network – but still leaving the total at less than half the Government's 10,000 target.
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.
Global coastal sea-level risks may be underestimated, say scientists
5 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Coastal communities across the Pacific and Southeast Asia could be facing greater sea-level rise risks than previously estimated, researchers say.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
Thu 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.
Western Australian communities want mandatory payments from new renewable developments
6 Mar 2026
The West Australian government wants to make new wind and solar farms pay into community funds, but host towns say more work needs to be done to make sure the payments actually happen.
