Topics tagged with 'Forestry'
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.
NZ and China shake on Asia-Pacific carbon market
28 Mar 2017
New Zealand and China are to work together on developing an Asia-Pacific carbon market, and will double-team over the way agriculture is treated in international climate negotiations.
NET-ZERO REPORT: We can do more, says bioenergy industry
24 Mar 2017
A cross-party report on how New Zealand can get to net-zero emissions in the second half of the century ignores some immediate opportunities, the Bioenergy Association says.
Minister hints at cross-party work on climate change
22 Mar 2017
New Zealand has received the strongest indication yet of cross-party agreement on climate change, with climate minister and deputy prime minister Paula Bennett saying she can work with a new far-reaching report on how the country can be carbon-neutral.
EDITORIAL COMMENT: We cannot continue on this path
21 Mar 2017
Two reports out today signal a sea-change for New Zealand. One says the New Zealand’s economy is reaching its environmental limits. The other says New Zealand cannot meet its Paris Agreement emissions reduction targets without changing land use.
NET-ZERO REPORT: Pastoral farming must change
21 Mar 2017
New Zealand cannot cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement and keep farming the way it is now.
Companies queue to supply Air NZ with biofuels
17 Mar 2017
Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia say they now have a shortlist of companies to supply them with biofuels.
Smaller forests get financial helping hand
15 Mar 2017
Landowners wanting to plant small-to-medium-sized new forests might be able to get some government funding to help them.
Morganists want new approach to controls on farming
10 Mar 2017
The Opportunities Party would put a cap on New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, get rid of the $25 carbon price cap and free credits for heavy emitters and bring some agricultural emissions into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Forests still key to mitigating climate change
10 Mar 2017
Researchers have reminded the world’s governments that forests will play a vital role in mitigating the effects of climate change – provided policies are robustly pursued and reported with transparency.
Energy needs broader view, says new minister
8 Mar 2017
New Zealand needs to broaden use of renewable energy beyond the electricity generation, says the new energy minister - but she expects fossil fuels to stay in the mix.
Poison algal blooms in our waterways will worsen
1 Mar 2017
Climate change will mean more poisonous algal blooms in New Zealand’s rivers and lakes, a scientist is warning.
Government eyes land-use changes to cut emissions
22 Feb 2017
The Government is looking at changing some current land uses – including forestry and farming – to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Govt could end up in court over energy plan, warns campaigner
21 Feb 2017
The Government risks court action over its latest energy efficiency strategy, says energy campaigner Jeanette Fitzsimons.
How your life could change without fossil fuels
17 Feb 2017
Here is a vision of the future in a warming world without fossil fuels:
EDITORIAL: Numbers show the game is up
13 Feb 2017
By editor ADELIA HALLETT | Try these numbers: Humans are causing the climate to change at 170 times the natural rate. Our “carbon budget” to keep warming below 1.5deg will be used up in five years. New Zealand’s per person emissions work out to 18 tonnes a year each – nine times higher than the global allowance.
Forest bonds seen as way for long-term green investment
10 Feb 2017
A world-leading environmental impact bond scheme could channel substantial private investment into planting vast areas of native and exotic forests in New Zealand.
Relying on foreign credits dangerous, say officials
9 Feb 2017
New Zealand cannot rely on international carbon credits to meet its emissions reductions targets after 2030, officials have told the Government, warning that credits could be expensive and in short supply.
Small-scale hydro makes a big difference
1 Feb 2017
It’s hard to appreciate the difference electricity makes to your life, unless you’ve ever had to live entirely without it.
Can we learn to leave our wild forests alone?
27 Jan 2017
Here is how to turn a forest into a carbon-consuming machine that will help to contain global warming. Leave it alone. Let it grow. Do not log it.
Why do the ecosystems we depend on collapse?
26 Jan 2017
People collapse, buildings collapse, economies collapse and even entire human civilizations collapse. Collapse is also common in the natural world – animal populations and ecosystems collapse.
POWER CUTS: Our electricity is producing fewer emissions
25 Jan 2017
The emissions intensity of New Zealand’s electricity dropped to almost record lows at the end of last year.
New emissions reduction plan business as usual
15 Dec 2016
The Government’s plan to cut the emissions intensity from industrial heat generation by 1 per cent a year is just business as usual, and will do little to achieve New Zealand’s Paris Agreement commitment.
The stuff we've put on Earth weighs 30 trillion tonnes
15 Dec 2016
Scientists have calculated the mass of that unnatural achievement called the “technosphere”, demonstrating the scale of human activity that drives climate change.
Govt targets industrial sector in new energy strategy
13 Dec 2016
The Government has unveiled plans to cut the emissions intensity of the country’s industrial sector by 1 per cent a year.
Unhealthy forests affect distant ecosystems
12 Dec 2016
Ecologists have demonstrated, once again, the global importance of healthy forests.
Sort out bioenergy, industry tells Government
8 Dec 2016
The ditching of plans for a large geothermally driven wood-processing plant in Northland shows why the Government must sort out New Zealand’s bioenergy plan, the industry says.
Healthy soils could start at the dairy shed
8 Dec 2016
Bio-waste from places like dairy sheds can be used to transform degraded soils into top-producing land, research is showing.
Pay farmers to fix environment, say scientists
7 Dec 2016
Up-front payments of $400 a kilogram to cut nitrogen run-off from farms would see dairy farms turned into forests, Government-funded research shows.
CLIMATE CALL: Waterway plantings worth billions
6 Dec 2016
New Zealand will be billions of dollars a year better off if it plants trees along waterways.
Cement develops an appetite for C02
5 Dec 2016
Three new studies illuminate the sheer complexity of the aspect of climate science known as the carbon cycle − how carbon dioxide gets into the atmosphere and out again.
Richer forest biodiversity could rake in billions
25 Nov 2016
Biodiversity is not just a conservationist ideal, it is a high-value strategy, according to new research. It makes forests more productive, and could deliver up to $500bn a year in wealth across the planet.
Emissions to jump under NSW land-clearing laws
22 Nov 2016
Australia’s rising carbon emissions are expected to rise even further after the NSW government successfully passed controversial land-clearing legislation in state parliament.
World needs major emissions cuts by 2020, says report
17 Nov 2016
All key sectors– including commercial agriculture – must have major emissions cuts under way by 2020 if the world is to keep global warming within the Paris Agreement’s 1.5deg limit, a new report says.
MARRAKECH MESSAGE: We've got enough clean credits
16 Nov 2016
New Zealand is likely to use 38.1 million tonnes of its surplus carbon credits to meet its next emissions reduction target and will not need access to international markets, climate change talks in Morocco have heard.
KYOTO QUERY: Is NZ carbon units stand legal?
11 Nov 2016
New Zealand’s legal ability to use carried-over Kyoto carbon units to meet its 2020 emissions reduction target is being questioned.
New funding round will see 5.5m trees planted
11 Nov 2016
The latest round of funding from the Government’s Afforestation Grants Scheme will see 5.5 million trees planted next winter.
We might be better than we think at absorbing carbon
9 Nov 2016
New research reveals that the ability of New Zealand’s land biosphere to absorb carbon could be 50 per cent more than currently estimated.
Hopes rise for solution to forest-split problem
7 Nov 2016
The door is slightly open for the Government to reconsider the contentious pre-1990/post-1989 forestry split under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Government getting serious about forestry
3 Nov 2016
The climate ministers are seriously considering the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s afforestation proposals, it was revealed yesterday.
Pacific climate advocates welcome pre-COP31 meeting in Fiji and Tuvalu
Fri 27 Feb 2026
Media release – 350.org | Climate advocates across the Pacific will now prepare for the Pre-COP31 meetings in Fiji and Tuvalu, with the Pacific Islands Forum confirming the hosts yesterday.
South Korean farmers sue utility giant KEPCO over climate damage to crops
Wed 25 Feb 2026
As harvest season approached last November, farmer Ma Yong-un walked through his apple orchard in southern South Korea with a growing sense of dread.
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.
Singapore sets first ever sustainable aviation fuel levy, as Southeast Asia’s fuel industry grows
17 Feb 2026
Flying in and out of Singapore, home to Southeast Asia’s busiest airport, will get slightly more expensive this year as the city state begins imposing a levy of between 75 cents to $32 per ticket to fund sustainable aviation fuel.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
Fri 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.
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.
New study looks to nature markets to accelerate climate response
18 Feb 2026
The Nature Conservancy is teaming up with local groups to study the most affordable and effective ways of restoring native habitats at the top of the South Island, including ways to fund the work using international voluntary carbon markets and biodiversity credits.
UN approves first carbon credits under Paris Agreement market mechanism
Fri 27 Feb 2026
The United Nations has approved the first credits to be issued under a carbon market established by the Paris climate accord, aimed at reducing emissions – a mechanism that has faced scrutiny over greenwashing concerns.
Carbon price drops as volatility continues
17 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market is still displaying extreme volatility, with prices dropping back to below $40 yesterday, after trading as high as $46.25 last week.
3,600 times faster: China is shaking up the steel industry
Wed 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.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: By deciding to underwrite the private construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, the Government has made a rational choice in favour of energy security and affordability.
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.
Carbon market rallies but auction floor still out of reach
13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market has rallied, with secondary market prices up more than 25% in the past two weeks, although current prices in the mid-$40s are still far below this year’s $71 auction floor, with the first auction of 2026 less than three weeks away.
Govt plan to encourage new energy investment won’t cut costs for ordinary Kiwis
Thu 26 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | While gentailers and major energy users have welcomed the Government’s plan to leverage public sector demand to drive new energy projects, an expert says it is unlikely to reduce prices for ordinary people.
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.
Floods and landslides in Brazil kill at least 30 after record rainfall
Thu 26 Feb 2026
Three firefighters pulled a man’s body from the mud amid the rubble of houses swept away in a landslide in south-eastern Brazil, where 30 people died and 39 were still missing on Tuesday after torrential rains.
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.
Hipkins rejects LNG terminal, backs renewables
Tue 24 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Labour leader Chris Hipkins used his State of the Nation address to warn that worsening extreme weather and rising energy costs show climate change is no longer a distant threat.
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.”
European Central Bank's green supervision grows teeth, but will banks avoid being bitten?
13 Feb 2026
After several years of issuing guidance and repeatedly calling on banks to take climate and environmental risk management seriously, the European Central Bank is moving from guidance and expectations to enforcement.
Tairāwhiti needs proper Govt support to heal the land – not empty announcements for political optics
Tue 24 Feb 2026
OPINION: The Government’s answer to Tairāwhiti’s severe erosion crisis – that the region apply for modest, contestable funding rounds – while rejecting the region's own land transition business case, leaves our long-term resilience hanging in the balance, writes Manu Caddie.
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.
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.
Media round-up
13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
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
Thu 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
Wed 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.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
Wed 25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
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.
Chronic ocean heating fuels ‘staggering’ loss of marine life, study finds
Fri 27 Feb 2026
Chronic ocean heating is fuelling a “staggering and deeply concerning” loss of marine life, a study has found, with fish levels falling by 7.2% from as little as 0.1C of warming per decade.
Calls for action to reduce emissions as extreme weather bites
17 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Renewable energy advocates and environmental groups are calling for more action to reduce emissions and increase resilience as severe weather wreaks havoc across the country.
Australia-US minerals deal underpinned decision to allow mining company to clear threatened indigenous forest
Mon 23 Feb 2026
The Australian government’s decision to allow the US mining giant Alcoa to continue clearing swathes of Western Australian jarrah forest despite past illegal clearing practices was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year, a new document shows.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
Tue 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?
Local govt shake-up risks weakened environmental outcomes – Commissioner
Fri 27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s push to simplify local government is "deeply flawed" and has been launched without a clear understanding of which functions must remain regional, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Gas security fund panel named – but projects still hush-hush
Thu 26 Feb 2026
The Government’s $200m Gas Security Fund has attracted interest from “several” entities, but officials are refusing to disclose who is circling or what types of projects are being put forward, leaving the market to take the programme’s credibility largely on trust.
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?
Brazil and India agree to boost cooperation on rare earths
Tue 24 Feb 2026
Brazil and India sealed a deal Saturday on critical minerals and rare earths, enhancing cooperation on crucial resources between two major countries of the global south as they seek to diversify their trading relationships.
Trump slaps 126% solar import duty on India in threat to India-US trade deal
Thu 26 Feb 2026
The solar import duty suggests that Trump's “America First” policy remains the priority, even at the expense of an India-US trade deal.
UNESCO report: Major blind spot in ocean carbon research could undermine global climate predictions
Thu 26 Feb 2026
Media release | A new report by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO reveals a critical lack of understanding of how the ocean absorbs and stores carbon.
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.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
9 Feb 2026
Media release | A new Antarctic science partnership with a leading UAE university will grow New Zealand’s advanced engineering and modelling capability, supporting high-value jobs, encouraging economic growth, and enabling smarter climate risk management, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says.
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’s EV uptake decelerates
Mon 23 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s EV uptake is lagging behind other countries, with a huge drop in EV sales since 2023 bucking international trends, at the same time the Government contemplates abolishing its standard for clean cars entirely.
General Assembly chief calls for US to pay UN fees in full
Fri 27 Feb 2026
The head of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday urged top contributor the United States to pay its fees in full after Washington made only a partial payment to the global body, amounting to less than 5% of the total amount owed.
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.
New research on climate adaptation as severe weather hits
16 Feb 2026
As extreme weather batters the country yet again, researchers have published the first ever empirical study of climate adaptation justice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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.
India and UK launch offshore wind taskforce
Mon 23 Feb 2026
Constituted under Vision 2035 and the Fourth India-UK Energy Dialogue, the Taskforce is designed to provide strategic leadership and coordination for India’s nascent offshore wind ecosystem.
