Topics tagged with 'Forestry'
Brisbane aims to be centre for aviation biofuel
6 Oct 2017
Brisbane is set to become a hub for sustainable aviation fuel under an agreement between Virgin Australia and United States-based biofuel producer Gevo.
WATCHDOG WARNS: Act now or face 'great risk'
5 Oct 2017
New Zealand will be stuck with high-emitting technologies if it doesn’t move to cut emissions soon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is warning.
Plant pines on public land, says Bluegreens chief
4 Oct 2017
The head of the National Party’s Bluegreens policy advisory group says pine trees should be planted on Department of Conservation land to offset New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
First step is cut domestic emissions, says report
20 Sep 2017
New Zealand could meet a large chunk of its Paris Agreement emissions reduction target through cuts in emissions at home, a new report says.
Coalition candidates want to rid us of ETS
11 Sep 2017
Two of the parties that could be involved in any centre-left coalition after the election want to scrap the Emissions Trading Scheme.
THE COUNT: English stays silent
11 Sep 2017
Week 12 of The Count ... and Prime Minister Bill English is still in the starting blocks.
High land prices key blocker to forest planting
7 Sep 2017
New Zealand won’t get more carbon-sequestering forests until land prices fall.
Greens want high-end wood products industry
5 Sep 2017
The Green Party wants a regional research institute to develop high-value wood products as part of a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
THE COUNT: Peters outpaces Ardern
4 Sep 2017
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has pulled ahead of Labour leader Jacinda Ardern in The Count, but the Greens’ James Shaw is looking unassailable.
Labour to throw switch on Kiwirail diesel plans
23 Aug 2017
The Labour Party has told KiwiRail that if elected next month it will halt State-owned rail company’s plans to ditch electric locomotives on the main trunk line.
Airlines' offsetting doesn't add up, says Consumer NZ
23 Aug 2017
Carbon offsetting by the two major domestic airlines operating in New Zealand doesn’t fully reflect carbon emissions caused by air travel, says Consumer New Zealand.
Swiss trees swelter as climate warms
22 Aug 2017
Foresters are being urged to plant tree species resilient to climate change to save the timber industry as Swiss trees swelter.
Ocean oxygen depletion could happen again
15 Aug 2017
The deep past has cruel lessons for the near future, for example how ocean oxygen depletion can stifle the marine world. It could recur.
How to turn $1 into $3: Plant the waterways
11 Aug 2017
Every dollar spent on planting New Zealand’s waterways would pay returns of at least $3.
Emissions group might branch into ETS
9 Aug 2017
The Productivity Commission could recommend changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Graham's Globe must survive, says Labour
8 Aug 2017
Labour’s climate spokesperson says the work of the cross-party Globe group on climate change must continue, even if founder Kennedy Graham is out of Parliament.
Foresters greet environmental standards move
8 Aug 2017
The introduction of a national environmental standard for plantation forestry is vitally needed, forest owners say.
Foresters fine, but the ETS has some problems
2 Aug 2017
The forestry sector has behaved rationally in response to the Emissions Trading Scheme - but the scheme itself hasn’t always been rational, a new analysis shows.
ETS changes of little help, say foresters
1 Aug 2017
The Government’s latest changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme will do nothing to get more trees in the ground, the forestry sector says.
ETS CHANGES: Good news and bad news
27 Jul 2017
The latest changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme have met with mixed reactions.
Govt acts on auctioning and international units
26 Jul 2017
The $25 price cap is staying for now, but the importation of international units will be restricted when the New Zealand carbon market opens to the world again, the Government has just announced.
It pays off to pay landowners to keep trees
25 Jul 2017
Paying landowners not to cut down trees is cheaper than the carbon-related costs the destruction of the forests would cause, new research shows.
Busy ministry delays work on emissions planning
20 Jul 2017
Planning to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in line with the country’s Paris Agreement commitments has been delayed because of the Ministry for the Environment’s heavy workload, confidential papers show.
Wood-for-coal switch would save us millions
14 Jul 2017
Using wood instead of coal to provide industrial heat would cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions by 460,000 tonnes and save more than $11 million a year in carbon credits, a new report says.
Net-zero worthy target, says cross-party group
13 Jul 2017
The pan-political Globe climate group says cutting New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050 is worth serious discussion.
IT'S OFFICIAL: Ministers get the word on ETS changes
5 Jul 2017
Official advice on changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme has made its way from officials to ministers.
State should show the way, says bioenergy group
29 Jun 2017
The Government needs to put its new energy efficiency strategy into place – and State-owned operations are the place to start, says the Bioenergy Assocation.
Not so much coal about ... but we're burning more
23 Jun 2017
New Zealand’s coal consumption is climbing.
Welcome to the sustainability revolution
20 Jun 2017
The winners of an annual worldwide competition to spread clean energy have been urged to see it as a sustainability revolution.
OPINION: Adaption versus mitigation
20 Jun 2017
Adaptation is about survival. Mitigation is about finding and implementing solutions to prevent the need to go into survival mode, says DR ANN SMITH chief executive of Enviro-Mark Solutions
What biofutures need is America's Cup energy
13 Jun 2017
New Zealand could have a thriving biofutures industry, producing clean products from waste and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, if it put as much effort into addressing climate change as it puts into the America’s Cup yacht race, says the Bioenergy Association.
There's no way we can plant our way out of trouble
30 May 2017
Nothing, not even the creation of huge plantations of trees to absorb carbon dioxide, is a viable alternative to drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Food industry is cooking the planet
29 May 2017
One of the biggest contributors to climate change is the agricultural food industry, but the political will to tackle the issue is lacking.
BUDGET: No boost for tree-planting
26 May 2017
The Government’s Budget will not get landowners planting trees on the scale needed to meet New Zealand’s Paris Agreement commitments, forest owners say.
BUDGET BONUS: New money for emissions cuts
25 May 2017
The Government is putting $4 million into figuring out how New Zealand can cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
Wood waste company wins $359,000 grant
23 May 2017
A company turning wood waste into products like mulch and animal bedding has won a Government grant to help it to process bigger volumes.
Wood energy project start less than spectacular
12 May 2017
The Wood Energy South energy efficiency programme has prevented just 530 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions being released, Parliament has heard.
Foresters want carbon price range and ETS promise
11 May 2017
A price range for carbon and a promise that changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme will be backdated would get landowners planting carbon-sequestering trees now, says the Forest Owners’ Association.
MPs out of the loop on farm emissions advice
10 May 2017
Parliament has again been told that the Government is getting advice on bringing agricultural emissions into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Targeted forests could slash farm emissions
9 May 2017
Planting forests to clean up waterways could cut New Zealand’s net greenhouse gas emissions from land use by 80 per cent.
Government acts on decarbonising the economy
3 May 2017
The Productivity Commission is to investigate the cost of decarbonising New Zealand’s economy.
Deep in the forest, there are trees giving off methane
28 Apr 2017
Scientists have long been aware of a forest’s ability to absorb carbon, but a new US study has discovered trees that emit methane.
Deadline looms for forest planting grants
27 Apr 2017
Applications for the latest round of the Government’s Afforestation Grants Scheme close tomorrow.
Native forests have potential to earn millions
26 Apr 2017
Landowners with 10,000 hectares of native forest could earn $1.5 million a year in carbon credits, a new report says.
Scientist seeks capital backing for adaptation projects
19 Apr 2017
Ekos founder Dr Sean Weaver is working on a new project – a non-market mechanism to raise private capital to fund climate-change adaptation projects in developing countries.
COOL IDEA: Forests offer way to ease climate fears
11 Apr 2017
European and US scientists have worked out how the Northern hemisphere keeps cool − so be grateful for the trees, and especially for the forests.
March of Myrtle rust could mean trouble for trees
5 Apr 2017
Myrtle rust – a fungus disease that could kill native and commercial trees – is in New Zealand.
Carbon law could make Paris promise a reality
4 Apr 2017
By 2020, fossil fuels will no longer be subsidised by the taxpayer, anywhere in the world. And by then, carbon dioxide emissions worldwide will have started to fall.
Officials have mid-year date with ETS changes
30 Mar 2017
Officials will report to the Government in the middle of the year on the next round of changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Farmers join in as landowners return to planting
29 Mar 2017
Landowners are planting forests again – and farmers looking to offset emissions appear to be among them.
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.
