Topics tagged with 'Forestry'
Timber mill train decision clears roads
14 Apr 2009
A shift by a major timber mill from road to rail will mean around 2000 fewer truck movements a year, KiwiRail says.
ETS uncertainty points to serious energy problems, says Labour
14 Apr 2009
The confusion and uncertainty created by National’s climate change policy is putting New Zealand’s energy security at risk, Labour’s Energy spokesman Charles Chauvel says.
TZ1 and American Carbon Registry form partnership
9 Apr 2009
American Carbon Registry, an enterprise of Winrock International and the longest serving US carbon registry, and TZ1 Environmental Registry, a financial-market-based platform for carbon and other environmental assets, have announced a strategic partnership to stimulate the market for trading US pre-compliance and global voluntary market carbon offsets.
Government uncertainty over ETS must end, say Greens
9 Apr 2009
Business leaders and the public favour prompt Emissions Trading Scheme action to doing nothing by a margin of 2:1, according to a survey by the Business Council for Sustainable Development, says the Green Party.
Labour: We're ready to start work on joint ETS
7 Apr 2009
Work on a joint National/Labour emissions trading scheme could start as early as this week, says Labour climate change spokesman Charles Chauvel.
Baroness slams dual-purpose biofuel crops
7 Apr 2009
British House of Lords crossbencher Baroness Caroline Cox, often described as the “voice for the voiceless” for her work in exposing slavery, says that bio fuel must be derived from vegetation specifically grown for that purpose.
Forest campaigners reject Charles’ rescue plan
7 Apr 2009
Environmental and indigenous peoples organisations have publicly rejected the plans of the Prince of Wales to finance rain forest protection with a system of bonds that are to be paid back with funding derived from carbon markets.
Dunne: With Labour, we'll reach ETS agreement
3 Apr 2009
The chairman of the emissions trading scheme review committee is predicting that Labour and National will reach agreement over a scheme which will have some degree of harmonisation with Australia.
NZUs allocation clear sign of future ETS plans
3 Apr 2009
The Government’s allocation of eight million NZUs to the Crown’s holding account on Wednesday is a clear sign that the emissions trading scheme is here to stay.
Insurers work through climate disasters liability
27 Mar 2009
The insurance industry is grappling with the issue of how to insure against carbon lost through fires, biosecurity breaches, cyclones and other disasters.
Blue Mountain finds the BOOT fits
27 Mar 2009
Blue Mountain Lumber is proving that energy investment can be made in isolation from long-term considerations of risk surrounding the original use.
'Big Picture' partnership claims top environmental prize
27 Mar 2009
A "big-picture vision" has earned an organic dairy farming partnership the top award in the 2009 Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Minister refuses to rule out further delays to ETS - Labour
27 Mar 2009
Environment Minister Nick Smith’s refusal in Parliament on Wednesday to rule out further delays in the implementation of New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme is a cause for considerable alarm, says Labour’s Climate Change Issues spokesperson Charles Chauvel.
Happy forest owners now look for better NZUs price
24 Mar 2009
Foresters greeted the first sale of NZUs with keen interest but are looking for an improved price, says Earnslaw One environment manager Peter Weir.
Harmonising Tasman emissions schemes could mean massive losses
24 Mar 2009
Harmonising the Australian and New Zealand emissions trading schemes could cause massive losses for forestry firms here and bring fuels into the scheme six months early.
EXCLUSIVE: Forestry credits sale marks world first
20 Mar 2009
New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme has had its first trade.
Wood-pellet industry resents officials’ disinterest
20 Mar 2009
The wood burner industry is annoyed that it continues to receive less-than-enthusiastic support from government sustainable agencies, including EECA.
Farmers want agriculture, food out of ETS
17 Mar 2009
Federated Farmers wants agriculture and food production removed from the emissions trading scheme.
World gets interested in our forestry NZUs
17 Mar 2009
International interest is growing in New Zealand forestry units.
Greens call for forest industry to diversify
17 Mar 2009
Forestry and Biosecurity Minister David Carter addresses the International Biosecurity Conference in Rotorua this morning amidst calls for New Zealand to diversify its forest plantation species to make it less vulnerable to catastrophic forest losses caused by biosecurity breaches.
Capital acts to reduce carbon footprint
17 Mar 2009
Greater Wellington's Regional Sustainability Committee has implemented what it describes as a new regional greenhouse gas emissions inventory - a plan to reduce the region's overall carbon footprint.
Mapp urges biofuel crops for our badlands
13 Mar 2009
Crown Research Minister Wayne Mapp says that the parts of New Zealand unsuitable for growing food should be cultivated for biofuels.
Foresters: We've had enough of uncertainty
10 Mar 2009
The forestry industry says the Government should ignore calls to abandon the emissions trading scheme in favour of alternatives such as Business NZ’s proposed low-level all-gases tax or levy on every unit of emissions.
Biofuels bad news for third world, ecologists warn
10 Mar 2009
Having large numbers of motorists switch to biofuels would be “bad news for the planet and for many millions of third world people suffering through the expansion of agrofuels to feed the rich world's cars", warns the Pacific Institute of Resource Management.
Include biochar in ETS, urges top scientist
6 Mar 2009
World-renowned Australian scientist Professor Tim Flannery says that biochar technology – acknowledged as possibly our greatest chance of reducing atmospheric carbon – should be included in New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme.
ETS delay hampers lake protection moves
6 Mar 2009
Delays in establishing a domestic carbon market are hampering the efforts of a trust set up to protect an iconic New Zealand natural landmark.
Credit freeze forces foresters to stall harvests
6 Mar 2009
A bank freeze on credit - especially on letters of credit - is prompting forestry owners to keep their trees in the ground because they cannot find the cash to export them.
Australia votes $32 million for soil and emissions study
6 Mar 2009
The Australian Government will spend nearly $32 million to research soil carbon and nitrous oxide emissions in agriculture.
FORUM: In praise of urban forests
6 Mar 2009
Landscape architect Debbie Tikao argues for developers, councils and communities to get planting:
Foresters might end milling to earn carbon credits
3 Mar 2009
Central Districts forestry interests are considering leaving their trees in the ground long term, instead of milling them, so that they earn forestry credits, especially from Europe.
Planted forests critical to wood supplies, says UN
3 Mar 2009
Planted forests which provided wood that is renewable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly have become increasingly critical to future supplies, according to a new study by the United Nations.
Greenpeace targets US toilet paper
3 Mar 2009
Greenpeace is urging the United States to take a second look at its toilet paper manufacturing industry for its use of virgin material on something that is flushed after a few seconds of use.
Confused foresters lament lack of Government direction
27 Feb 2009
New Zealand forest owners will soon be able to claim AAUs for carbon sequestered last year, but a lack of clarity over Government policy means the country unlikely to see a flurry of carbon-market activity.
Minister's omission worries wood fuel backers
27 Feb 2009
The bioenergy sector says it is aghast that wood fuel seems to be off the Government’s radar.
Business NZ stance may not give Government support it needs on ETS
27 Feb 2009
ANALYSIS: Policies proposed in a draft Business New Zealand submission to the select committee reviewing the ETS, obtained by Carbon News, would aim to “remove the carbon risk for business”.
Australia goes all-out to cut animal gas emissions
27 Feb 2009
Australia will invest in a major research effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock – the nation’s third largest source of emissions, including methane.
Invasive jatropha might have dodged NZ security net
24 Feb 2009
The potentially invasive biofuel crop Jatropha curcas may have slipped through New Zealand’s biosecurity defences.
NZUs market needs more industries, say foresters
24 Feb 2009
The NZUs market will not operate efficiently until other industries enter the emissions trading scheme, a forestry company is telling the Government.
UN: Heat waves and extreme drought will increase with climate change
24 Feb 2009
The severe drought and searing heat that recently allowed wildfires to char much of Australia will oppress wide swathes of the earth with increasing frequency this century, according to a forecast by scientists who met last week in Beijing, China.
Green ideology gets blame for tragic bushfires
20 Feb 2009
The Australian Unity Party is circulating in New Zealand an article by Sydney Morning Herald conservative columnist Miranda Devine headed "Green Ideas Must Take Blame for Deaths".
Brazil climate changes threaten coffee crop
20 Feb 2009
The future for Brazil's mighty farm sector could be grim, with hotter temperatures pushing crops past its borders, uphill into the Andes and toward the tip of South America.
Biofuels might speed up global warming, says study
17 Feb 2009
The use of crop-based biofuels could speed up rather than slow down global warming by fueling the destruction of rainforests, scientists warn in a just-released report.
Climate change truth is self-evident: Greens
17 Feb 2009
As Auckland experiences its highest-ever temperatures, droughts worsen each year and Australian bush fires rage, the New Zealand Government is looking more and more behind the game, say the Greens.
Regional council gives thumbs down to jatropha
13 Feb 2009
A regional council charged with protecting 1.25 million hectares of New Zealand says we shouldn’t grow jatropha.
Government welcomes progress to protect Lake Taupo
13 Feb 2009
Minister for the Environment Nick Smith yesterday welcomed a deal by the Lake Taupo Protection Trust to convert more than 930 hectares of farmland into forestry.
First bio-oil plant offers boost for foresters
10 Feb 2009
New Zealand’s first wood-to-bio-oil plant will open next month – and backers say it has the potential to vastly increase forest profitability while saving the climate.
Forest owners close to getting first NZUs
3 Feb 2009
New Zealand forest owners will receive their first NZUs next month.
Council targets marginal land for forest planting
3 Feb 2009
The Greater Wellington Regional Council is to press for intensified forestry in its area - especially in the 110,000ha of marginal hill country in the Wairarapa.
Kyoto soil carbon rules don't fit NZ, says official
3 Feb 2009
New Zealand would have to be able to use a base year other than 1990 if the country was to start accounting for soil carbon, says a senior government official.
World can afford green economy, says new report
3 Feb 2009
Moving to a green global economy could not only protect the planet from the worst effects of climate change but is surprisingly affordable, new figures show.
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'.
