Topics tagged with 'Carbon prices'
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.
NZX listed carbon fund now worth nearly $100 million
14 Feb 2022
The NZX traded SALT Carbon Fund has shot up in value from just $9.39 million in January of last year to $98.45 million at the end of last week.
Australia's carbon price dips following last year's 210% gain
10 Feb 2022
Australia’s carbon price has fallen 4.7 per cent to $54.50 a tonne over the past fortnight yet trading volumes of carbon units have surged, indicating the market is stabilising after a massive bull run last year pushed the price up by 210%.
Italy expects EU carbon price to trade around 80 euros per tonne this year
9 Feb 2022
Italy expects the price of permits on the European Union's carbon market to trade at an average of 80 euros ($91) per tonne this year, giving the government more funds to curb soaring energy bills, a Treasury document seen by Reuters showed.
ANZ economist warns of price volatility in carbon market
8 Feb 2022
ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby has warned that the price of carbon "could move sharply in either direction" in an in-depth backgrounder on New Zealand's carbon market.
European carbon price climbs to new high
4 Feb 2022
The cost of polluting in the European Union jumped to a fresh record, with utilities looking to burn more coal just as the supply of permits dries up.
Global carbon markets value surged to record US$851 billion last year
1 Feb 2022
The value of traded global markets for carbon dioxide (CO2) permits grew by 164% to a record 760 billion euros ($851 billion) last year, analysts at Refinitiv said on Monday.
10 YEARS AGO...
31 Jan 2022
Ten years ago, the government said it was considering reducing the number of carbon credits allowed into the NZ ETS, as carbon prices continued to drop in Europe.
The rise of voluntary carbon markets
26 Jan 2022
The voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) are poised for explosive growth in 2022. At the conclusion of COP26 in Glasgow, 632 of the world's largest 2000 public companies by revenue had announced plans to achieve Net Zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
China's national carbon market records brisk trading
25 Jan 2022
China's national carbon market has wrapped up its first compliance period with a steady rise in market activity, said the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Monday.
10 YEARS AGO...
24 Jan 2022
Ten years ago, the price of carbon was crashing internationally as a result of an oversupply in Europe and uncertainty over the future of the Kyoto Protocol. A tonne of carbon in Europe could be bought for less than NZ$6 compared to around NZ$150 now.
Why the price of Australian carbon credits has tripled in the past year
24 Jan 2022
AFTER years of hovering around the same price, the value of Australia’s carbon credits has skyrocketed – tripling in the past year.
Canada's biggest climate polluters pay lowest carbon price
24 Jan 2022
On its tar sands in northern Alberta, Suncor Energy scrapes vast open-pit mines and drills down deep into the ground to extract the viscous bitumen that has turned it into one of the largest energy companies in North America. The process is so energy-intensive that it has also made the firm into Canada’s largest carbon emitter: it belches roughly 28 million tonnes into the atmosphere every year, equivalent to the entire emissions of Tunisia.
China ETS reduces carbon but needs map to cap-and-trade based system: study
23 Dec 2021
China’s regional emissions trading scheme (ETS) pilots were effective in reducing companies’ carbon emissions in the early trading phase, despite low carbon prices and infrequent allowance trading, according to Chinese researchers.
Australian carbon price surges 180%
22 Dec 2021
Companies voluntarily buying up carbon offsets amid a flurry of pledges to hit net zero emissions by 2050 have pushed up Australia’s official carbon price by 180% over the past year
ETS revenue should be returned to the people: NZ Initiative
17 Dec 2021
The government is missing a chance to make the ETS progressive by not returning its revenues to ordinary New Zealanders in the form of a dividend, NZ Initiative economist Matt Burgess says.
10 YEARS AGO...
17 Dec 2021
Ten years ago, a group of countries at the Durban COP committed to adopting a legally binding agreement to keep the average global temperature rise to below 2 degrees by no later than 2015.
EU leaders set to ask for deeper monitoring of carbon market
17 Dec 2021
THE European Union’s heads of government are set to invite the bloc’s executive to improve monitoring of the EU carbon market, where a rally has sparked concerns about speculation and the impact on inflation amid an energy crisis.
$4.5 billion in projected ETS revenue committed to new climate emergency fund
16 Dec 2021
The government is committing the $4.5 billion it expects to earn from Emission Trading Scheme auctions over the next four years to a new Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
Aussie carbon price outpacing house gains
13 Dec 2021
On Woomargama station 50 km north of Albury on the NSW-Victorian border, Clare Cannon is excited about the future.
When carbon credits drive people from their homes
13 Dec 2021
The Mayo River begins in the tropical cloud forests of Northeastern Peru. Where the Andean foothills meet the Amazonian plains, bromeliads, ferns, and mosses grow under palms, tropical hardwoods, and the liana vines that climb their trunks.
Carbon prices, long in the dumps, surge in U.S. and Europe
10 Dec 2021
Carbon bulls are on the ride.
Carbon market asymmetry: time to put power in the hands of people on the ground: opinion
10 Dec 2021
Eric Wilburn, the co-founder of the Carbon Cooperative, argues there's an asymmetry between those buying carbon credits and the often small-scale projects doing much of the heavy lifting when it comes to offsetting.
UK government set to step in as carbon price mechanism is triggered
8 Dec 2021
The UK government could intervene in the carbon market to reduce the costs big polluters have to pay for emissions permits, according to The Times.
Benchmark EU carbon price hits record high at 85 euros a tonne
8 Dec 2021
The Benchmark European carbon price hit a record high yesterday, climbing to 85 euros a tonne for the first time since the European Union's carbon market launched in 2005.
10 YEARS AGO...
7 Dec 2021
Ten years ago, the price of carbon appeared to have hit the bottom of a downward spiral. In Europe CER's closed at NZ$9.15, up from NZ$8.50 the day before. In New Zealand carbon was trading just above that $9.50 - about half the price being achieved in May of that year.
Carbon trading gets a green light from the U.N., and Brazil hopes to earn billions
7 Dec 2021
Carbon emissions trading is poised to go global, and billions of dollars — maybe even trillions — could be at stake. That's thanks to last month's U.N. climate summit in Glasgow Scotland, which approved a new international trading system where companies pay for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions somewhere else, rather than doing it themselves.
Auckland leading the charge for city carbon taxes
2 Dec 2021
If Auckland Council adopts a proposal by mayor Phil Goff for a "Climate Action Targeted Rate" it will become one of the first cities in the world with a carbon tax.
ETS auction clears at $68
1 Dec 2021
THE final NZ ETS auction of the year cleared at a price of $68 today.
Where to now for the price of carbon?
30 Nov 2021
In contrast to some offshore markets where carbon prices have surged to all time highs following COP26, in New Zealand they’ve plateaued at around $65.
10 YEARS AGO...
25 Nov 2021
Ten years ago, Westpac was describing the international carbon market as decimated following dramatic falls in the price of carbon in Europe, New Zealand and other markets over the previous week.
Polluters face price pain as global carbon trading system moves forward
22 Nov 2021
A Cop26 breakthrough means emissions trading schemes can work together worldwide with less fear of being gamed.
How a carbon price could gut animal agriculture without taxing farmers
19 Nov 2021
Even a very modest carbon price would offer most farmers and ranchers more revenue than they make raising animals for slaughter, according to the scientist who founded Impossible Foods.
EU carbon prices hit record high
16 Nov 2021
EU CO2 prices hit a record Eur66/mt on Nov. 15, the first trading day after the UN Climate Change Conference and amid rising fuel prices driven by a cold weather forecast and gas supply fears resurfacing.
Half-baked carbon market rules fail to take heat off the climate: Carbon Market Watch
15 Nov 2021
After over five years of dithering and two weeks of intensive negotiations, the world’s governments settled on slimmed-down ground rules for carbon markets under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.
Current carbon market a problem: Mark Carney
4 Nov 2021
The current voluntary carbon offset market is "part of the problem", former governor of the Bank of England and UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney said today at the UN Cop 26 climate summit.
Create global price for carbon: WTO boss
20 Oct 2021
The director general of the World Trade Organisation has said that it should work together with other international bodies to develop a global price for carbon.
‘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
Mon 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
Mon 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
Mon 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
Mon 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.
