Topics tagged with 'Forestry'
ETS progress? You're better off going fishing
14 Dec 2012
By WAYNE KING, Carbon Market Solutions. Now that the climate talks are completed in Doha, and before the Christmas break and the New Year, can we take stock and feel optimistic about agreed international action to halt global warming and the impacts of anthropogenic climate change?
Get smart with power, says PowerSmart chief
30 Nov 2012
New Zealand could switch to solar energy generation more quickly if the industry was on a level playing field with traditional generation, says one of the founders of a company just named the sustainable small business of the year.
New strategy aims to help primary producers
30 Nov 2012
A revised climate change strategy launched this week will help to build a sustainable, strong and viable future for Australia’s primary industries, a Government minister says.
Gas emissions levels up by 20%, says UN
23 Nov 2012
The world’s concentration of warming gases like carbon dioxide has increased by 20 per cent since 2000, a new United Nations report says.
Everyman's guide to Tiger Country
23 Nov 2012
Forest owners and farmers now have access to detailed information about carrying out earthworks on steep hills that are often prone to erosion - the "tiger country" where plantation forests are increasingly grown.
Boost regional bio-industry, says report
16 Nov 2012
Fostering industries such as biofuels from woody biomass and investing in technologies such as smart grids could give New Zealand’s regional economies a real boost, says one of the authors of a new report on green growth.
If the world burns, we burn
16 Nov 2012
A number of comments made by the public about the Government's decision to not sign up to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol appear to be made from a position of lack of understanding of the global atmosphere, including the complex processes which the atmosphere undergoes, Carbon Market Solutions says.
Google keeps an eye on the land
9 Nov 2012
Detailed satellite imagery about Australian landscapes will soon be only a button push away for land managers in community and non-profit sectors thanks to a partnership between scientists and Google.
Forget today, think carbon 30 years out
2 Nov 2012
Today’s low carbon prices are not an incentive for investment in low-carbon technology, the Government has acknowledged.
Govt eyes better planting policies
2 Nov 2012
The Government is looking for new policies to encourage afforestation.
Food key to Australia’s role in Asia
2 Nov 2012
Primary producers, agricultural businesses and regional communities will be big winners as Australia positions itself as a leading food and fibre supplier to the growing Asian marketplace in the Asian century.
Price flop not a good look, admits Smith
26 Oct 2012
Former Climate Change Minister Nick Smith admits that low carbon prices are sending “weak” market signals to emitters and foresters.
Dunne seems deaf to foresters' pleas
26 Oct 2012
The forestry industry is focusing its lobbying attention on United Future’s Peter Dunne to try to stop changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme which they say will stop planting in its tracks.
Maori vow to fight for ETS rights
26 Oct 2012
Maori say they will continue to fight damaging changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme even if they are passed by Parliament.
Bioenergy process bad, says report
26 Oct 2012
Bioenergy production is often increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the short term even though the European Union counts it as a carbon neutral technology, according to an unreleased report obtained by agency EurActiv.
Carbon not quite a cot case yet
26 Oct 2012
The Emissions Trading Scheme has been described recently as comatose and on a stretcher, says Carbon Market Solutions.
Groser: We'll check out status of units
19 Oct 2012
The Government says it will look at the eligibility of some international units under New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme.
ETS 'disappointing and costly' decision
19 Oct 2012
The failure to fix the Emissions Trading Scheme Amendment Bill before its third reading is a disappointing and costly decision, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright.
Europe’s biofuel makers threaten revolt
19 Oct 2012
Representatives of Europe’s biofuels industry have threatened to sue the European Commission if it proceeds with plans to limit crop-based biofuels because of their indirect effect on greenhouse gas emissions.
Philips to light up energy house
12 Oct 2012
Philips is to supply the LED lighting Auckland's Zero Energy house project.
Farmers target of climate investment help
5 Oct 2012
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has released the Filling the Research Gap: Research Strategy
Which way will landowners go?
5 Oct 2012
In 2008, when the Emission Trading Scheme legislation was passed, a lot of attention was focused on those forest owners who still intended to change land use from forest to agriculture, Carbon Market Solutions says.
Worried forest owners urge Key to act
28 Sep 2012
The heads of eight major forestry companies have asked the Prime Minister to intervene directly over the flow of cheap foreign carbon credits into New Zealand.
Government lying to us, says forester
28 Sep 2012
The Government is being accused of lying to New Zealanders over plans to encourage afforesation as a means of reducing greenhouse gas levels.
EDITORIAL: The problem called John Banks
28 Sep 2012
The Government may be weakening in its opposition to restricting the number of international carbon units allowed into New Zealand.
Think carrot ... not stick
28 Sep 2012
Carbon Match founder LIZZIE CHAMBERS says we need to think about how the carbon market can drive innovation - and artifically low carbon prices are not the answer.
CarbonScape tracks big prize
21 Sep 2012
New Zealand carbon-refining company CarbonScape has made the final three in a one of the world's largest competitions for sustainable innovation.
ETS submission: Clarify forest ownership
14 Sep 2012
The Emissions Trading Scheme is forcing forests out of the ownership of custodian trusts, a Parliamentary select committee has heard.
Blenheim innovator makes world final
7 Sep 2012
Carbon-refining company Carbonscape is a finalist in the international Postcode Lottery Green Challenge.
Industry slams Govt biofuel backdown
31 Aug 2012
The Government’s decision to stop subsidising biofuel development and to allow Solid Energy to retreat from the alternative fuels is damaging, the industry says.
Work goes on to link Tasman trading schemes
31 Aug 2012
Australia’s decision to link to the European Emissions Trading Scheme will not slow progress on linking to the New Zealand scheme, the Government says.
Was that the sound of a slamming door?
31 Aug 2012
The announcement this week by Australia’s Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet, of an arrangement between Australia and the European Commission whereby the Australian Carbon Pricing Mechanism is to be linked to the EU ETS sounds like an announcement for carbon traders to celebrate Christmas early, says Carbon Market Solutions.
ETS bill has October deadline
24 Aug 2012
The Government expects to have its changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme through the select committee and back into Parliament by October 17.
Foresters put faith in new technology
24 Aug 2012
The forestry sector is pressing ahead with plans to transform itself by adopting new technologies to get the most out of its harvest.
EXCLUSIVE: Carbon News readers can now get full climate report
24 Aug 2012
Subscribers to Carbon News now have access to the full report on research into New Zealanders' views on climate change.
Tasman pact aims to fight illegal logging
24 Aug 2012
New Zealand and Australia are to join forces to combat illegal logging.
Beer drinkers say cheers to reducing methane
24 Aug 2012
Australian beer drinkers don’t know it but they are helping cattle farmers to reduce methane produced by cows.
Most Kiwis back a green revolution
17 Aug 2012
New Zealanders are willing to put their hands in their pockets to encourage clean industries and technologies.
AL MORRISON: We've been too smug for too long
17 Aug 2012
The Department of Conservation wants to do business with business.
Missed opportunity to invest in NZ
17 Aug 2012
Since the Government’s July Emissions Trading Scheme announcements (a U-turn on a previously announced plan to introduce some sort of restriction on international units) the New Zealand carbon market has slowly, but surely, collapsed, says Carbon Match's Lizzie Chambers.
We'll need years to get going, says forester
10 Aug 2012
Large-scale forest planting will not begin until several years after a substantial rise in carbon prices, a key industry player is warning.
Conference urges Govt to act on carbon
10 Aug 2012
A conference on feeding the world and saving the planet is calling for Government action to lift the price of carbon.
Don't stand back, environment adviser tells NZ
3 Aug 2012
Feeding the world and saving it at the same time is possible – but New Zealand might leave it too late.
A good word to use is languish ...
3 Aug 2012
Do we really want to know what is going on with the carbon markets in Europe and elsewhere, Carbon Market Solutions asks.
Sustainability must on menu, says report
27 Jul 2012
Sustainability should be at the heart of New Zealand’s food industry, says a new report.
Forester forms safe haven for kiwi
27 Jul 2012
Forestry company Ernslaw One is promising to look after kiwi living in one of its forests.
Foresters might swap carbon for cows
20 Jul 2012
Tumbling carbon prices could trigger the conversion of large tracts of forest into dairy farms, the forestry industry is warning.
ETS a Clayton's scheme, says forester
20 Jul 2012
New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme is now a Clayton’s scheme, says the man who spent five years fighting for carbon credits for forest owners.
Our world in peril
20 Jul 2012
The world is in a perilous position - economically, environmentally and socially, according to a new report. And New Zealand is not exempt. Here, Rick Boven, Catherine Harland and Lillian Grace, the authors of Navigating an uncertain future: Environmental foundations for long-term success, outline the situation.
Labour vows to protect carbon price
6 Jul 2012
Labour says it will push for measures to protect the domestic carbon price.
Farm-level emissions cuts possible, but almost everything stands in the way
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Progress to slash farming emissions is being blocked by limited farmer confidence in mitigation tools, inconsistent engagement, misinformation and a lack of clear policy signals, according to a new report.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
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.
‘Cali Fund’ aiming to raise billions for nature receives first donation – of just $1,000
Tue 16 Dec 2025
A major biodiversity fund – which could, in theory, generate billions of dollars annually for conservation – received its first donation of just $1,000 in November.
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.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
Fri 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.
Seven quiet wins for climate and nature in 2025
Fri 19 Dec 2025
This year's environmental backdrop is familiar: emissions are rising and nature is continuing to decline. But there have nevertheless been bright spots in 2025.
Govt unveils plans for carbon storage regulations – and ETS rewards
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government has released plans to regulate carbon capture and storage in natural geological formations, which include Emissions Trading Scheme incentives, with the aim of introducing related legislation in 2026.
Global coal demand hit record high this year but is set to decline by 2030
Thu 18 Dec 2025
Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
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.
RMA’s successors hinge on two untested bets
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Two ideas sit at the heart of the Government’s replacement for the Resource Management Act: regulatory relief and spatial planning.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
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.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
Fri 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.
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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
Fri 19 Dec 2025
The warming impact of hydrogen has been “overlooked” in projections of climate change, according to authors of the latest “global hydrogen budget”.
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 NZ announces partnership to form Blue Economy hub in Nelson
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Media release | Westpac NZ has announced a new three-year partnership with the Nelson Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to help accelerate the development of a sustainable marine economy – also known as the blue economy.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
12 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says New Zealand restarting fossil fuel exploration and subsidies is an obvious breach of international law, exposing the country to international and domestic litigation.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
Mon 15 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams The Government has pushed through legislation under urgency to almost halve New Zealand’s 2050 methane target – a move Opposition parties say disregards scientific advice, breaks the country’s hard-won political consensus on climate action, and shifts the burden of higher warming and higher future costs onto the next generation.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
Mon 15 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Despite ‘intransigent’ states blocking multilateralism and a disappointing official outcome, Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu says he left the COP30 climate summit feeling more positive than after previous UN climate conferences.
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.
Three Greenpeace activists removed by police from Fonterra
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Media release | Three Greenpeace activists were removed by police from Fonterra’s downtown Auckland offices, following a protest on Monday at the Shareholders’ Fund meeting over the corporation’s role in the contamination of rural communities’ drinking water.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
11 Dec 2025
Media release | Ten of the world’s largest oil and gas companies would create significantly more shareholder value by ending exploration and sharply curtailing upstream development, according to new analysis released today by ACCR.
Wetlands and biodiversity at risk as mining rules loosen: Greenpeace
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greenpeace says Government changes to national direction instruments under the RMA paves the way for mining in wetlands and biodiversity hotspots and will expose some of Aotearoa’s most fragile ecosystems to irreversible damage.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
Tue 16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
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.
Offshore windfarms enhance function of coastal waters and diversity of aquatic life
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Media release | A study conducted by researchers from Murdoch University in Australia and Dalian Ocean University in China has found that offshore windfarms can improve marine ecosystems and diversify aquatic food chains.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
Tue 16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
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.
Could tidal energy one day power NZ?
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests Aotearoa holds some of the world’s strongest tidal-stream energy potential – enough to generate up to 93% of today’s electricity use – but one expert cautions that extracting energy at such a scale could have significant impacts and remains highly uncertain.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
Tue 16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
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.
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.
The surprisingly convincing case against cars
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Life After Cars dares to imagine how different, and enriching, a car-free world could be.
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.
Heatwaves, downpours and droughts – Auckland on track for more extreme weather
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.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | This year New Zealand had its hottest spring since records began, with widespread heat, rainfall extremes and destructive wind driven by sudden stratospheric warming.
Media round-up
12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
