Topics tagged with 'Emissions trading'
Government disputes $80b 'carbon tax' windfall claim
9 May 2008
The Government is disputing a suggestion by Solid Energy chief Don Elder that it could stand to make $80 billion from New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme.
ANALYSIS: Will Don Elder today spell out his dream for New Zealand?
9 May 2008
What did Don Elder hope to achieve by assuming a carbon price of $200 per tonne and almost nil-emissions reduction – to produce a result showing the Government could make a surplus of up to $80 billion from its emissions trading scheme?
Brits clash with Europe over carbon permit revenue
9 May 2008
The British Government is on course for an embarrassing showdown with the European Union, business groups and environmental charities after refusing to guarantee that billions of pounds of revenue it stands to earn from carbon-permit trading will be spent on combating climate change.
EXCLUSIVE: Top Fletcher officers played key role in ETS policy switch
8 May 2008
Highly reliable sources have told Carbon News that two senior Fletcher Building executives, Jonathan Ling and Hans Buwalda, were the key players in successfully lobbying Climate Change Minister David Parker for major changes to the emissions trading scheme, announced on Tuesday.
NZX chief: Here's our big chance to impress the Americans
8 May 2008
New Zealand has a chance to build a strong relationship with the United States over greenhouse-gas emissions trading by being the first country to bring agriculture and forestry into the scheme, says NZX chief Mark Weldon.
Big players put cases to ETS select committee
8 May 2008
The select committee hearing submissions on the emissions trading bill is in for an interesting day today, with energy producers, users and lobbyists lining up to make submissions.
New World Bank Report : Carbon market value doubles to US$64b in a year
8 May 2008
The global carbon market grew to a whopping US$64 billion (€47 billion) in 2007, more than doubling over 2006, according to a new report from the World Bank releaed overnight.
Changes to Kyoto last straw for forest owners
8 May 2008
Recent changes to the government's emission trading scheme mean forestry will be the only sector in the NZ economy meeting its Kyoto obligations until 2011, says the Nz Forest Owners Association in a statement.
EPA experts cast doubts on greenhouse gas emissions trading
8 May 2008
The principal plans Congress is considering to combat global warming may not work as intended, according to an open letter from US Environmental Protection Agency specialists posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
MARKET REPORT: Oil drives across-the-board carbon price rise
8 May 2008
Continued strength in oil prices saw carbon prices strengthen right across the board yesterday, according to New Zealand broker OMFinancial.
Emissions trading bill still needs work
8 May 2008
The government’s announcement that liquid fuels are not to enter the emissions trading scheme until 2011 and that free allocation of NZU’s to trade exposed industry is not to be phased out until 2018 are a good start, but the scheme still needs work, according to the Greenhouse Policy Coalition.
Greenpeace: Don't subsidise polluting industries
8 May 2008
Don't subsidise polluting industries at the expense of ordinary New Zealanders and the planet.
Government confused over transport – Sustainable Energy Forum
8 May 2008
The Government doesn’t know which way to jump on transport, says Tim Jones, convenor of the Sustainable Energy Forum.
Government ETS moves will batter forestry Kyoto credit values
7 May 2008
Forest owners expect the value of their hard-won Kyoto carbon credits to plummet as a result of yesterday’s announced changes to the emissions trading scheme, with the likely result that few new forests will be planted.
Stock exchange chief looks to the futures
7 May 2008
NZX chief Mark Weldon says that changes to the timetable for implementation of the emissions trading scheme will move demand from a spot market to a futures market.
Non-committal Nats happy to play the waiting game
7 May 2008
National says it is carefully avoiding “running the politics” on climate change and won’t finalise its climate-change policy until at least July, when it sees Australia’s proposals.
Government allies vent their anger
7 May 2008
Government moves to delay the impact of the emissions trading scheme on big-business and motorists have earned anger from allies, with the Green Party threatening to pull its support.
Pandering, polluting, unprincipled – and popular
7 May 2008
ANALYSIS – The Government yesterday gave control over New Zealand’s transport fuel emissions to the offshore oil markets.
Changes not enough, NZ Steel tells government
7 May 2008
New Zealand Steel will today tell the Government that it still wants an exemption from the emissions trading scheme - despite Government moves yesterday to soften the impact of the scheme on big emitters.
Dutch mull over specific greenhouse gases for taxation
7 May 2008
The Netherlands is mulling over whether to build into its new controversial environment tax a specific levy linked to climate-changing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
Anxious Aussie farmers ‘in a twilight zone’
7 May 2008
Australian agriculture is heavily on the back foot as it tries to deal with the immediacy of the Rudd Government's move towards a national emissions trading scheme.
Asia's disappearing rainforests ‘an appalling crisis’
7 May 2008
The wanton destruction of Asia's rainforests is “one of the worst crises since we came out of our caves 10,000 years ago,” foresters have been told at an international meeting in Hanoi.
Heavy-emitters should buy now, says carbon trader
6 May 2008
New Zealand’s top 200 greenhouse-gas heavy emitters should be buying carbon credits now to protect against likely price rises as the emission trading scheme starts to kick in, says a leading leading carbon trader.
Unions, company worried about ETs-induced job losses at steel mill
6 May 2008
Unions say they are concerned about the potential impact of the emissions trading scheme on the Glenbrook Steel mill, and say that the potential impact on jobs and manufacturing capacity needs to be considered.
ETS hearings hit Auckland
6 May 2008
Hearings into the proposed emissions trading scheme move to Auckland tomorrow, with Air New Zealand, Greenpeace, Fletcher Building, the Maori Council and New Zealand Steel among those lining up to tell the politicians what they think if it.
Overnight prices indicate real Kyoto bill more than $1.5 billion?
6 May 2008
New Zealand’s true Kyoto liability might be closer to $1.5 billion, based on current emission credit prices.
EUAs trade averages 9.4 million a day and follows direction set by record coal price
6 May 2008
A daily average 9.4million EUAs traded through brokers and exchanges last week, according to Fortis bank's weekly international market analysis.
UN confident world can reach climate change pact in time
6 May 2008
Without a deal to cap greenhouse gas emissions around 2015, then halve them by 2050, the world will face ever more droughts, heatwaves, floods and rising seas, according to the United Nations.
ETS threatens viability of $400m plant, says cement maker
5 May 2008
The emissions trading scheme threatens the viability of a planned $US400 million cement plant which would actually reduce overall greenhouse-gas emissions, warns cement manufacturer Holcim New Zealand.
Nation’s biggest newspaper comes out for Forum advice on emissions trading scheme
5 May 2008
ANALYSIS: The New Zealand Herald today came out in support for the emissions trading scheme course advocated in advice to the Government last week by the powerful Climate Change Leadership Forum.
Aussie big boys scramble for carbon trading exemptions
5 May 2008
MAJOR Australian companies and industry bodies are pushing to be made exempt from the impact of a national carbon emissions trading scheme, claiming they will be hurt by cheap imports or lose out in export markets.
'Enemies' unite in plea for leadership on climate change
2 May 2008
Two lobbyists usually found on opposite sides came together last night in a call for national leadership, co-operation and unity on climate change for the sake of all New Zealanders.
NZ MARKET: Broker OMF recommends emitters sell put options
2 May 2008
Broker OMFinancial is recommending New Zealand emitters currently consider selling put options.
Tokyo carbon market raises prospect of round-the-clock trading
2 May 2008
The reputation of carbon credits as tradable commodity could take a major leap forward if the Tokyo Stock Exchange presses ahead with plans to create Japan's first greenhouse gas emissions trading market next year.
State gives $120m to find way to cut coal gas emissions
2 May 2008
The Victorian Government will give more than $120 million to Australia’s coal-fired power industry for measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Change Leadership Forum policy statement process
2 May 2008
Business NZ is perfectly entitled to disassociate itself from the Climate Change Leadership Forum's 10 point policy advice to Ministers on the Emissions trading scheme, released on April 28, the forum said in a statement yesterday.
NZIER sets cat among political pigeons
1 May 2008
Two days after being revealed exclusively by Carbon News, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research’s (NZIER’s) report into the costs of the Government’s planned emissions trading scheme (ETS) is sending shock-waves through Parliament.
Emissions-trading impacts on regional agenda
1 May 2008
Worried regional leaders gathering in Wellington tonight will discuss a report that predicts some far-flung regions will be hardest hit by the emissions trading scheme.
Cheaper for government to pick up greenhouse-gas tab
1 May 2008
A private research company says that it would be cheaper to have the Government paying for greenhouse-gas emissions than using an emissions trading scheme.
NZIER refuses to disclose who is paying for its ETS report
1 May 2008
The NZIER will not say who is funding its latest report on the possible impacts of the emissions trading scheme.
ETS impact ‘like a major war’ – Act leader Hide
1 May 2008
The Government’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) will have the economic impact of a major war, according to Act Party leader Rodney Hide.
ANALYSIS: What you are not hearing from the NZIER and heavy emitters
1 May 2008
The NZIER appears to expect a New Zealand Government to carry on regardless with an all-sectors, all-gases emissions trading scheme for 17 years – if the rest of the country’s competitors do not.
Parker: Emissions trading 'effective and affordable'
1 May 2008
A summary of economic modelling shows emissions trading is an effective approach to reducing New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in the long term, Climate Change Minister David Parker says.
Political realities mean emissions scheme phase in slower than desirable
1 May 2008
The political reality of having all sectors included in an emissions trading scheme means some major emitters will start paying for their greenhouse gas emissions later than is desirable in a perfect world.
Government's plan to reduce emissions will hurt economy - NZIER
1 May 2008
The Government’s proposed Emissions Trading Scheme, intended to ensure New Zealand plays its part in helping reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases, is likely to hurt the economy more than necessary, says a report issued today by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (Inc).
Agroforestry the best bet, say Aussies
1 May 2008
Agroforestry and reforestation are the best option for providing carbon offsets in the initial phase of an emissions trading system, according to Australian researchers.
NEW REPORT: 'households, road users and SMEs' carry multi-billion ETS bill
30 Apr 2008
All sectors of the economy should come into the emissions trading scheme at the same time to avoid the “huge transfer of wealth” that will be the result of the proposed scheme, says the New Zealand Sustainability Council in a report out today.
Lines companies can’t duck thermal ban - Parker
30 Apr 2008
Lines companies will not be able to buck the Government’s ban on new thermal power generation despite the Electricity Industry Reform Amendment Bill (EIRA) seeming to give them that option, Climate Change Minister David Parker has told Carbon News.
Minister reveals emissions trading scheme to cut emissions by 11%
30 Apr 2008
Climate Change Minister David Parker this morning revealed the Government expects its emissions trading scheme to cut emissions by 11% by 2012.
Tread carefully with jobs, say unions
30 Apr 2008
Unions are calling for a managed labour-market transition to carbon charging to avoid widespread job losses and pay cuts.
NZ urged to grab a slice of burgeoning $35 billion market for nature credits
Fri 13 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand could unlock strong domestic and international demand for high-integrity nature-based credits, if government, investors and restoration groups work together to scale supply, a new report says.
Rod Carr is ‘over’ climate change defeatism
Fri 13 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | If there’s one thing former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr is “over”, it’s people saying there’s nothing they can personally do to address climate change.
Auckland Airport switches on giant heat pump system to cut gas use
6 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | While Auckland Airport’s switch from gas to heat pumps is welcome, the emissions savings are dwarfed by ongoing aircraft emissions, which are set to rise, according to a sustainable transport expert.
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.
Carbon markets risk penalising Indigenous stewardship, researchers warn
5 Mar 2026
Carbon markets designed to reward environmental restoration may be unintentionally disadvantaging Indigenous communities who have long protected intact ecosystems, according to new research.
Govt’s own modelling shows LNG leads to higher electricity prices than other solutions
19 Feb 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: According to modelling conducted by Concept Consulting for MBIE, either developing the Tariki gas storage facility or managing electricity demand would deliver lower wholesale electricity prices than the Government’s preferred solution of an LNG import terminal.
Kenya’s latest carbon credit crackdown reveals questionable practices
Wed 11 Mar 2026
Some players use sophisticated tactics to inflate the value of credits that may not represent genuine, permanent emissions reductions.
Countries agree to record release of emergency oil reserves as prices surge
Fri 13 Mar 2026
Dozens of countries have agreed to release a record amount of oil from their emergency reserves to try to tackle supply shortages and soaring prices.
Bidders no-show at carbon auction – again
3 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | As predicted, today’s carbon auction yet again failed to attract any bidders, with NZUs currently trading hands on the secondary market at a 35% discount on this year’s auction floor price.
3,600 times faster: China is shaking up the steel industry
25 Feb 2026
For over a century, making steel meant coal, heat, and hours of waiting. A Chinese research team now reports collapsing that process into just three to six seconds; no coal, near zero emissions, and a vortex lance already moving toward commercial production. The technology is called flash ironmaking, and in February 2026, its implications are still unfolding.
Hormuz crisis critical to New Zealand
Tue 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.
Renewables surge cuts power emissions, but oil dominates fossil fuel use
Fri 13 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s fossil fuel emissions fell in 2025 as strong renewable electricity generation reduced the need for gas-fired power, but oil consumption is rising and now accounts for a record share of fossil emissions.
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.
Climate Commission called to Waitangi inquiry over alleged breaches
Tue 10 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Climate Change Commission is being called to front up to the Waitangi Tribunal and give evidence over alleged legal breaches of its obligations to Māori.
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.
From forest to flatpack, IKEA faces timber traceability test
Wed 11 Mar 2026
As the EU’s Deforestation Regulation nears implementation this year, furniture giant IKEA may need stronger traceability systems to prove its timber isn’t linked to post-2020 deforestation.
Greenpeace slams Govt climate policies amid rising petrol prices
Thu 12 Mar 2026
As petrol prices climb to $3 a litre, Greenpeace is blaming Government decisions for leaving Kiwis harder hit by the oil price spike.
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).
Russia gets export boost from Iran war as price of oil to India surges
Tue 10 Mar 2026
The war in Iran has fuelled a significant bump in demand for Russian oil and gas, the Kremlin said on Friday, boosting exports which have been battered by sanctions linked to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Five trees can’t offset a car: Lawyers accuse Mazda of greenwashing
Mon 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.
Japan eyes New Zealand as green hydrogen export hub
Thu 12 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A new partnership between major Japanese companies aims to explore exporting green hydrogen from New Zealand – but the economics of producing the energy-hungry fuel remain the biggest hurdle.
Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
4 Feb 2026
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
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.
EDS puts environmental lawmaking under the spotlight
26 Feb 2026
Media Release |The Environmental Defence Society has launched the first in a series of investigative pieces into how environmental laws are being made in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Climate 'dream team' launches foundation targeting 100 million tonnes in emissions cuts
25 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The New Zealand Climate Foundation, which has the ambitious aim of cutting 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, had its official launch on Monday.
Expert Panel invites EDS to comment on Bendigo goldmine
Fri 13 Mar 2026
Media release | The Environmental Defence Society has been invited to provide comment on the Bendigo-Ophir gold mine by the expert Panel tasked with deciding the fast-track project.
If the government is set on an LNG terminal, gas users, not electricity users, should pay
Wed 11 Mar 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: It's increasingly clear that the government's narrative of LNG as ‘dry year electricity insurance’ really doesn't stack up.
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.
Tiny, lost and constipated: what a baby turtle told Australian scientists about warming seas
6 Mar 2026
The arrival of loggerheads in New South Wales shows these ‘sentinels of climate change’ are being forced into unknown territory.
The world’s largest climate finance deal was built to flounder: why funding fails to reach the front‑line
6 Mar 2026
Adopted in December 2015, the Paris Agreement commits countries to keeping global temperature rise below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
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?
Todd gets nod to drill first super-critical geothermal well
Thu 12 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Todd Energy is to make its sole oil drilling rig available to drill the first exploration well under the government’s $60 million super-critical geothermal resource exploration programme under a ‘preferred supplier’ agreement announced yesterday.
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.
How falling battery costs are igniting race for round-the-clock solar power
Fri 13 Mar 2026
By combining the solar array with a massive amount of battery capacity, the aim is to store enough power generated during daylight hours so that a minimum of 1 GW of electricity – enough to power between 500,000 and one million homes – is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Native plant shows promise for tackling `forever chemicals’
Wed 11 Mar 2026
Media release: University of Auckland | One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s taonga plants, harakeke, shows promise as a treatment for removing “forever chemicals” from drinking water.
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.
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
18 Feb 2026
Tech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.
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.
NZ EV owners sticking with electric – survey
Wed 11 Mar 2026
Nearly all New Zealand EV owners say they would buy another electric vehicle, according to new research from Consumer NZ.
Summit aims to revive stalled UN talks on phasing out fossil fuels
Wed 11 Mar 2026
Colombia and the Netherlands have set out three priorities for a conference on phasing out fossil fuels they will co-host in Colombia in April.
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.
Study finds warming world increases days when weather is prone to fires around the globe
20 Feb 2026
The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy — ideal to spark extreme wildfires — has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.
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.
