Topics tagged with 'Forestry'
CANCUN: We're fooling nobody, says Chauvel
10 Dec 2010
Labour's Climate Change Issues spokesman, Charles Chauvel, reports from Cancun:
Forests come to the rescue of clams exporter
10 Dec 2010
A company that has lost export orders to Europe because of air miles and other environmental concerns is planting forests to offset its carbon footprint.
Sellers looking to monetise holdings
10 Dec 2010
NZU prices have traded between $19.90 and $20.30 (on a spot equivalent basis), says Westpac.
NZ at heart of Cancun row over tree carbon
3 Dec 2010
New Zealand is at the centre of a row at the Cancun climate change talks over proposals to adjust the way in which carbon is accounted for in trees.
Cancun will learn why Kiwi way is the best
3 Dec 2010
New Zealand’s home-grown method of accounting for the carbon in forests is to be held up at the Cancun climate change talks as a model to other countries – especially those in the developing world.
Parcel of 100,000 NZUs looks for buyer
3 Dec 2010
A parcel of 100,000 forward NZUs is up for tender.
Cancun: The electricity isn't there
3 Dec 2010
John Carnegie, BusinessNZ’s manager for energy, environment and infrastructure, is a member of the New Zealand Government's official delegation to the international climate change negotiations in Cancun, Mexico. He reports on progress in the opening days of the Cancun conference:
Act now or face more droughts, warn Greens
3 Dec 2010
New Zealand can expect more droughts and erosion if no progress is made in climate change talks under way in Cancun, the Green Party says.
Can we have a word, say kids at Cancun
3 Dec 2010
The Cancun climate change negotiations are being stormed by hundreds of young people calling for fair, ambitious and legally binding intergovernmental action on climate change - and our own New Zealand Youth Delegation is right in the midst of it.
Demand for NZUs softens as CER price falls
3 Dec 2010
The market for NZUs changed dramatically this week with the NZD - CER price falling to approximately NZD 20.25.
NZU prices close on CERs
30 Nov 2010
The difference in price between spot NZUs and spot CERs has closed to just a few cents.
Emitter buys 10,000 tonnes through tender
26 Nov 2010
A buy tender for up to 50,000 tonnes of spot or forward NZUs drew offers of up to 210,000 tonnes.
Top dairy farmers to talk sustainability
26 Nov 2010
Driving greater resource use efficiency on dairy farms and food security will be key themes at a sustainability forum for award-winning dairy farmers in Hamilton at the end of this month.
EECA 1 - bioenergy all the rage
26 Nov 2010
The 2010 EECA Awards have been dominated by bioenergy in various forms – showing an increasing interest from Kiwi businesses in new forms of renewable energy.
EECA 4 - two crowns for Christchurch
26 Nov 2010
Its innovative use of bioenergy and its highly efficient civic building have won Christchurch City Council two trophies in the 2010 EECA Awards.
Volume picks up, says Westpac
26 Nov 2010
It has been another interesting week in the market for New Zealand Units (NZUs) with increased volumes transacted, much of it completed on a forward basis, Westpac reports.
NZ forest credits might fill CDM shortfall
19 Nov 2010
Clean Development Mechanism developers are looking to New Zealand’s forestry credits to help to make up an expected shortfall in the credits they must deliver from their projects.
What Nick Smith said to farmers
19 Nov 2010
Comments by Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith to Federated Farmers this week on the prospect of delaying agriculture's entry into the Emissions Trading Scheme have caused a minor media flurry.
Farming call vital for forests, says scientist
19 Nov 2010
Keeping agriculture out of the Emissions Trading Scheme beyond 2015 will affect forestry planting levels, warns a forestry expert.
ETS leading to farm subsidies, warns Fed head
19 Nov 2010
Foresters should be growing trees for wood, not carbon storage subsidies, says Federated Farmers.
High dollar curbs demand for NZ AAUs
12 Nov 2010
Demand for New Zealand AAUs is being depressed by the high value of the dollar.
NZ teams with Australia and Brazil for Cancun
5 Nov 2010
The forestry industries of New Zealand, Brazil and Australia will join forces at the Cancun international climate change negotiations next month to push the climate change-beating potential of plantation forestry.
Supply shortfall may begin to ease
5 Nov 2010
Over the past several weeks, NZU prices have been relatively stable as, with a well understood short term lack of supply, liable entities have resisted pushing prices higher in the knowledge that doing so was not resulting in more volume emerging, Westpac reports.
Credit-happy Japanese come back for more
29 Oct 2010
A second major Japanese company has bought New Zealand forestry credits.
Our prices too low for Aussie carbon pioneers
29 Oct 2010
Australians are gearing up to sell carbon credits from trees – but say they aren’t interested in the New Zealand market at the moment because prices here are too low.
NZ will talk up markets and forestry at Cancun
29 Oct 2010
Carbon markets and forestry accounting rules will be top of New Zealand’s agenda at Cancun.
Southern builder launches sustainable homes
29 Oct 2010
Multi award-winning commercial and residential construction company Rilean Construction is launching a range of energy-efficient, healthy and affordable homes.
Manuka gets more muscle as a carbon crop
22 Oct 2010
Manuka has just become twice as attractive as a carbon crop.
Tenders an option...in right circumstances
22 Oct 2010
There has been light trade in the market this week between $19.75 and $20.10, Westpac reports.
Forest owners get positive ETS message from Government
19 Oct 2010
Land owners planting carbon forests say they have been assured that the Emissions Trading Scheme will survive when the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.
First pre-1990 forest credits due ... millions to follow
15 Oct 2010
The first of millions of free carbon credits being given to the owners of pre-1990 forests have been allocated and will be issued any day.
Forest owners might get a carbon bonus
15 Oct 2010
Forest owners could be entitled to more carbon credits than they get now if the Government adopts a new system of working out carbon sequestration levels.
Current situation not ideal, but outlook for buyers positive
15 Oct 2010
There has been light trade in NZUs this week with buyers continue to wait for further issuance to the pre-1990 forestry allocation, Westpac reports.
New planting rules could cost forest owners
8 Oct 2010
New environmental rules for commercial forests could leave owners with a carbon liability.
Canada's $1b bonus sparks NZ forest interest
8 Oct 2010
The Canadian Government is putting up to $1 billion into forestry and bioenergy – and New Zealand forest owners want to know why.
UN to list ‘30 Ways in 30 Days’ to combat change
8 Oct 2010
In the run up to next month’s major climate change conference in Cancún, the United Nations will release one case study daily for 30 days to prove that solutions to combat global are available, accessible and replicable.
Demand building, but little evidence of increased prices
8 Oct 2010
The Mexican stand-off between buyers and sellers continues, Westpac reports.
ETS in full swing as last bits tidied
1 Oct 2010
With the passing of eight sets of regulations to bring in remaining sectors, the Emissions Trading Scheme is effectively now fully implemented, says Buddle Findlay senior associate Alastair Camereon.
Supply could be just around the corner, says Westpac
24 Sep 2010
Trading in the spot market for NZUs has been light this week, with transactions occurring between $19.80 and $20.30, Westpac reports.
NZ wood eyes future in Europe's buildings
17 Sep 2010
The New Zealand wood industry has a new market – environmentally concerned Europeans.
Foresters check trees for quake damage
10 Sep 2010
Foresters are heading out today to start counting the carbon cost of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Wary owners waiting on better NZU prices
10 Sep 2010
The forward market for NZUs is developing as a shortage of spot compliance units starts to bite.
Owners await NZU allocations
10 Sep 2010
Owners of pre-1990 forests have applied for NZUs, but so far none have reached the market.
Bioenergy material going to waste, says report
10 Sep 2010
More than a quarter of New Zealand's energy needs - and nearly a third of our transport fuels - could come from energy crops and materials that are currently wasted, according to a new report.
Big banks take new look at dirty industries
3 Sep 2010
Two international banks operating in New Zealand are among financial institutions reportedly growing wary of environmental risks in lending.
Iwi join Aussies in carbon forestry venture
27 Aug 2010
Six iwi have joined forces with an Australia carbon forestry farmer and are looking to mop up land in the Central North Island.
Indonesia ripe for trading fraud, warn experts
27 Aug 2010
Ambitious plans to harness Indonesia’s millions of hectares of forest to offset carbon emissions could give rise to a new strain of corruption and financial fraud unless managed properly, experts warn.
Supply light on local market
27 Aug 2010
This week we have seen prices trading between $18.40 and $18.75, Westpac reports.
Awards for leading science innovators
27 Aug 2010
Four of New Zealand’s leading lights have been acknowledged for their contributions to innovation at the 2010 Bayer Innovators Awards.
Govt might have to boost new plantings
20 Aug 2010
The Government should underwrite the growing of millions of forestry seedlings if it wants to meet its climate change planting goal.
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'.
