Topics tagged with 'Forestry'
One way or another, oil industry got the message
4 May 2018
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | Did the Government consult the oil industry before announcing there would be no new licences granted for oil and gas exploration?
Prod Com off course, says carbon tech company
1 May 2018
The Productivity Commission is badly under-estimating the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the steel and iron industries, says a New Zealand company with technology to do just that.
Industrial emissions can be cut - but it's not easy
30 Apr 2018
Soaring emissions from the industrial sector can be cut through improved efficiency and using lower-emissions fuels, but there’s no easy fix, the Productivity Commission says.
OPINION: Ministers have gone deaf
30 Apr 2018
The Productivity Commission might be talking about big things from the energy sector, but the Government doesn’t seem to want to know, says Bioenergy Association chief executive BRIAN COX.
MEMO BUSINESS: Ignore carbon liability at our peril
10 Apr 2018
Businesses ignore carbon liability at the country’s peril, an international investment organisation is warning.
Here's why we need a carbon price cap of $100
29 Mar 2018
An immediate carbon price cap of $100 a tonne and a $25 price floor is needed if New Zealand is to be carbon-neutral by 2050, says former Environment Secretary Dr Roger Blakeley.
Minister quiet on talks with big emitters
27 Mar 2018
Climate minister James Shaw is meeting with some of the country’s biggest industrial emitters – but isn’t saying what they’re discussing.
The wood world's talking about the Jones boy
22 Mar 2018
The wood industry is in love with its new forestry minister.
BREAKTHROUGH: Science gets to the heart of methane
20 Mar 2018
Scientists have sequenced the genomes of the micro-organisms that make sheep and cattle emit methane.
Cabinet talks turning off fossil fuels taps
19 Mar 2018
The Government is looking at ending oil and gas exploration.
OPINION: Why natural gas won't do the job
19 Mar 2018
Climate and energy expert Professor RALPH SIMS explains why natural gas is not a “bridging” fuel between dirtier fossil fuels and low-carbon energy. Searching for it and using it, he says, will delay New Zealand reaching its Paris Agreement emissions reduction target.
It happened 10 years ago ...
19 Mar 2018
… the Government was getting ready to plead New Zealand’s case to allow the owners of pre-1990 forests to clear them without facing a carbon penalty, BP was warning against introducing a compulsory biofuels component into the nation’s petrol and diesel supplies, Trustpower was finding a ready market for credits from its Tararua windfarm, Orcon founder Seeby Woodhouse was moving into carbon, and businesses wanted to be allowed to use credits from nuclear power plants.
Here's a road to zero carbon, say officials
15 Mar 2018
Meeting New Zealand’s Paris Agreement pledge from domestic emissions cuts alone would put the country on a straight line to carbon-neutrality by 2050, officials have told the Government.
NZ still sets the pace in world of trading schemes
1 Mar 2018
Fifteen per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are now covered by trading schemes.
Green accounts point finger at primary industries
27 Feb 2018
Primary industries contribute nearly two-thirds of the country’s greenhouse gases but account for less than 8 per cent of economic production, new figures show.
Biofuels need backing of the nation, says Scion
27 Feb 2018
New Zealand could run its heavy vehicles on locally produced low-carbon biofuels – but only if the country decides collectively to act.
OPINION: Biofuels not easy, but worth the effort
27 Feb 2018
Biofuels, liquid and gaseous, will have a role to play in moving towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions by around mid-century in both New Zealand and globally, says Professor Ralph Sims.
Energy minister to get the word on biofuels
26 Feb 2018
Energy minister Megan Woods today will be told how the country can use biofuels to cut its burgeoning transport emissions.
Foresters like the look of Billion Trees scheme
26 Feb 2018
Forest owners say they are starting to think the Government is serious about forestry.
Science being denied swamp kauri secrets
26 Feb 2018
Scientists fear secret excavation of ancient kauri logs from swamps is hampering their ability to predict future climate change.
Minister mum on future of electric trains
23 Feb 2018
There’s no word yet on whether KiwiRail’s plans to replace electric engines with diesel will go ahead.
OPINION: We should adopt the 'easy win' way
22 Feb 2018
Government officials appear to be putting more effort into working out how to purchase international carbon credits than into reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, says Bioenergy Association chief executive Brian Cox.
Minister offers money for good emissions moves
21 Feb 2018
Got a good idea to cut greenhouse gas emissions in your business or in the transport sector? The Government wants to give you money.
Billion Trees land approaches 50,000 hectares
16 Feb 2018
The Government says it is close to securing 50,000 hectares of land for new forests under its Billion Trees programme.
Maori landowners oppose delay in ETS changes
2 Feb 2018
Changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme are needed now, not at the end of next year, if the Government wants Maori land owners to plant carbon-sequestering forests, says a specialist in climate change and Maori development.
Australian firms strike first forest credits deal
2 Feb 2018
Australian companies have struck the first long-term deal in that country to sell carbon credits generated from plantation forestry.
Landowners keep credits under Billion Trees plan
31 Jan 2018
Landowners will keep the carbon credits and liability under proposed new production forestry joint ventures with the Government as part of its One Billion Trees programme.
We'll do better than emissions target, says Shaw
25 Jan 2018
The new government will not officially increase the country's 2020 emissions reduction target.
Shaw puts ETS on ice until end of next year
23 Jan 2018
Any further changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme – including getting rid of free credits to heavy emitters and changing forestry rules – will not be made until the end of next year, the Government says.
OIO cutting rights role wrong move, say foresters
23 Jan 2018
Giving the Overseas Investment Office approval of the sale of forestry cutting rights will jeopardise the Government’s billion trees plan, forest owners say.
EV projects win $3m in Government funding
23 Jan 2018
Twenty new electric vehicle projects, including a 58-tonne truck to carry dairy products and developing a qualification for EV technicians, are to receive government funding.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Carbon emissions running wild
22 Jan 2018
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions blow-out continues unabashed, with net emissions expected to more than double by 2030, despite international pledges to cut them.
Policies will begin to bite down on the farm
22 Jan 2018
Government policies – including the Emissions Trading Scheme - are expected to start making a dent in New Zealand’s agricultural emissions over the next 12 years.
This time, climate officials hope for a bit more action
13 Dec 2017
In late 2015, officials gave new climate minister Paula Bennett as list of five things they thought should be done over the next two years.
Climate commission will look at farm emissions
12 Dec 2017
Climate minister James Shaw says the new climate commission will play a role in dealing with agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Mixed forests may not resist climate change
5 Dec 2017
Researchers have confirmed once again that a good forest is a mixed forest, a natural one, with a diversity of species.
Victorian logging could trigger ecosystem collapse
4 Dec 2017
Decades of unsustainable logging has created an “extinction debt” in Victoria’s central highlands that will trigger an ecosystem-wide collapse within 50 years without urgent intervention.
Climate commission might have carbon price role
30 Nov 2017
The climate commission – one of the Government’s promises for its first 100 days in office – is likely to play a role in setting carbon prices, the new climate minister says.
AirNZ eyes paying landowners to plant trees
22 Nov 2017
Air New Zealand wants to set up a private afforestation scheme under the Emissions Trading Scheme to offset some of its greenhouse gas emissions.
Australia a Top 10 nation - for cutting down trees
20 Nov 2017
Eastern Australia ranks in the top 10 of the world’s major deforestation fronts – the only area in a developed nation.
Fonterra intends to get rid of coal ... later
15 Nov 2017
Fonterra says it is turning its back on coal as part of a drive towards being carbon-neutral by 2050.
Carbon pricing essential, says Energy Minister
10 Nov 2017
The new energy minister expects carbon to be priced into all energy projects.
The other China that wants to lead on climate change
6 Nov 2017
By PATTRICK SMELLIE | As international delegations descend on Bonn for the November 6-17 annual global climate change summit, spare a thought for the other country that calls itself China but, instead of claiming a leadership position in the global debate, is shut out on the sidelines.
5 things MFAT wants you to know about COP23
6 Nov 2017
INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS to put meat on the bones of the Paris Agreement start in Bonn today, with Fiji in the presidency.
Forests can bring 1.5deg Paris target closer
3 Nov 2017
Protecting the world’s forests could achieve a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions cuts needed to meet the 1.5°C Paris target, scientists say.
How Bennett toyed with cross-party climate move
1 Nov 2017
Former climate minister Paula Bennett sought advice on forming a cross-party agreement on climate change.
Government planting target OK, say forest owners
27 Oct 2017
The Government’s plan to plant an extra 50,000 hectares of new forest a year is “optimistic but achievable”, say forest owners.
Labour in power sees carbon prices on the rise
20 Oct 2017
Carbon prices are rising on the back of the new government, hitting their highest level in a year within an hour of the market opening today.
NZ fires first COP23 shots in Fiji today
17 Oct 2017
Acting climate minister Paula Bennett will deliver New Zealand’s opening statement at the pre-COP climate talks in Fiji today.
FIRE FACT: Heat goes on the East Coast
10 Oct 2017
A large swathe of the East Coast will be at risk of fire for at least half of the year by the end of the century, a conference in Auckland has heard.
Toitū extending use of ETS forest carbon credits
Mon 25 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | Carbon certifier Toitū Envirocare has walked back plans to stop accepting Emissions Trading Scheme credits for offsetting, because there is still a shortage of local carbon credits meeting international standards.
Banking competition report steers clear of ‘woke’ farm lending
Mon 25 Aug 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | A report into banking competition has largely rejected arguments from some farming lobbyists that climate change considerations should play no part in bank lending decisions.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
Flying still cheaper than trains on most EU routes, study finds
Mon 25 Aug 2025
If you thought European cross-border train journeys might finally be easier on the wallet than flights, think again.
ETS a ‘broken paradigm’ undercutting biodiversity efforts
Mon 25 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Pure Advantage is calling on the government to reform the Emissions Trading Scheme, with a new policy briefing saying that New Zealand’s offset-heavy approach is a “broken paradigm” undermining biodiversity and shifting risk to communities.
Media round-up
15 Aug 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Australia could be about to leapfrog New Zealand on climate targets; 'strangled' rivers are fighting back; and 10 rangatahi will join Aotearoa New Zealand’s delegation at the United Nations' major climate conference in Brazil.
‘Problems looming’ for Govt's key climate tool
Fri 22 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | There are serious unresolved issues for the Emissions Trading Scheme which mean it could become unstable and ineffective at driving emissions reductions, according to the Climate Change Commission.
How methane-zapping technology could finally solve the cow burp problem
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Ambient Carbon is doing the methane equivalent of point source carbon capture in dairy barns.
Govt opts for status quo for ETS auctions
19 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has chosen not to increase auction volumes in the Emissions Trading Scheme, a decision applauded by carbon market insiders and climate campaigners alike, despite it contradicting the Climate Change Commission’s advice.
A coal-fired plant in Michigan was to close. But Trump forced it to keep running at $1m a day
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Donald Trump has made several unusual moves to elongate the era of coal, such as giving the industry exemptions from pollution rules. But the gambit to keep one Michigan coal-fired power station running has been extraordinary – by forcing it to remain open even against the wishes of its operator.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
What does 'drier' really mean in 'green' homes?
1 Aug 2025
Media release - Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland | Researchers say green-rating systems could improve clarity and effectiveness by explicitly defining ‘drier’ and using two measures of humidity.
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.”
Certainty crucial to emissions cuts – Watts
Wed 20 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says that policy certainty is the Government’s primary lever for unlocking private capital and meeting climate targets, telling a carbon forestry conference that ETS settings are 'locked' through 2030.
Media round-up
Fri 22 Aug 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The climate advice the government didn't want you to see; New Zealand's groundbreaking climate law has become ‘a shell’; and could the Electricity Authority be about to inadvertently increase power prices?
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 wildfires hit new record as flames scorch area larger than Cyprus
Mon 25 Aug 2025
The area burned this year has exceeded the 1 million hectare mark for the first time since records started in 2006.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
Shane Jones on climate change – it’s real, but…
15 Aug 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones believes climate change is real, but is uninterested in what is causing it and primarily focused on adapting to it.
A modest geothermal strategy
31 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has unveiled a far more modest geothermal energy strategy than its primary backer, Resources Minister Shane Jones, had sought.
Meridian Energy considers green bond offer
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Meridian Energy is considering making an offer of up to $250 million of 6.5 year unsecured, unsubordinated, fixed rate green bonds to institutional and New Zealand retail investors.
Bolivia will choose a new president but environmental activists see little hope of progress
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Many Indigenous and environmental leaders doubt the election will bring progress in stopping deforestation, wildfires or pollution in the Amazon.
How the meat industry uses environmental groups to make beef seem climate-friendly
11 Aug 2025
The meat industry may have enlisted environmental groups to persuade people to “feel better” about eating beef, despite the sector’s ballooning emissions of climate-heating pollution.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
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.
Nearly half of Kiwi in the dark about risks facing their homes
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Media release – Tower | As weather events become more frequent and extreme its important people have information about the risks that could affect their property.
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.
Forestry sector could take legal action over ETS changes
14 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | The forestry sector is threatening legal action against the Government over changes to legislation intended to limit whole farm-to-forest conversions in the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Forestry the source of all ETS risk, says top economist
15 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Forestry is the source of all of the risk in New Zealand's Emissions Trading Scheme and it's inevitable that the scheme has to be reformed, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment chief economist Geoff Simmons.
Coal mining company continuing with fast-track plans despite costly protest
Fri 22 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A marathon 23-day coal bucket occupation protesting Bathurst Resources' plan to mine the Denniston Plateau ended on Tuesday, when Climate Liberation Aotearoa activists Rachel Andrews and Tāmati Taptiklis climbed down from the 80-metre high Stockton mine ropeway and were taken into custody.
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.
Oil states accused of using scare tactics in bid to sink green shipping deal
12 Aug 2025
Saudi Arabia, Iran and other oil-reliant countries are campaigning to stop the adoption of the IMO’s Net-zero Framework in October.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
Wed 20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
Backlash over govt conservation changes
4 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government’s proposed changes to the Conservation Act are the most significant roll back in conservation protections in a generation, according to the Green Party.
Failed plastic treaty 'significant disappointment'
18 Aug 2025
The failure of negotiations on a legally-binding global plastics treaty is a "significant disappointment," but no treaty is still better than a weak one, according to a New Zealand expert.
Strong NZ representation in upcoming global climate report
Thu 21 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams and Liz Kivi | Eighteen New Zealanders are among more than 600 experts appointed by the IPCC for its next painstaking scientific deep dive into the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.
Activists facing intimidation tactics at Bathurst mine
19 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate Liberation Aotearoa activists suspended 80m high in a coal bucket at a the Stockton mine on the West Coast say coal mining company Bathurst Resources is using ‘hostile’ tactics to try and remove them.
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.
Record solar growth keeps China’s CO2 falling in first half of 2025
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Clean-energy growth helped China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fall by 1% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, extending a declining trend that started in March 2024.
Food waste plant proposed for Blenheim landfill
Mon 25 Aug 2025
By Kira Carrington, Local Democracy Reporter | Forget turning metal into gold, the Marlborough Research Centre thinks it can make millions turning the region’s food waste into fertiliser and animal feed.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Carbon price underperforming: Environment secretary
13 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has been focussed on reducing the Emissions Trading Scheme ‘stockpile’ and carbon prices should rise soon, according to the Secretary for the Environment.
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.
Latest data confirms rail as lower carbon option for moving freight
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Media release | KiwiRail customers who chose to move their goods on rail collectively saved 220,254 tonnes of CO2e emissions in the last financial year (ending June 2025).
'Yet another rate': Franz Josef ratepayers balk at $2.8m stopbank extension
4 Aug 2025
By Lois Williams, Local Democracy Reporter | Franz Josef ratepayers have given the thumbs down to plans for a $2.8 million stopbank extension to protect the town’s sewerage plant from the Waiho River.
Warmer end to winter but dry spell expected over southern lakes
5 Aug 2025
As hydro lake levels hover just below average levels, climate forecasts indicate that warmer than usual weather conditions will reduce demand, but there will likely be less rain over the southern hydro lakes as New Zealand moves towards spring and summer.
Record UK wildfires have burned an area twice the size of Glasgow in 2025
12 Aug 2025
Wildfires have scorched more than 40,000 hectares of land so far this year across the UK – an area more than twice the size of the Scottish city of Glasgow.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
