Topics tagged with 'Emissions trading'
RMA overhaul could see planning role for gases
24 Jul 2019
The Government is opening the door to greenhouse gas being considering in planning applications.
Officials examine future of dodgy Russian credits
19 Jul 2019
Officials are calculating the number of dodgy carbon credits New Zealand used in meeting its emissions reduction target, raising the prospect that the country might yet make good on its actions.
Pay the farmers now, says bioenergy lobby
17 Jul 2019
The Bioenergy Association wants farmers who cut greenhouse gas emissions to be eligible for carbon credits now.
Labour Party pushes public to back carbon bill
15 Jul 2019
The Labour Party is building a campaign base to push through the zero-carbon legislation.
Government moving to auction system - and soon
10 Jul 2019
The Government is gearing up to auction carbon units from the end of next year at the latest.
Local governments want climate rules in RMA
8 Jul 2019
Local authorities want to be able to take climate impacts into account when they are considering applications under the Resource Managements Act.
TEN TEARS AGO ...
8 Jul 2019
Ten years ago, the forestry sector was urging the Government to follow Australia’s lead and allow the Emissions Trading Scheme to recognise carbon stored in harvested wood products.
Farmers table offer for cutting methane
4 Jul 2019
Farmers say they are prepared to cut methane emissions by 10 per cent by 2050 – well short of the target the Government intends imposing.
ProdCom report urges Govt to support councils
4 Jul 2019
The Government is coming under increasing pressure to provide local councils with the skills and resources they need to deal with the impacts of climate change.
Nervous farmers eye methane cut obligations
1 Jul 2019
The prospect of having to cut methane emissions by 10 per cent over the next decade is depressing otherwise optimistic farmers.
It's time to file post-89 forestry returns
28 Jun 2019
Carbon forestry returns for post-1989 are due this weekend – and officials are urging people to get them right.
Businesses demand action, says UN climate chief
18 Jun 2019
Businesses are demanding the development of international carbon markets as the world battles a climate emergency, negotiators have heard overnight.
Nats vow to fight farm emissions moves
17 Jun 2019
The National Party says it will continue to oppose bringing agricultural emissions into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Emissions pricing not working, says World Bank
11 Jun 2019
Just one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are at prices likely to drive the emissions cuts needed to preserve life as we know it, the World Bank says.
Taxpayers face $600m carbon prices bill
31 May 2019
Rising carbon prices are likely to cost taxpayers $600 million this year.
Emitters choose to pay carbon fee to Govt
31 May 2019
More emitters this year are opting to pay the Government fee instead of surrendering carbon units, leaving the Government with a potential carbon deficit when it comes to meeting the country’s international obligations.
Climate-wise Smith warns of blind commitment
22 May 2019
New Zealand’s political elder statesman on climate change is warning of a potential gilets jeune-style backlash against the costs of climate action.
Pricing delay carries risks, says ETS expert
17 May 2019
The Government is exposing the country to significant risk by delaying changes to the carbon pricing regime, says one of the architects of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Tourism sector must toe the line, says minister
16 May 2019
The Government’s new Tourism Strategy released today says the sector must “play its role” in dealing with climate change.
How ZCB puts onus on Government to explain
10 May 2019
The Government will have to explain why it ignores any recommendations on the Emissions Trading Scheme from the proposed Climate Change Commission, officials say.
Carbon bill offers softer touch to farm emissions
8 May 2019
New Zealand’s agricultural emissions will be cut – but not as much as other gases.
Disbeliever Brash turns financial backer
6 May 2019
Former National Party leader and one-time Reserve Bank Governor Dr Don Brash might have had doubts in the past about whether humans are changing the climate, but now he’s throwing his money and weight behind technology that could help to solve New Zealand’s methane headache.
Carbon farming could be the way, says Rabobank
3 May 2019
Agricultural finance specialist Rabobank is telling farming customers to think about carbon farming, saying it could be more profitable than farming animals.
You'll like the ZCB, Peters tells party faithful
2 May 2019
The long-awaited Zero Carbon Bill is close – and New Zealand First expects its supporters will like it.
Agriculture about to get the emissions answer
29 Apr 2019
The agricultural sector will find out soon whether it is likely to come into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
HALFWAY HOUSE: PM changes our climate focus
24 Apr 2019
Jacinda Ardern’s nuclear-free-moment speech on the campaign trail during the 2017 general election struck a chord.
Review has price cap message for Government
23 Apr 2019
The cap on carbon prices should be lifted, the Government has been told.
No CGT, but green taxes still on the agenda
18 Apr 2019
A capital gains tax might be off the agenda, but the Government isn’t ruling out environmental taxes recommended by the Tax Working Group.
MEMO LABOUR: The answers are in your files
17 Apr 2019
Labour could find solutions in its own files to the problem of putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
New panel to assess what changing climate is doing
10 Apr 2019
A new panel has been appointed to assess how climate change is likely to affect New Zealand.
Don't rule out GE as a solution, say farmers
8 Apr 2019
Genetic modification should not be ruled out by the Government as a solution for climate change and other environmental issues, Federated Farmers says.
We won't use GE to cut farm emissions, says Shaw
5 Apr 2019
Climate minister James Shaw says New Zealand doesn’t need genetic engineering to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farms.
EDITORIAL: Oh, Canada
3 Apr 2019
Let’s talk about Canada. It’s easier than talking about our own country.
All corporates should come clean, says Sanford
2 Apr 2019
New Zealand’s largest fishing company is calling for all companies to monitor and report on environmental issues.
Let ETS do its job, says English's economist
1 Apr 2019
New Zealand should stay clear of direct intervention to bring down emissions from the electricity sector and instead let the Emissions Trading Scheme do its job.
Business lobby warns of huge disruption
27 Mar 2019
Banning every industry except agriculture from using forestry credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions would be a huge disruption to the economy, says Business NZ.
Q and A: The commissioner explains
27 Mar 2019
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton answers questions on yesterday’s report recommending big changes to the way New Zealand deals with greenhouse gas emissions.
Farming in ETS good move, says forestry expert
26 Mar 2019
Agriculture should be brought into the Emissions Trading Scheme as soon as possible – and farmers be given the opportunity to make money from it, the Government has been told.
Shipowners want out of 'unfair' ETS
25 Mar 2019
Shipowners want out of the Emissions Trading Scheme, saying it won’t be fair if they have to pay twice for their emissions.
Treasury sees use for international credits
22 Mar 2019
Treasury wants to retain the ability to use international carbon credits to meet New Zealand’s 2050 emissions reduction target, confidential papers show.
Pioneer carbon trader to change hands
20 Mar 2019
The trading house that 10 years ago today handled the first trade under New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme is about to change hands.
How emitters can't see the trees for the carbon
18 Mar 2019
Storing carbon in new native forests could help to bring down New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions and protect native species at the same time, researchers say.
Shaw now first stop for farm emissions action
15 Mar 2019
The Interim Climate Change Committee will now report directly to climate minister James Shaw on whether the agricultural sector should be liable for emissions under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Big emitters join hands to buy carbon forests
15 Mar 2019
Four of New Zealand’s largest emitters are joining forces to supply their own carbon credits to meet obligations under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Climate group about to rule on agriculture gases
14 Mar 2019
The Interim Climate Change Committee will make its recommendations next month on how New Zealand should treat greenhouse gases from agriculture.
CLIMATE CHAMPION: My struggle with the future
13 Mar 2019
Atmospheric physicist Professor James Renwick is struggling with the idea that the world might really delay action on climate change to the point of disaster.
OPINION: Wise words for the schoolkids
13 Mar 2019
This Friday’s strike by school students calling for action on climate change has the support of some of our wisest citizens. Wise Response Society secretary DUGALD MACTAVISH explains why.
Growing number of carbon schemes cover emissions
13 Mar 2019
Nearly 14 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions will be subject to a carbon price this year, World Bank figures show.
Shaw about to reveal climate policy timetable
12 Mar 2019
The Government will release details of its climate change policy timetable on Friday.
Emerging biodiversity and carbon markets part of Gisborne plan for land-use change
Mon 6 Oct 2025
Gisborne District Council has endorsed a plan to shift up to 100,000 hectares of the region’s most erosion-prone land into permanent vegetation cover and is calling on the Government to make urgent changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme to aid the transition.
Media round-up
Fri 3 Oct 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Leaving the Paris Agreement won’t fix NZ’s farming frustrations, what Pacific Island leaders told the UN General Assembly about climate, and Hawke's Bay Regional Council faces class action legal challenge over flooding.
NZ needs to be part of a regional SAF strategy: Z, Air NZ
9 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand needs to be part of a regional strategic approach to sourcing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with domestic production less the aim than ensuring access to the fuel from one of a number of strategically positioned bio-refineries around the world.
Travellers bothered by their flight’s pollution can pay to reduce it elsewhere. Do offsets work?
Thu 2 Oct 2025
So you’re booking your flight, and just when you’re about to check out, the airline asks if you’d like to pay a little something to offset your share of the flight’s pollution. Or, maybe you’re an environmentally minded person, and you’ve heard you can buy these things called carbon offsets.
Solar farm gets fast-track treatment
Mon 6 Oct 2025
Lodestone Energy’s proposed 220 MW solar farm at Haldon Station in the Mackenzie Basin has become the first solar project to be referred to an expert panel under the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024.
Researchers say sealing old oil wells with bio-oil from crop waste is a dual carbon-removal solution
19 Sep 2025
A new analysis shows that oil made from corn husks, wood chips, and other waste could plug greenhouse gas-belching abandoned oil wells while sequestering carbon for about $152 per ton.
Will govt’s light touch approach lead to higher carbon prices?
Fri 3 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Carbon market watchers are hoping the government’s plan for the electricity sector will eventually lead to higher carbon prices, with the secondary market still trading sideways for the longest time in its history.
EAT-Lancet report: Three key takeaways on climate and diet change
Mon 6 Oct 2025
A global shift towards “healthier” diets could cut non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, such as methane, from agriculture by 15% by 2050, according to a new report.
Climate credibility gap widening for Aussie firms
Wed 1 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Australian public companies’ climate change commitments are in retreat, reflecting difficulty in achieving stated targets and increased fossil use, but not because of any pressure to make less effort, according to a study of major companies’ ESG reporting.
Electricity to remain in ETS
Wed 1 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has rejected Frontier Economics' recommendation that electricity should be removed from the Emissions Trading Scheme.
The merchants of doubt are back
3 Sep 2025
OPINION: If you don’t follow climate policy closely, you might not know that the Trump administration is launching an effort to overturn one of the most fundamental pillars of American climate policy.
Milestone for NZ Steel electrification
10 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | NZ Steel has passed an installation milestone for its new electric arc furnace, which will reduce emissions from the Glenbrook steel mill site by as much as one megatonne (1Mt) a year.
UN limits staff at COP30 climate summit over accommodation concerns
19 Sep 2025
High hotel prices for Brazil's COP30 climate summit in November have prompted the United Nations to urge its staff to limit attendance, while government delegations are still scrambling to find rooms within their budgets.
NZ quiet on climate target at UN meeting
Thu 2 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand didn't mention its recently minted – but widely criticised – climate target for 2035 at a major multilateral climate meeting in New York last week, at an event which was ostensibly billed as a platform for leaders to present their new targets.
From nuisance to crisis: New report on pest wasps In Aotearoa
24 Sep 2025
Media release: Moths and Butterflies NZ Trust | Just published is the Final Report of the Pest Wasps Survey carried out by the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (MBNZT) offering a comprehensive look at New Zealanders’ awareness, experiences, and attitudes toward wasps and the growing ecological, health, and social issues associated with them.
Declining sea-ice is altering Antarctic food webs
11 Sep 2025
A new study shows a significant change in Antarctic phytoplankton over time that could cascade through the marine food web and affect the ocean’s capacity as a carbon sink.
Consultation open on second draft of Sustainable Finance Taxonomy
29 Sep 2025
Public consultation has opened on the second draft of the Aotearoa New Zealand Sustainable Finance Taxonomy.
‘Damp squib’ – Govt energy plan slammed for locking in fossil fuels
Thu 2 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Critics across business, climate groups and the opposition say the Government’s electricity reforms duck structural change, double down on LNG and gas, and offer little relief for soaring power prices – warning of an “expensive white elephant", deeper energy poverty and a missed chance to scale renewables.
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.”
$1.5m for climate action
Mon 6 Oct 2025
The Wilding Pine Network, Rewiring Aotearoa, Papawhakaritorito Charitable Trust, 800 Trust and 350 Aotearoa, have received grants from a total pool of more than $1.5m over two years from of Climate Action Aotearoa's Kaupapa of National Significance Climate Action Fund.
UC wins top international award for civics education
Mon 6 Oct 2025
Media release | A University of Canterbury research group has received international recognition at the highest level of political science.
FMA consults on clearer ethical investment claims to curb greenwashing
29 Sep 2025
The Financial Markets Authority – Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko – has released updated draft guidance for financial products marketed with ethical or sustainability features.
Coal imports up 650%
12 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams and Liz Kivi | Coal imports are up 650% as generators stockpile the most polluting fossil fuel ahead of next winter.
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.
Study warns climate leadership falling short in NZ
Wed 1 Oct 2025
Media release - Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland | Research suggests New Zealand’s climate leadership is falling short, with current adaptation efforts focused on property and cost-cutting rather than protecting communities.
Will NZ walk away from the Paris Agreement?
20 Dec 2024
By Geoff Bertram | COMMENT: Unless the government can find very cheap offshore mitigation, the temptation to walk away from its Paris Agreement obligations may well be too strong to resist for a coalition government focused on fiscal austerity.
Can the courtroom save the climate?
Thu 2 Oct 2025
It was in early 2017 when it seemed like nearly every person I knew from home was asking me the same question: Should they be worried about what was about to happen in Washington, D.C.?
'Non-negotiable' – EU carbon pricing to hit Kiwi exporters, expert warns
11 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | High carbon exports will inevitably face a high carbon tax at the EU border, possibly in the next five years, and high methane agricultural products might not be exempt, an international expert told a local audience yesterday.
Deep sea mining threatens sharks, rays and ghost sharks
Mon 6 Oct 2025
Mining the world’s deep seas for metals will likely threaten many species of sharks, rays and chimaeras (ghost sharks), according to researchers.
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.
Warming oceans prompt major overhaul of how scientists monitor El Niño and La Niña
Wed 1 Oct 2025
Global warming is interfering with how Earth Sciences New Zealand monitors one of the world’s biggest climate drivers.
China calls EU hypocritical over criticism of climate goal
Wed 1 Oct 2025
The EU climate chief's criticism of China's new climate pledges shows "double standards and selective blindness," China's foreign ministry said on Friday, accusing the bloc of being slow to act on its own climate targets.
Lobby group launches ‘blueprint’ for ocean management reform
18 Sep 2025
The Environmental Defence Society yesterday released its plan to tackle widespread ecological decline in our oceans.
Fast-track changes coming before end of year
Fri 3 Oct 2025
The Government is already preparing to amend its fast-track approvals law, even as the first projects consented under the regime begin construction.
Students repeat request for Victoria University to divest from fossil fuel investments
24 Sep 2025
Media release | A group of students campaigning for climate action at Victoria University of Wellington have dropped a banner protesting against the university’s lack of action on its 2014 commitment to divest from fossil fuels.
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.
Countering the Trump administration’s attack on climate science
Fri 3 Oct 2025
The Trump Administration is attempting to remove the legal basis for U.S. action on greenhouse gas emissions by attacking the climate science that underpins it.
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.
Auckland Transport and Kinetic charging ahead for sustainability
30 Sep 2025
Media release | Auckland Transport (AT) and bus operator Kinetic and have taken another step in their decarbonisation journeys with major upgrades completed at Kinetic’s Glenfield bus depot to support a growing zero emissions fleet.
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.
End of EV tax subsidy sparks worries of collapse in US electric car sales
Mon 6 Oct 2025
Automotive executives are bracing for a freefall in U.S. electric-vehicle sales following the disappearance of a critical $7,500 tax break for buyers.
‘Beyond embarrassing’ – Peters’ Paris remarks draw fire for talking down Pacific climate diplomacy
26 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Foreign Minister and NZ first leader Winston Peters says he wants to revisit the Paris Agreement with Pacific leaders because some may be unaware of how it’s structured.
Day of action against incinerators
29 Sep 2025
Media release | Zero Waste Aotearoa will call on the Ministry for the Environment to embrace real solutions to waste and climate change, not toxic pollution from incineration as part of an international day of action on Tuesday 30 September.
Environment Minister abusing role to put freshwater at risk – Greens
Fri 3 Oct 2025
Media release – Green Party | Documents obtained under the Official Information Act have revealed the Minister for the Environment is pressuring local councils to allow ‘water take’ consents for a group of farmers that includes her party colleague, in a catchment already showing signs of serious decline.
‘Con,’ ‘scam,’ ‘hoax’: Trump’s UN speech on climate
24 Sep 2025
The president used a large chunk of his hour-long speech to world leaders to condemn climate science and clean energy policies.
Trump administration moves to revoke permit for Massachusetts offshore wind project
24 Sep 2025
The Trump administration has moved to block a Massachusetts offshore wind farm, its latest effort to hobble an industry and technology that President Donald Trump has attacked as “ugly” and unreliable compared to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.
