Topics tagged with 'Carbon prices'
How trading CO2 could save the climate or not: BBC
20 Oct 2021
For its proponents, a global carbon market could significantly reduce the world's carbon emissions. But its critics say that giving polluters the option to pay for their emissions is not the answer to climate change.
Biden administration considers carbon tax
19 Oct 2021
A US Democrat’s decision to oppose a key policy in Joe Biden’s climate plan could lead to a carbon tax on emissions-intensive industries and threaten Australian exports.
The carbon offset market could be worth $200 billion by 2050. But what is it?
19 Oct 2021
Companies and people who want to cancel out the impact of their emissions on the climate often turn to something called carbon offsetting.
Two players bought nearly 60% of NZUs on offer at last ETS auction
8 Oct 2021
Two of the 77 participants in September’s ETS auction snaffled up a combined 56.8% of the 11.75 million NZUs on offer – which included the 7 million extra units released when the $50 cost containment reserve was breached
Energy prices hike should boost transition: EU climate chief
8 Oct 2021
The European Union’s climate czar said Tuesday the 27-nation bloc should ensure that the most vulnerable people won’t pay the heaviest price of the green transition, and pledged measures guaranteeing equal burden-sharing across society, amid a global surge of energy prices.
Carbon credit blockchain platform launched
5 Oct 2021
In a move that will be seen as ironic by some, a new tool allowing users to buy verified carbon credits on the blockchain has been launched in New Zealand.
Carbon offset market will grow 50 times to meet 2050 net-zero emissions goals: Bank of America
28 Sep 2021
The carbon offset market may grow by as much as 50 times if companies are going to meet their 2050 net zero greenhouse gas emissions goals, according to the Bank of America.
NZU stockpile grows
20 Sep 2021
The NZU stockpile has grown from 134.5 million in March to 138.4 million at the end of June, according to figures just released by the Environmental Protection Authority.
Price of carbon drives new forestry fund
13 Sep 2021
A new fund to finance the planting of pines trees on marginal agricultural land has been launched today.
OECD boss: Carbon pricing should come through us
13 Sep 2021
Efforts to price carbon should be elevated to the international level, the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development told EU finance ministers on Saturday.
Five things to know about carbon pricing
3 Sep 2021
The IMF's principal environmental fiscal policy expert, Ian Parry, outlines five things you should know about carbon pricing.
NZU price soars despite CCR “safety valve”
2 Sep 2021
If the purpose of the Cost Containment Reserve is to act as “a safety valve” to prevent NZU prices going significantly above the trigger price – it doesn't appear to be working.
Climate Change Minister responds to ETS auction
1 Sep 2021
“The Government is committed to balancing out the additional units released today to ensure there is no overall impact on emissions released into the atmosphere," climate change minister James Shaw said in a statement today.
NZU price crashes through CCR
1 Sep 2021
THE third NZ ETS auction cleared at $53.85 today - the first time the cost containment reserve has been breached.
IMF urges countries to raise carbon price
1 Sep 2021
The International Monetary Fund is urging countries to scale up green investments and set a higher global carbon pricing floor to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.
Jump in number of non-obligatory players entering ETS
31 Aug 2021
Nearly two thirds of bids in the last ETS auction in June came from entities that didn’t have compliance obligations.
Price of carbon crosses 60 euro for first time
31 Aug 2021
The European benchmark price for carbon allowances on Monday morning climbed above 60 euros per tonne for the first time since the European Union’s carbon market launched in 2005.
Singapore exchange to tighten climate rules
31 Aug 2021
The Singapore Exchange will ask all companies listed on its exchange to disclose climate-related information or explain why they cannot do so.
Experts clash over cost of carbon
25 Aug 2021
An academic debate over a key metric for greenhouse gases is heating up, just as a high-profile courtroom battle is scheduled to begin.
China’s new carbon trading market isn’t working
24 Aug 2021
The price of emissions credits in China’s carbon trading market reached a record low on Aug. 20, the latest sign that the market’s structural flaws are preventing it from working as an effective weapon against climate change.
Carbon dividends: a win-win for people and climate
24 Aug 2021
Putting a price on emissions and sending the proceeds to the public is a sound environmental and economic strategy, writes James K. Boyce in the Scientific American.
NZU price jumps on announced increase in CCR trigger price
23 Aug 2021
The price of NZUs broke through the $50 mark today for the first time on news that the government is increasing the Cost Containment Reserve trigger price to $70 next year.
Carbon making good returns on the NZX
18 Aug 2021
New Zealand’s only carbon fund has more than trebled in size since the beginning of the year and is now worth close to $35 million.
Rise of the 'carbon capitalist'
18 Aug 2021
Matthew Roling, an adjunct professor of finance at Wayne State University, argues that carbon markets will become 'the largest commodity markets in history.'
NZUs set to cross the Rubicon
13 Aug 2021
The price of NZUs have been edging closer and closer to the $50 mark this week, with the spot price on both the Commtrade and Carbon Match secondary markets reaching $49.80 this morning.
Could winter tomatoes and capsicums be facing carbon extinction?
9 Aug 2021
The production director of one of New Zealand’s largest capsicum producers says the hike in the cost of carbon is a contributing factor in the decision by an increasing number of growers to quit the industry.
Carbon accounting's dirty secret
5 Aug 2021
There’s a dirty secret of carbon accounting, and it could soon be exposed. That’s because the assumptions most companies base their calculations on could be wrong.
Feebate could see ETS cap reduce: Shaw
1 Jul 2021
Minister for Climate Change James Shaw says policies like the feebate scheme will allow the government to reduce the ETS cap quicker than would otherwise be the case.
NZU price keeps climbing
25 Jun 2021
NZUs are trading at all-time highs of more than $43 on both CommTrade and Carbon Match today
New forward carbon product launched
18 Jun 2021
Media Release - emsTradepoint Ltd (a subsidiary of Transpower) has today launched a new quarterly forward product for carbon.
Pacific Island bid for carbon price on shipping fails to gain support
17 Jun 2021
Pacific island nations made the case for a carbon price to tackle shipping’s climate impact at the UN body responsible for seaborne transport yesterday, but found only tepid support.
10 YEARS AGO...
15 Jun 2021
Ten years ago, the international carbon market was stalled at around $US142 billion.
How should that $3 billion in ETS revenues be spent?
27 May 2021
Paying farmers to reduce their stocks, electrifying the main trunk line, and subsidies to zero-carbon housing, are some of the ideas suggested by experts for how the Government should spend the estimated $3 billion dollars raised over the next five years from the ETS auctions.
Acting now pays dividends in the future
26 May 2021
Transforming the economy now rather than protecting key wealth generating sectors from the full effect of international carbon prices will see the economy grow more in the long run, updated economic modelling shows.
Singapore to launch global carbon exchange
24 May 2021
A new Singapore-based global exchange for high-quality carbon credits will be launched by the end of the year.
10 YEARS AGO...
8 Apr 2021
Ten years ago, the Government issued more than nine million carbon credits to the owners of post-1989 forests.
Call for finance sector regulation
7 Apr 2021
New regulations requiring the financial sector to disclose the greenhouse gas emission of their investment portfolios are needed, the Sustainable Business Network says in its submission to the Climate Change Commission.
10 YEARS AGO...
7 Apr 2021
Ten years ago British electricity generators were facing a minimum carbon price of 16 quid a tonne - more than twice being paid by those in NZ at the time.
NZ Initiative: leave it to the ETS
6 Apr 2021
An NZU price of $50 is all that’s needed to deliver net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the NZ Initiative.
Carbon price is coming, one way or another
1 Apr 2021
Australia is about to get a carbon price, one way or another. Unfortunately, the process is shaping up to be much more economically damaging than it could have been, says Sydney Morning Herald senior economics writer Jessica Irvine.
Reserve Bank calls for Govt lead on green bonds
30 Mar 2021
Government intervention is likely to be needed to encourage greater investment in green bonds, the Reserve Bank says.
Carbon markets prove resilient to the coronavirus pandemic
25 Mar 2021
After the 2008 global financial crisis, the price of pollution permits on the European Union emissions trading system plummeted, hitting confidence in carbon markets as a lever for climate action.
Why we need a carbon club
25 Mar 2021
If the three biggest economies - China, the United States and the European Union - agree a carbon tax on imports, it will catalyse climate action globally, a new paper says.
SHAW: No point ignoring ClimCom's views on prices
22 Mar 2021
Climate Minister James Shaw appears likely to back any recommendation from the Climate Change Commission to increase price controls in Government auctions of carbon credits.
EV subsidy plan causes division
19 Mar 2021
Toyota New Zealand will continue to push for financial incentives for those buying electric vehicles when it responds to the ClimCom draft report.
TRANSPORT 1: High carbon prices and behaviour change
16 Mar 2021
New Zealand is failing to get transport emissions under control, as latest data shows. Energy expert and IPCC lead author Emeritus Professor Ralph Sims says there is lots we can do, including pushing carbon prices higher.
EU border carbon levy could help poor countries
10 Mar 2021
Europe's future carbon border adjustment mechanism is part of the “new own resources” for the EU budget and must be used to combat global warming across the world, says MEP leading the project.
GENESIS: Reserve price will distort the market
9 Mar 2021
Including a confidential reserve price in next week’s Government auction of carbon credits could distort the carbon market, says one of the country’s largest emitters.
NZUs should be more than $100, MPs told
8 Mar 2021
An umbrella group representing more than 50 environmental organisations says NZUs would trading at more than $100 if the Government set more environmentally realistic limits on the number of units available.
OPINION: Carbon tariffs are not about Australia
24 Feb 2021
Reports that Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, is considering calling for carbon border levies at the G7 summit to be held in London in June have produced a predictable reaction from the Australian government.
‘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.
