Topics tagged with 'Energy'
Ministry likes look of targeted green taxes
26 Sep 2018
The Ministry for the Environment says it likes environmental taxes – especially for dealing with climate change and water problems.
Farmers say no to environmental taxes
24 Sep 2018
Farmers are overwhelmingly opposed to environmental taxes – unless the revenue comes to them.
Wind and rain gives renewables a boost
21 Sep 2018
A wet and windy winter slashed New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation.
Why all new buildings should be carbon-neutral
20 Sep 2018
Requiring all new buildings to be carbon-neutral is the most cost-effective emissions-reduction action New Zealand can take, the Government is being told.
OPINION: A dangerous political compromise
17 Sep 2018
By SIR ALAN MARK | After decades of sitting on our hands, the simple the act of commissioning an inquiry into becoming a low-carbon economy has been hugely positive on public perception.
Climate action-man puts new emissions option
14 Sep 2018
The man who got politicians from both sides of Parliament to agree on climate change says there might be a third option for dealing with New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
GE ryegrass could slash emissions, Govt hears
12 Sep 2018
Feeding animals a genetically engineered high-energy ryegrass could cut greenhouse gas emissions from New Zealand farms by more than 20 per cent, the Government has been told.
Gluckman report backs cuts to methane emissions
11 Sep 2018
A third investigation says New Zealand must make drastic cuts to methane emissions.
NZ backs Pacific call for UN to do more
6 Sep 2018
New Zealand is backing other Pacific nations calling for the United Nations to up its game over the security threats posed by climate change.
Foresters happy, farmers wary of carbon path
5 Sep 2018
Recommendations for what is being called the biggest land-use change in New Zealand’s history are pleasing foresters but not farmers.
PRODCOM 1: Innovation key to our carbon future
4 Sep 2018
Carbon prices of $200 a tonne, the end of fossil-fuels and agriculture subject to carbon pricing are on the cards if the Government picks up a new report.
PRODCOM 4: Farewell to fossil fuels
4 Sep 2018
Fossil fuels should be consigned to history, the Productivity Commission says.
New PCE report backs mission to cut methane
31 Aug 2018
New research released by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment confirms that New Zealand’s methane emissions must be cut.
We must cut methane emissions, officials tell Shaw
30 Aug 2018
Methane emissions – including those from agriculture - will have to be cut if the Paris Agreement is to be met, officials have told climate minister James Shaw.
Fuel from wood great energy option, say scientists
29 Aug 2018
Bioenergy production using wood from locally grown and sustainably managed forests can provide one of the lowest-carbon energy options for New Zealand, Scion says.
Auckland signs up to war on waste declaration
29 Aug 2018
Auckland is promising to halve the amount of waste being sent to rubbish dumps by 2030.
Experts want to turn Henderson carparks into housing
29 Aug 2018
Five teams have been short-listed in a global design competition that could see two Auckland carparks redeveloped as eco-housing centres.
Greenhouse emissions must be cut, says Ardern
28 Aug 2018
Cutting New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions was on the Prime Minister’s menu at a business breakfast in Auckland this morning.
Beware of cherry-picking, study tells businesses
28 Aug 2018
Companies might be cherry-picking sustainability measures that make them look good, with greenhouse gas emissions one of the least-reported factors.
Growth fund should back biofuel, says jet group
27 Aug 2018
The Government’s Provincial Growth Fund should be backing production in New Zealand of biofuel, says one of the players in a biojet consortium.
Z Energy buys chunk of electricity company
27 Aug 2018
Fuel retailer Z Energy is buying 70 per cent of an electricity supplier as part of a shift towards a low-carbon economy.
Don't rush free-credits' demise, warn exporters
24 Aug 2018
Trade-exposed heavy emitters should keep getting free carbon credits until 70 per cent of their international competitors face a carbon price, says Export New Zealand.
Carbon trading support sits at 50%, says survey
23 Aug 2018
Half of New Zealanders support carbon trading as a way of cutting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, a survey shows.
OPINION: Good intentions are not enough
23 Aug 2018
By GREG CAMPBELL | When 60 chief executives of large New Zealand companies recently committed to a transition to a low- emissions economy, some environmentalists were wary.
Cheap-credits companies might face crackdown
22 Aug 2018
The Government might crack down on companies using cheap credits to cover their carbon liabilities while banking or selling credits given to them by taxpayers.
Government takes aim at synthetic gases
20 Aug 2018
Synthetic greenhouses gases, like those used in refrigeration and air conditioning, could come under a new product stewardship regime.
Companies offer e-cars on subscription
20 Aug 2018
Electric vehicles could soon be available on subscription.
Businesses reluctant to factor in carbon prices
9 Aug 2018
Carbon prices rarely influence businesses’ decisions to install energy-efficient plant, according to a new report examining the market’s failure to drive down greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector.
Experts predict the arrival of Hothouse Earth
8 Aug 2018
Allowing the world to warm by even 2deg could threaten the existence of humans.
How ignoring climate change will cost us billions
7 Aug 2018
Unchecked climate change will cost New Zealand nearly $6 billion a year in lost earnings, researchers have calculated.
KiwiRail sees exciting future for hydrogen trains
3 Aug 2018
Hydrogen-powered trains could play a big part in cutting New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, KiwiRail says.
STATS SHOW: Shaw about to change the story
31 Jul 2018
Green Party co-leader James Shaw might be the climate minister, but it’s in his statistics portfolio that he is about to change everything.
Bridges ignores climate change in party address
30 Jul 2018
National Party leader Simon Bridges is promising to have “the best ideas” on the environment.
Big investors call for low-carbon roadmap
25 Jul 2018
New Zealand and Australian investors with $10 trillion worth of assets are calling for a suite of policies to direct finance into the low-carbon economy.
Parties eye early start to zero-carbon talks
23 Jul 2018
Cross-party talks on the Zero Carbon Bill could be under way within a month.
Shaw applauds China's work on climate change
20 Jul 2018
China’s action on climate change makes New Zealand look like its “pussy-footing around”, says climate minister James Shaw.
Latest ETS review kicks off next month
18 Jul 2018
Consultation on the next review of the Emissions Trading Scheme will start next month.
Ngai Tahu targets a million native trees
17 Jul 2018
Ngai Tahu is planting a million native trees and converting some of its farms to horticulture as part of its strategy to deal with climate change.
Banks face divestment pressure from councils
16 Jul 2018
Banks can expect pressure from the country’s largest urban authorities to get their money out of fossil-fuel investment.
Act or face financial crisis, warns leading banker
13 Jul 2018
New central bank head Adrian Orr is warning of financial crisis and mass social unrest if the world doesn’t urgently address climate change.
Big Business makes public climate promises
12 Jul 2018
Details of support for the Zero Carbon Bill by businesses responsible for half the country’s greenhouse gas emissions have emerged today.
We don't want to be like Australia, says Vector
6 Jul 2018
One of the 53 big companies stepping up to publicly support the Zero Carbon Bill says it doesn’t want New Zealand’s climate policy to end up like that of Australia.
We can use organic waste, says landfill operator
29 Jun 2018
Keeping organic waste out of rubbish dumps will double its carbon footprint and deny the country an important source of renewable energy, says the country’s largest landfill operator.
Big Business gets ready to back carbon neutrality
28 Jun 2018
Fifty-three of New Zealand’s biggest companies - including major players in the farming, forestry and fishing industries - appear to be ready to announce their support for the Zero Carbon Bill.
Don't bet on the future of our cars being electric
27 Jun 2018
The future of low-emissions transport is not necessarily electric, car makers are telling the Government.
OPINION: Let's charge the high-emitting vehicles
27 Jun 2018
By Toyota NZ chief executive ALASTAIR DAVIS | The Productivity Commission’s draft on the move to a low-carbon emission economy through a Zero Carbon Act is a sound report on what lies ahead.
Get climate house in order, Trustpower tells Govt
26 Jun 2018
Energy company Trustpower says the Government needs to use “joined-up thinking” on climate change.
Government might aim for more carbon cuts
25 Jun 2018
The Government might increase New Zealand’s 2030 emissions reduction target.
Our cities in the 30-year climate firing line
20 Jun 2018
New Zealanders are among the billions of city dwellers who will be hit by the impacts of climate change within three decades, a new report shows.
OPINION: If energy grew on trees
20 Jun 2018
By JONATHAN McKEOWN | It is always refreshing when structures and processes work as they were designed to. It’s an absolute triumph when it involves the public sector, an industry body and business.
Bill to ban new coal mines fails at first reading
Fri 24 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A bid to outlaw new coal mines was defeated at its first hurdle in Parliament this week, after a heated debate pitting climate imperatives against energy security and affordability.
'It was the start of a new movement': The Dutch rewilding project that took a dark turn
Fri 24 Oct 2025
In 2018, thousands of dead animals, emaciated from starvation, lay strewn across a famous Dutch rewilding project. Was it animal cruelty or just nature taking its course?
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
Wed 22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
Air NZ inks deal for its first internationally verified carbon credits
9 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Air New Zealand has committed to buying 8000 tonnes of carbon removals by 2030, in partnership with local native forest investment platform My Native Forest.
Just 28% of countries have released nature pledges a year after UN deadline
Thu 23 Oct 2025
Only 28% of countries have met a UN call to submit new plans on addressing nature loss – a year after the original deadline.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
Thu 23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Forestry biomass could replace as much as 40% of fossil fuel-generated process heat by 2050, but access to supply, regulatory settings and business cases for converting to wood-based heat sources are required, the Government says in a series of documents released yesterday.
‘Plain old dull’: NZU market continues to limp sideways
Fri 24 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The NZU market has been “plain old dull” in recent months, with activity driven mainly by credit opportunities or a specific need to raise cash, according to Lizzie Chambers of trading platform Carbon Match.
Is greenhushing the new greenwashing? Or something else entirely
Fri 24 Oct 2025
Companies used to be accused of faking sustainability via greenwashing. Now some are hiding actual climate progress.
Broker predicts all this year’s carbon auctions will fail
10 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Marex New Zealand is forecasting that the government will sell no ‘pollution permits’ at the NZU auctions this year, with a significant gap continuing between secondary market prices and this year’s $68 auction floor price.
Genesis doubles down on Huntly as renewables ramp up
Fri 24 Oct 2025
Genesis Energy is doubling down on Huntly’s role as New Zealand’s energy backstop while accelerating one of the country’s largest pipelines of new renewable generation.
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.
Carbon Finance Program upscales efforts to close climate investment gap in climate vulnerable nations
Wed 22 Oct 2025
Media release | The Climate Vulnerable Forum and its V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) will work with the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) to upscale the Carbon Finance Program in reach and impact, supporting more climate-vulnerable countries to host high-integrity carbon projects that yield tangible climate, nature, and sustainable development benefits.
All carrot, no stick for farmers on methane
17 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: The abandonment of methane emissions pricing and the adoption of a weaker target is effectively the last nail in the coffin of the historic cross-parliamentary consensus embedded in the Zero Carbon Act 2019.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 24 Oct 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The Government planned to gut New Zealand's world-leading climate disclosure law - even as it bragged about it on the world stage; a new Indigenous climate adaptation network launches; and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts admits that the new methane target might breach the global 1.5C goal.
NZ marine heatwaves could double in intensity under high-emissions pathway
16 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show marine heatwaves will grow more intense around the North Island and more frequent around the South Island as the climate warms – raising risks for fisheries, aquaculture, coastal ecosystems and tourism.
EU plans deforestation delay only for small businesses
Wed 22 Oct 2025
The proposal will need approval of co-legislators, EU countries at the Council and MEPs, who can still push for more changes to the legislation.
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.”
Super Fund smashes decarbonisation goals
Thu 23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The New Zealand Superannuation Fund continues to blow through its self-imposed targets for decarbonising its investment portfolio, increasing its exposure to fast-growing green technology opportunities in the process, according to its 2025 climate statement.
No major banks have yet committed to stop funding new oil, gas and coal, research finds
Fri 24 Oct 2025
‘The objectives of the Paris agreement are slipping further out of reach,’ say researchers.
Climate credibility gap widening for Aussie firms
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.
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.
On Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, residents fume as insurers hike rates and invest in fossil fuel projects
Wed 22 Oct 2025
Locals face a perfect storm — they can’t afford insurance and climate change threatens their livelihood.
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.
Judge dismisses suit by young climate activists against Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies
17 Oct 2025
Plaintiffs had ‘overwhelming evidence’ of climate crisis but a court injunction would be ‘unworkable’, ruling says.
Nelson commuters urged to ditch car once a week
Wed 22 Oct 2025
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Nelson has a bold carbon emission reduction target and residents are being encouraged to leave the car at home one day a week to help meet it.
US, Australia to invest $2 billion in critical minerals, advance Alcoa gallium project
Thu 23 Oct 2025
The United States and Australia extended financial support to several Australian companies as part of a wide-ranging critical minerals agreement aimed at countering China's hold over the industry.
Govt ‘captured by industry’ on methane – Carr
Tue 21 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr says that recent moves to weaken methane targets and halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing show the Government has been captured by industry.
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.
Climate impacts hit NZ with increasing wild weather
Thu 23 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand is facing a triple whammy of climate impacts today, with severe winds and rainfall predicted for much of the country while some areas are still dealing with wildfires ignited earlier in the week.
‘Weird and sad’ – Tuvalu Climate Minister condemns NZ halving methane target
15 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Dr Maina Talia, Tuvalu’s Minister for Home Affairs, Climate Change, and Environment, says he’s surprised at New Zealand’s decision to weaken its target for reducing methane emissions – and is planning to take up the issue with his counterpart Climate Minister Simon Watts this week.
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.
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.
Difficult trade-offs ahead for climate adaptation
17 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | While climate impacts are already here, bringing the urgent need to accelerate effective adaptation now, the Government's newly minted adaptation framework still leaves important questions unanswered about who will pay.
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.
Climate scientists and republican lawyers are taking aim at Big Tech’s emissions
17 Oct 2025
Technology companies have long been one of the biggest investors in clean energy, but new accounting rules could upend that.
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.
NZ abstains from vote on global shipping carbon tax
Wed 22 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government says it held back from endorsing the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework over fears the plan could raise costs for exporters and importers.
Fix it, don't ditch it: University of Auckland hosts first Repair Cafe
9 Oct 2025
Media release - Auckland University | The University's first-ever Repair Cafe is bringing students and staff together to give broken items a new lease on life, while promoting a culture of repair and reuse.
Council buys dairy farm to help clean up Lake Rotorua
Tue 21 Oct 2025
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has bought a 266-hectare dairy farm in the Lake Rotorua catchment and plans to retire it from production to reduce nitrogen entering the lake.
Adaptation plan at odds with public sentiment: survey
Tue 21 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s position on climate adaptation buyouts shows a disconnect with public opinion, according to survey findings from insurer Suncorp NZ.
‘Damp squib’ – Govt energy plan slammed for locking in fossil fuels
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.
