Topics tagged with 'Extinction'
More in: Extinction
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.
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.
New report reveals 'shocking' kelp forest loss
22 Sep 2025
New Zealand’s underwater kelp forests are vanishing at pace, with a new Fisheries New Zealand report finding more than a third of the north-east coastline has shifted to kina barrens.
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.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
EU countries seek more cuts to deforestation rules
9 Jul 2025
From December, the world-first deforestation law will require operators placing goods including soy, beef and palm oil, onto the EU market to provide proof their products did not cause deforestation.
Experts question business case for nature credits as European Union publishes plan
9 Jul 2025
To protect and restore nature, the world needs to spend $700bn a year, says the Global Biodiversity Framework. The European Commission on Monday published a plan for how nature credits can play their role in boosting biodiversity funds.
Govt budgets $200m for would-be gas investors
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | Energy Resources Aotearoa has welcomed the government's plan to co-invest $200 million in fossil gas expansion, while environmental and climate groups have reacted with horror.
Environment Court rules Mackenzie biodiversity deserves bespoke protection
17 Apr 2025
Media release | In a decision years in the making, the Environment Court has upheld EDS’s contention that Te Manahuna / the Mackenzie Basin’s significant ecology and indigenous biodiversity warrants a bespoke planning regime to protect it from farming intensification.
New Zealand’s glacier volume down 42% since 2005
14 Apr 2025
Media release | Total glacier ice volumes in Aotearoa New Zealand decreased by 42 percent between 2005 and 2023, according to figures released by Stats NZ.
'Sobering' state of NZ environment
8 Apr 2025
Mounting environmental pressures across the country could cause serious consequences for people’s health, housing, livelihoods, and overall quality of life, a new report reveals.
Biofuels key to food security and shipping resilience for NZ
7 Apr 2025
By Shannon Williams | Aotearoa New Zealand's reliance on imported fossil fuels poses significant risks for food security and shipping resilience in the face of global catastrophes, according to experts speaking at a recent webinar on biofuel self-sufficiency.
Why middle class Brits who think collapse is coming still stay silent
28 Mar 2025
OPINION: In one hand, an oat latte. In the other, a phone with social feeds full of doom-scroll posts about the end of the world. Across Britain, a quiet transformation is happening.
'Our world is melting'
20 Mar 2025
Signs of human-induced climate change reached new heights in 2024, with some of the consequences irreversible over hundreds if not thousands of years, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organisation.
Govt slashes environmental funding by $1 billion
25 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Central government funding for the environment is set to fall by a quarter in 2025/26, prompting warnings that hard-won environmental improvements may now stall or reverse.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
Today 11:30am
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
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.
New alliance launched to speed up nature regeneration across Tāmaki Auckland
Today 11:30am
Media release | The Sustainable Business Network (SBN) has launched a groundbreaking initiative to tackle the ecological crisis impacting the Tāmaki Auckland region.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
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.
UPDATED: Finance Minister’s comments show govt in breach of Paris Agreement – experts
Wed 3 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Finance Minister Nicola Willis has effectively walked away from the Paris Agreement by ruling out offshore mitigation, according to multiple experts, opening the country up to reputational, trade, and economic consequences.
Asia-Pacific faces ‘$500bn-a-year’ hit from rising seas if current policies continue
Today 11:30am
Coastal flooding could bring $500bn of annual damages to the Asia-Pacific by the year 2100, if countries do not adapt to rising sea levels.
Carbon auction tipped to be a non-event
Tue 2 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Tomorrow’s Emissions Trading Scheme auction is all but certain to fail, with participants blaming the government for destroying confidence as NZUs continue to change hands on the secondary market at a 40% discount on the $68 auction floor.
Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions
Wed 3 Dec 2025
COMMENT: The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
Fri 28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
$235 billion worth of NZ buildings exposed to flooding
30 Oct 2025
More than 750,000 New Zealanders live in locations exposed to one-in-100-year floods, according to a nationwide study which shows escalating flood risk.
From COP30 to net zero by 2070: India insists on not billions but trillions to lead the global south
Wed 3 Dec 2025
At COP30 in Belém this November, New Delhi demanded that wealthy nations provide climate finance on the scale of not billions but trillions, while pressing for technology access that does not tether developing economies to costly licensing regimes.
Climate comments ‘outrageous’ – former top climate negotiator
Wed 3 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s former climate ambassador, Kay Harrison, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ recent statements that the Government had ruled out buying offshore climate mitigation are “outrageous”.
Market rewards firming over renewables in gentailer split
Wed 3 Dec 2025
A clearer valuation divide is emerging across the gentailer sector, with the market increasingly rewarding companies positioned for flexibility and firming rather than renewable build-out.
Tairāwhiti unveils $359m plan to cut storm damage and stabilise erosion-prone land
Today 11:30am
Gisborne District Council has released a 30-year transition plan to protect Tairāwhiti from escalating climate-driven erosion and storm damage, outlining a $359 million proposal for Crown co-investment to stabilise 100,000 hectares of vulnerable land and slash the region’s long-term clean-up costs.
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.
Europe must defend its deforestation law – for forests, business and its reputation
Tue 2 Dec 2025
Constant weakening and delays to the landmark EU regulation pose a threat to rainforests and erode Europe’s credibility as a stable, predictable market.
Open letter urges govt to abandon plans to subsidise LNG terminal
Today 11:30am
Climate and renewable energy advocates have joined forces calling on the Government to ditch its plan to subsidise an LNG import terminal.
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.”
Westpac rolls out interest-free finance for climate-proofing homes as weather risks rise
Wed 3 Dec 2025
Westpac NZ has unveiled a new interest-free lending package aimed at helping households strengthen their properties against flooding and extreme weather, as climate risks intensify across the country.
Govt’s rejection of CCC’s advice on climate targets undermines independent watchdog’s role, says opposition
21 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s latest dismissal of Climate Change Commission advice shows they have their heads in the sand about the reality of meeting climate targets, according to the Labour Party, while the Greens say Government decisions were an embarrassment on the world stage at COP30 this week.
TotalEnergies loses in Paris court, marking a turning point for fossil fuel truth-in-advertising
5 Nov 2025
TotalEnergies was found to have misled consumers about its role in the energy transition.
Tribunal warns govt geothermal strategy risks Treaty breach
Tue 2 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government's geothermal development strategy risks breaching the Treaty of Waitangi, according to a report from the Waitangi Tribunal released last week.
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.
Insurers welcome govt decision to keep NHC levy unchanged
21 Nov 2025
Media release |The Insurance Council of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s decision to leave the Natural Hazards Commission levy unchanged, amid ongoing concerns around the cost-of-living.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
Amy Westervelt: It’s time we stopped treating corporations as people
Today 11:30am
COMMENT: Treating corporations as people and granting them First Amendment rights has warped US politics and harmed the climate. We need to overturn Citizens United.
NZ fails to back ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels at COP
24 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Eighty-six countries including Australia, the UK, Germany, and Ireland backed a proposal at COP30 for national plans on how to quit oil, gas and coal – but New Zealand wasn’t one of them.
Media round-up
Fri 28 Nov 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: How the oil and gas industry helped rewrite New Zealand’s drilling rules, confusion reigns as the climate minister appears unaware of his own announcement, and the fierce battle over mining on Denniston Plateau.
Govt's emissions ‘buffer’ an illusion with all NZ's carbon budgets off track
Fri 28 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Dr Christina Hood, head of consultancy Compass Climate, says the Government’s claim that New Zealand has a comfortable emissions “buffer” to absorb higher agricultural pollution is misleading, with projections showing emissions budgets are actually set to be missed in real terms.
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.
Heatwaves, downpours and droughts – Auckland on track for more extreme weather
Mon 1 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show Auckland will face more heatwaves, heavier downpours, worsening droughts and growing coastal threats as climate extremes intensify, according to a new report from Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Govt rejects advice on international aviation and shipping emissions
Today 11:30am
By Liz Kivi | The Government has rejected all the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations to strengthen emissions targets.
Carbon Finance Program upscales efforts to close climate investment gap in climate vulnerable nations
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.
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.
Greens slams govt over climate targets
Today 11:30am
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has accused the Government of knowingly breaching the Paris Agreement, after Cabinet papers released under the Official Information Act reveal the Government was warned its policy on biogenic methane would breach the 1.5C Paris target.
Treasury to offer first stab at climate liabilities pre-election
Today 11:30am
By Pattrick Smellie | The Treasury will make a first attempt at accounting for Crown liabilities arising from New Zealand’s international climate change commitments in next year’s pre-election economic and fiscal update.
Shipping movements disrupted as climate change protesters block coal ships
Tue 2 Dec 2025
NSW police have arrested 141 people who attempted to block the shipping channel in Newcastle Harbour during Rising Tide protests, which began on Thursday.
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.
UK's 'largest' floating solar farm given go-ahead
Wed 3 Dec 2025
The 46,500-panel array will be installed at the Port of Barrow's Cavendish Dock in Cumbria and will be capable of producing enough energy to power 14,000 homes a year.
NZ and US deepen Antarctic science partnership
Today 11:30am
Media release: New Zealand Government | New joint research initiatives focused on climate and ecosystem change expand on the long-standing collaboration between New Zealand and the United States on Antarctic science and logistics, says Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti.
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.
Pollution from coal plants was dropping. Then came Trump and AI.
Mon 1 Dec 2025
Data centres’ hunger for electricity is prompting some states to keep their coal-burning power plants from closing – while DC relaxes air pollution limits.
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.
China’s BEV trucks and the end of diesel’s dominance
Today 11:30am
Cheap Chinese battery electric heavy trucks are no longer a rumor. They are real machines with real price tags that are so low that they force a reassessment of what the global freight industry is willing to pay for electrification.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
14 Nov 2025
Media release: Kaicycle | Since 2015, Kaicycle has grown from a humble pilot project growing kai and collecting compost on bicycles into the thriving urban farm and composting hub that Wellingtonians know and love.
Study provides a step-change in understanding NZ’s groundwater
Fri 28 Nov 2025
Media release | Earth Sciences New Zealand has developed a world-first National Groundwater Age Map and a powerful suite of tools to support the sustainable management of our hidden groundwater resources, from national through to local scales.
Amid the ashes
26 Nov 2025
This year the LA wildfire came for my hometown. What happened next is a warning for us all.
NZ’s energy system at a crossroads – report
21 Nov 2025
A new report says New Zealand’s rapid shift toward a 95% renewable electricity system is at a critical turning point, urging faster consenting, stronger firming solutions and better grid planning.
