Topics tagged with 'Carbon prices'
MEPs raise ambition on EU carbon market reform
18 May 2022
The European Parliament environment committee on Tuesday (17 May) agreed on reform of the European carbon market — including its expansion to buildings and transport.
UK carbon tax on imports could stop firms from outsourcing CO2 emissions as nations tackle climate crisis
18 May 2022
The UK has moved a step closer to imposing a carbon tax on all imports to stop companies from outsourcing their CO2 emissions to foreign countries.
Berlin pushes for a €60 minimum price on EU carbon markets
17 May 2022
Discounting allegations of speculation on the EU carbon market, Berlin is throwing its weight behind a minimum price of €60 per tonne of CO2, saying it will ensure this through national measures if the EU does not take action.
Australian carbon market splits as buyers pay more for “high integrity” units
17 May 2022
Australia’s carbon offset market is showing signs of splitting in two, analysts say, as buyers show they are willing to pay a premium for “higher integrity” offsets.
California $19Bn carbon market not good enough to curb emissions
16 May 2022
California’s carbon market was supposed to be a model for the US, harnessing the power of capitalism to fight climate change in the world’s fifth-biggest economy.
Canada, industry in talks to cement future carbon price hikes
13 May 2022
The Canadian government is in talks with heavy industrial emitters about ways to ensure Ottawa's planned carbon price increases will remain in place even if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government is voted out of power.
Overseas carbon liabilities to be included in Crown accounts in future
12 May 2022
Finance Minister Grant Robertson says Treasury is working on how to include the cost of meeting New Zealand’s Nationally Determined Contribution obligations in the Crown accounts, but it will take time.
Big players snaffle up bulk of NZUs at auction
11 May 2022
The top five successful bidders at the last NZ ETS auction snaffled up 78% of the NZUs on offer.
European carbon prices tumble, failing to scale new highs as gas drops
11 May 2022
There may be no fresh risks of an escalation in the Ukraine war and in the standoff between the EU and Russia regarding its fossil fuels, but recession fears spilled over to the carbon market. The price of a ton of CO2 equivalent within the EU ETS fell more than 5% after challenging recent record highs.
Singapore carbon exchange targets futures trading with German bourse
10 May 2022
A Singapore carbon exchange is teaming up with Germany's main bourse to launch futures trading for carbon offsets as early as this year to meet the growing demand from companies to hedge their risks from greenhouse gas emissions.
Winner of Australian election must fix carbon market: report
5 May 2022
The next federal government has been urged to review the carbon market as experts question the integrity of credits used by companies to balance their books on emissions.
The too-invisible hand of the EU emissions market
28 Apr 2022
When European Union policy-makers envisaged the Emissions Trading System (ETS) in 2003 as their single tool to drive down greenhouse-gas emissions (GHG), it looked like a win-win approach. Industry, non-governmental organisations and public authorities welcomed the directive with its market-based mechanism, putting a price on greenhouse gases, to reduce emissions in a ‘cost-effective’ way.
Now we know the flaws of carbon offsets, it’s time to get real about climate change
26 Apr 2022
Last month former Australian carbon market watchdog Andrew MacIntosh blew the whistle on Australia’s carbon offset market. He described the scheme as a “rort” with up to 80% of carbon offsets “markedly low in integrity”.
Cost of carbon on the rise in South Korea
12 Apr 2022
Soaring carbon costs are adding up for companies in Korea as the government is set to tighten environmental rules.
Milking the EU’s carbon market cash cow for industry
7 Apr 2022
Rather than propose amendments to the EU’s Emissions Trading System that would take the heat off the climate and serve society, European parliamentarians are squabbling over the quantity of freebies to offer polluting industries.
PNG suspends new carbon deals, scrambles to write rules for the schemes
6 Apr 2022
Papua New Guinea’s environment minister has imposed a moratorium on new voluntary carbon credit schemes to give the government time to create a regulatory framework for future and existing deals.
Indonesia delays carbon tax till July to help economic recovery
6 Apr 2022
Indonesia is delaying the roll-out of its carbon tax to July from April, a move that analysts say will help its economic recovery amid surging energy prices and support businesses.
Aussie native tree planting projects can be stopped if 'adverse' to communities"
1 Apr 2022
Australia's Agriculture Minister will have the power to stop new carbon farming projects from next week.
Greens promise to re-introduce a carbon price in Australia
31 Mar 2022
The Australian Greens will push to bring back a price on carbon.
Carbon market for Indonesia
30 Mar 2022
CarbonX, an Indonesian high-impact carbon asset developer, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the world’s first fully digital carbon exchange to develop a carbon marketplace in Indonesia.
Australian carbon traders defend troubled offset market against whistleblower claims
29 Mar 2022
Australia’s biggest carbon traders have sought to defend Australia’s troubled carbon offset regime, following weeks of policy upheaval and claims from one of the scheme’s architects that most of Australia’s government-issued carbon offsets did not represent genuine emissions reductions.
NZ ETS could be a model for the world: Matt Burgess
28 Mar 2022
Last Friday was Matt Burgess’s last day as a senior economist at the NZ Initiative. His final report for the thinktank, Pretence of Necessity, is a strident argument for leaving all of the heavy lifting in reducing New Zealand’s emissions to the ETS.
China's carbon market has a credibility problem: analysts
28 Mar 2022
China’s newly launched national carbon emissions trading system (ETS), the world’s largest, needs to raise its game on fraud prevention by imposing steeper penalties on offending companies to deter cheating, analysts said.
Trudeau government lowballed cost of carbon tax
28 Mar 2022
The reason Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux says most Canadians paying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax are worse off financially, as opposed to the Trudeau government which claims most are better off financially, is simple.
Government slashes Tiwai smelter’s carbon allocation
25 Mar 2022
Cabinet has approved a decision to remove part of the New Zealand Aluminium Smelter’s free allocation of carbon credits – costing the owners at least $60 million a year.
Australia’s carbon market is in crisis
25 Mar 2022
Australia’s carbon market is in a state of crisis.
Carbon trading platform launched in Singapore
23 Mar 2022
Climate Impact X (CIX), a global carbon exchange and marketplace, has launched a new, Singapore-based digital carbon credit trading platform called Project Marketplace.
Designer of China carbon market sees expansion delayed
23 Mar 2022
A researcher who helped design China’s national carbon market said it will expand into new sectors later than expected, a setback for a key tool in President Xi Jinping’s drive to cut the world’s biggest source of emissions.
Australian carbon credit companies to cash in on multi-billion-dollar windfall
22 Mar 2022
Australian companies have been gifted a multi-billion-dollar windfall, after being allowed to break long-standing government supply contracts to cash in on a booming market.
ETS auction spurs demand on spotmarket
17 Mar 2022
Buyers were out in force following yesterday’s ETS auction, with the CommTrade and Carbon Match platforms trading in excess of 600,000 NZUs before the close of trade.
ETS auction clears at $70.00
16 Mar 2022
THE first NZ ETS auction of the year cleared at $70.00 today.
EU nations reach agreement on carbon tax
16 Mar 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron has revealed that European Union (EU) member states have reached an agreement on a carbon tax.
China slams firms for falsifying carbon data
16 Mar 2022
China's environment ministry has slammed firms for falsifying carbon data, part of the country's efforts to improve data quality as it prepares to expand its national emissions trading scheme into more industrial sectors.
Australian carbon credit price plunges after policy change
15 Mar 2022
Australian carbon credits rose to record highs of more than $55 a tonne earlier this year, but in the past week the price has come crashing down.
International experts believe carbon price must go up
14 Mar 2022
ALMOST all academic experts recommend higher carbon prices as a way to limit global warming, the first comprehensive global survey on carbon pricing concludes. The researchers behind the survey believe the study with its new insights could inform the debate on climate policies.
Solomon Islands receives first carbon credit as part of conservation work
11 Mar 2022
A tribe in the Solomon Islands has become the first in the country to receive a carbon credit.
Ukraine invasion crashes carbon credit prices
11 Mar 2022
The Russian invasion of Ukraine roiled financial markets across the world, and the European carbon credit market was no exception. As the price of oil surged, carbon credit prices plummeted.
Ukraine invasion sees NZ carbon price nose-dive
10 Mar 2022
The price of carbon on the New Zealand spot market has nose-dived from a high of $86.25 last month to just $70.25 at the close of trading yesterday
Carbon prices in the EU crash despite rising fossil fuel prices
8 Mar 2022
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the price of carbon allowances in the EU has fallen drastically, lowering the cost to emit carbon despite record high fossil fuel prices.
Windfall for Aussie farmers as government changes carbon credit rules
4 Mar 2022
Australian carbon farmers and landholders are set for a potential windfall of almost $2.6 billion from a surprise Morrison government decision that allows them to tap into surging market demand for Australian Carbon Credit Units.
EU carbon permit prices crash after Russian invasion of Ukraine
3 Mar 2022
The price of carbon permits in Europe has crashed dramatically following Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, lowering the cost of emitting carbon for the EU’s most polluting companies.
Carbon correction
28 Feb 2022
After reaching a high of $86.25 on the spot market earlier this month, NZUs closed at $80.75 on Friday.
10 YEARS AGO...
21 Feb 2022
Ten years ago, farmers were taking advantage of low carbon prices to convert pre-1990 forests into pastoral farm land.
Carbon credits outperforming bitcoin, in the bet on a longer energy transition
18 Feb 2022
The price of European carbon credits - a core holding of two newly launched ETFs - has outperformed popular investments like bitcoin over the past year. Analysts see the price continuing to climb as governments put more pressure on industries to go green.
Carbon farmers could “walk away” from liabilities: report warns
17 Feb 2022
A discussion document, funded by farming groups and councils, is warning investors could plant pinus radiata at high density for carbon only yields and then "walk away" from their emission liabilities (and pest, disease and fire risk) by winding up their limited liability companies.
Lead EU lawmaker proposes carbon market rules to respond to price spikes
17 Feb 2022
The European Parliament's lead lawmaker on reforms to the EU carbon market on Wednesday proposed rules to make it easier for policymakers to intervene in the scheme if prices rise too fast.
Surge in carbon price could speed up Greater Wellington's climate mitigation
16 Feb 2022
Greater Wellington Regional Council’s climate committee is recommending the council take advantage in the surge in value of its carbon holdings to borrow an extra $5 million to invest in lowering its carbon footprint.
Poland calls on EU to remove 'speculators' from its carbon market
16 Feb 2022
Poland has urged the European Union to introduce "control mechanisms" to the bloc's carbon market and curb financial speculators' participation in the scheme, the Polish government said on Tuesday.
NZU spot price closing in on 2024 cost containment trigger
15 Feb 2022
At close of trading yesterday the NZU had hit an all time high of $84.50 on the Commtrade site. With the cost containment reserve trigger price set at $70 it's all but inevitable the entire 7 million units available in 2022 will be snapped up at next month's NZ ETS auction.
Judge bars Biden from using "social cost of carbon" metric
15 Feb 2022
A Trump-appointed judge dealt another blow to Biden's climate agenda on Friday, barring the administration from using a metric that estimates the societal cost of carbon emissions.
Ticking time-bomb in Govt’s failure of leadership on climate – Carr
Tue 9 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The coalition Government’s failure to slash emissions is like pulling the pin on a grenade, handing it to a kid, and saying “hold on tight, she’ll be right”, says former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr.
Govt rushes to pass climate law changes under urgency
Today 12:15pm
By Liz Kivi | Legislation to amend the Climate Change Response Act was introduced to Parliament on Monday, and the government intends to rush the changes through under urgency in the next two weeks, avoiding the usual public consultation.
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.
Second fire tears through Tongariro National Park
Tue 9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fire crews have returned to Tongariro National Park this morning as a fast-moving fire that started yesterday threatens unburnt vegetation and nearby communities, just a month after a major blaze scorched 3000 hectares in the same area.
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.
Carbon News publishes ten-year NZU forward curve
Today 12:15pm
Carbon News has published a new ten-year NZU forward curve mapping how carbon prices could evolve through to 2035 under a range of policy and market conditions.
2025 ‘virtually certain’ to be second- or third-hottest year on record, EU data shows
Today 12:15pm
Copernicus deputy director says three-year average for 2023 to 2025 on track to exceed 1.5C of heating for first time.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
Tue 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.
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.
$235 billion worth of NZ buildings exposed to flooding
30 Oct 2025
More than 750,000 New Zealanders live in locations exposed to one-in-100-year floods, according to a nationwide study which shows escalating flood risk.
Al Gore's case for optimism
Mon 8 Dec 2025
This year’s United Nations climate summit in Belém, Brazil had everything: A literal flood, a literal fire, a record-breaking 1,600+ fossil fuel lobbyists, and delegates from oil-producing nations working overtime.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
Today 12:15pm
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.
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.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
Today 12:15pm
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.
NZ marine heatwaves could double in intensity under high-emissions pathway
16 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show marine heatwaves will grow more intense around the North Island and more frequent around the South Island as the climate warms – raising risks for fisheries, aquaculture, coastal ecosystems and tourism.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Media round-up
Fri 5 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Labour’s chronic evasiveness as the Government reneges on climate change; newly released documents reveal the country's new methane target is associated with 'perilous' 2.7C of warming; and New Zealand's 'pitiful' decision on emissions targets comes with costs.
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.”
Analysis: Why COP30’s ‘tripling adaptation finance’ target is less ambitious than it seems
Fri 5 Dec 2025
One of the headline outcomes to emerge from COP30 was a new target to “at least triple” finance for climate adaptation in developing countries by 2035.
Govt ‘scaremongering’ over co-operation – former climate ambassador
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s former top climate diplomat, Kay Harrison, says the Government’s recent comments ruling out buying climate mitigation offshore amount to scaremongering, and the country is missing a chance to give our businesses a boost.
TotalEnergies loses in Paris court, marking a turning point for fossil fuel truth-in-advertising
5 Nov 2025
TotalEnergies was found to have misled consumers about its role in the energy transition.
Tribunal warns govt geothermal strategy risks Treaty breach
2 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government's geothermal development strategy risks breaching the Treaty of Waitangi, according to a report from the Waitangi Tribunal released last week.
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.
NZ’s rejection of emission targets fuels risk of international law breach
Mon 8 Dec 2025
By Karen Scott, Professor in Law, University of Canterbury | The New Zealand government’s decision this week to reject all of the Climate Change Commission’s emission target recommendations was just the latest in a string of policy statements that weaken the country’s action on climate.
NZ fails to back ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels at COP
24 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Eighty-six countries including Australia, the UK, Germany, and Ireland backed a proposal at COP30 for national plans on how to quit oil, gas and coal – but New Zealand wasn’t one of them.
Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions
3 Dec 2025
COMMENT: The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts.
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.
Storms in the Southern Ocean are producing more rain – and the consequences could be global
Mon 8 Dec 2025
Storms in the Southern Ocean influence weather patterns across Australia, New Zealand and the globe.
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.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
Thu 4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
RMA replacement bills introduced – fixes are needed
Today 12:15pm
Media release: Environmental Defence Society | In a massive shakeup of our core environmental and planning laws, the Government has introduced legislation to Parliament to replace the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).
Shipping movements disrupted as climate change protesters block coal ships
2 Dec 2025
NSW police have arrested 141 people who attempted to block the shipping channel in Newcastle Harbour during Rising Tide protests, which began on Thursday.
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.
Rare win for renewable energy: Trump administration funds geothermal network expansion
Fri 5 Dec 2025
A first-in-the-nation heating and cooling network in Massachusetts is set to double in size.
Comparing climate models with observations
Today 12:15pm
The latest generation of climate models shows too much long-term warming but better reproduces recent trends.
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.
More than $2m up for grabs for low-emissions farming innovation
Today 12:15pm
The Ag Emissions Centre and AgriZeroNZ yesterday opened their 2026 innovation investment round.
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.
Seven EU countries pressure European Commission to rethink 2035 diesel and petrol car ban
Tue 9 Dec 2025
Pressure from EU countries, lawmakers and the automotive industry is likely pushing the European Commission to delay the revision of the bloc's ban on diesel and petrol cars by 2035.
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.
Study provides a step-change in understanding NZ’s groundwater
28 Nov 2025
Media release | Earth Sciences New Zealand has developed a world-first National Groundwater Age Map and a powerful suite of tools to support the sustainable management of our hidden groundwater resources, from national through to local scales.
Wildfires destroy 40 homes and kill a firefighter in Australia
Tue 9 Dec 2025
There were 52 wildfires burning across New South Wales on Monday and nine remained out of control. A total of 20 homes had destroyed over the weekend in that state.
NZ’s energy system at a crossroads – report
21 Nov 2025
A new report says New Zealand’s rapid shift toward a 95% renewable electricity system is at a critical turning point, urging faster consenting, stronger firming solutions and better grid planning.
