Topics tagged with 'Forestry'
Mass timber should "always start with forest health": expert
10 Mar 2023
Increasing use of mass timber in architecture is driving good forest management practices in the United States, says Forest Business Network co-founder Arnie Didier in this interview as part of our Timber Revolution series.
Deforestation Inc
2 Mar 2023
An International Consortium of Investagative Journalists-led cross-border investigation exposes how a lightly regulated sustainability industry overlooks forest destruction and human rights violations when granting environmental certifications.
The counting of 9.9 billion trees could help manage climate credits and nature restoration
2 Mar 2023
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and NASA have developed a method that has now mapped several billion trees and their carbon uptake in Africa's Sahel region.
Emissions up for third consecutive quarter, driven by increased use of coal and gas
1 Mar 2023
New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions increased 0.8% in the June 2022 quarter, up 161 kilotonnes from the previous quarter, despite a 7.5% fall in manufacturing emissions (194 kilotonnes).
An incendiary form of lightning may surge under climate change
1 Mar 2023
A form of lightning with a knack for sparking wildfires may surge under climate change.
World's forests losing ability to absorb carbon due to climate change
28 Feb 2023
A recent study published in the Nature journal has found that the world's forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon due to the increasingly 'unstable' conditions caused by human activities.
Remove exotic forests from ETS until completion of inquiry: Pure Advantage
24 Feb 2023
Pure Advantage is calling on the government to remove exotic trees from the Emissions Trading Scheme until the results of its inquiry into forestry are known.
Genetically modified trees are taking root to capture carbon
23 Feb 2023
A start-up has created poplar trees that are genetically engineered to grow larger and suck up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than standard trees do. This month, workers planted rows of these poplars in southern Georgia, kicking off the company’s plan to revolutionize forestry.
Parliament unites to stop gifting of carbon credits to big emitters
22 Feb 2023
Parliament has unanimously supported the first reading of an amendment bill that puts an end to the over-allocation of carbon credits to trade-exposed industries. The current system of “industrial allocation” has seen some of the country’s biggest emitters receiving a $60 million annual windfall.
Clear-felling forest must stop in Tairāwhiti, expert says
20 Feb 2023
Clear-felling is inappropriate for fragile East Coast land - and Indigenous voices must lead the change, an expert says.
Revised carbon bill advances in Washington; timber group leery
20 Feb 2023
The US House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Friday endorsed allowing the state to sell carbon offsets, but not at the expense of logging or farming on public lands.
Bioenergy Association says forestry slash could help drive our heavy transport fleet
17 Feb 2023
The Bioenergy Association says the forestry slash causing havoc on the East Coast could have been slashing the country’s carbon emissions.
Forest owners want genetic technology approved
17 Feb 2023
Media release - The Forest Owners Organisation says New Zealand needs to concentrate on the safety of genetic technology on a case-by-case basis rather than persisting with blanket bans.
Legal challenge to clear-felling forests on erosion-prone land
9 Feb 2023
The Environment Court is being asked to rule that allowing the clear felling of forestry on erosion-prone land is unlawful under the Resource Management Act.
Best by the rest...
27 Jan 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Dame Anne Salmond on New Zealand’s “fatally flawed” climate strategy; a fact check of claims that Kiwi farms are the greenest; and why the country needs an e-bike rebate.
Gisborne District Council supports calls for land use inquiry
24 Jan 2023
Gisborne District Council says it strongly supports an independent inquiry into land use in Tairāwhiti.
Logged forests may be carbon emitters for years
24 Jan 2023
If you’ve ever been offered the opportunity to donate money to plant a tree to offset a purchase, you’ve probably guessed that trees naturally store carbon. Forests are an invaluable source of carbon storage around the world; one would assume that forests that have been cut down but are regrowing trees are also regaining their capacity to store carbon.
NZ meets 2020 decarbonisation target with Kyoto credits
19 Dec 2022
New Zealand is meeting its commitment to reducing the country’s 2013-2022 emissions by 5% compared to 1990 levels by using 6.5 million Kyoto protocol credits.
How Bhutan could provide the blueprint for climate-smart forest economies
16 Dec 2022
Sandwiched between Tibet and India in Southern Asia, the Kingdom of Bhutan is a rapidly developing country with a fast-growing population that is creating an increasing demand for urban housing.
Forest equity: what indigenous people want from carbon credits
16 Dec 2022
In a world where carbon credit markets are taking advantage of Indigenous people and their forests, the United Nation is losing its leadership on combating climate change, says Indigenous leader Levi Sucre Romero.
Wellington’s emissions down nearly 10% since 2020
15 Dec 2022
Wellington’s emissions have dropped by 9% since 2020, according to the latest data.
Fifth forestry company fined for serious offences in Tairāwhiti
13 Dec 2022
Forestry company Ernslaw One is the fifth company sentenced for forestry offending in Tairāwhiti, after poorly managed forestry sites caused environmental harm and damaged properties during severe rain in 2018.
Forestry ETS changes pass
5 Dec 2022
Among the bills to pass into law in Parliament’s recent Urgency session was the extension of the penalty transition regime for small forestry owners who remove trees.
Price of carbon down 6.8% over past fortnight
2 Dec 2022
With the final ETS auction of the year set to take place next Wednesday, the price of carbon on the secondary market has dropped by 6.8% since hitting an all-time high of $88.50 on November 14.
EU climate chief defends plans for 'carbon farming'
2 Dec 2022
The European Union's top climate official on Wednesday dismissed criticism from environmental groups over its proposal to incorporate carbon removal methods into its climate plans, insisting the plan won't undermine the bloc's efforts to tackle global warming.
Satellites detect no real climate benefit from 10 years of forest carbon offsets in California
2 Dec 2022
Many of the companies promising “net-zero” emissions to protect the climate are relying on vast swaths of forests and what are known as carbon offsets to meet that goal.
EU climate plan sacrifices carbon storage and biodiversity for bioenergy
30 Nov 2022
Incoming policies will cause the European Union to harvest more wood, shift one-fifth of cropland to bioenergy and outsource deforestation, analysis shows.
Land use change could improve climate, health, and food insecurity: research
29 Nov 2022
Growing more grains and vegetables could decrease greenhouse gas emissions, increase water quality, and solve looming food insecurity and health problems for millions of New Zealanders, according to new research from two National Science Challenges.
Indonesia forest loss released carbon equal to Ukraine fossil-fuel use in 2021
21 Nov 2022
Destruction of forests in Indonesia released more greenhouse gases than Ukraine’s consumption of fossil fuels last year, even after taking into account newly sequestered carbon in the Southeast Asian nation’s trees, according to data non-profit CTrees released at the COP27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Best by the rest...
18 Nov 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Dairy land is being converted to other uses at a rate of 1% a year; more of our last remaining wetlands are at risk of wildfire due to climate change; and forestry is once again at the heart of discussions surrounding New Zealand's future.
Biggest rainforest nations form triple alliance to save jungle
16 Nov 2022
The world’s three largest rainforest nations Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesiaon Monday formally launched a partnership to cooperate on forest preservation after a decade of on-off talks on a trilateral alliance.
Rainforests emerge as key sources of carbon credits in emerging markets
15 Nov 2022
In the fight against climate change, forests are vital carbon sinks, absorbing twice as much carbon as they produce each year globally. Tropical rainforests play a particularly vital role, storing an estimated 25% of the world’s terrestrial carbon.
More than half a million hectares of forest now in ETS
7 Nov 2022
The Ministry for Primary Industries processed a record 37,753 hectares of forest land for the ETS in the month of October.
Global pledges to remove greenhouse gas emissions to reach net zero unrealistic: new report
3 Nov 2022
A new University of Melbourne study has calculated countries would collectively need 1.2 billion hectares of land to meet their Paris Agreement goals.
Climate pledges depend too much on natural carbon sinks: report
2 Nov 2022
Current climate pledges focus too much on land-based carbon sinks such as tree planting rather than food production and biodiversity, researchers from Australia, Denmark, Sweden and elsewhere said in a report on Tuesday.
Norway will pay Indonesia $56 million for drop in deforestation, emissions
2 Nov 2022
Norway has agreed to pay Indonesia $56 million in a climate agreement between the two countries, as Indonesia has succeeded in reducing carbon dioxide emissions by preserving its vast tropical rainforests.
NZ’s latest GHG figures confirm no sustained reduction in emissions
28 Oct 2022
Latest figures from Stats NZ confirm New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have shown no sustained reductions compared with 2005.
Best by the rest...
28 Oct 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best local climate coverage: Environmental protests, including a first-hand account from a Wellington school teacher who was part of a group blocking Transmission Gully this week; a loophole in climate law means a steel mill in Auckland will keep burning coal for twenty more years; and a new report has outlined the growing case to invest in natural capital.
Deforestation slowed last year — but not enough to meet climate goals
26 Oct 2022
Countries are failing to meet international targets to stop global forest loss and degradation by 2030, according to a report. It is the first to measure progress since world leaders set the targets last year at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, UK.
Carbon credits have struggled to win market approval — until now
18 Oct 2022
Carbon credits have struggled to gain a foothold among countries and companies. But Deutsche Bank has just lit a fire under them — specifically, “sovereign credits” issued by rainforest nations. The aim is to minimize deforestation.
Forestry interests hit out at minister's comments
17 Oct 2022
Climate Change minister James Shaw’s comments that the government could become the exclusive purchaser of carbon forestry credits have been met with widespread backlash from forestry interests.
Successes and struggles: Brazil’s 20-year Amazon reforestation carbon sink project
14 Oct 2022
The Peugeot-ONF Forest Carbon Sink project, implemented more than 20 years ago in northwestern Mato Grosso state, within the “arc of deforestation” of the Brazilian Amazon, has achieved significant ecological restoration and carbon sequestration results.
Greener future takes root in Taranaki schools
13 Oct 2022
Media Release - Tamariki at Waitara East School are growing a new outdoor classroom where future generations will learn thanks to funding from the New Plymouth District Council.
Seeing the forest for the trees: government to put brakes on planting exotics
7 Oct 2022
The government has announced consultation on how forests are managed, with a press release making it clear continuing the status quo – which it says would result in the over planting of permanent pine forests – isn’t an option.
Phantom forests: why ambitious tree planting projects are failing
7 Oct 2022
It was perhaps the most spectacular failed tree planting project ever. Certainly the fastest. On March 8, 2012, teams of village volunteers in Camarines Sur province on the Filipino island of Luzon sunk over a million mangrove seedlings into coastal mud in just an hour of frenzied activity.
Hawke's Bay to develop emissions reduction plan
5 Oct 2022
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has voted to develop the region’s first emissions reduction plan, aiming to reach net zero by 2050.
As carbon dioxide grows more abundant, trees are growing bigger, study finds
30 Sep 2022
Trees are feasting on decades of carbon dioxide emissions and growing bigger as a result, according to a new study of U.S. forests.
Best by the rest...
23 Sep 2022
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in the local media: A biofuel mandate prompts economic and environmental criticism; new research in Australia reveals conservative voters care just as much about the environment as climate change activists; and slow lawmaking is making it difficult to act on environmental regulation in time.
Offsets aflame: The risk of wildfires to tree-planting carbon credits
23 Sep 2022
Recent fires at reforestation projects raise the question, can the carbon-capture claims of a booming offset industry hold up?
Climate change threatens up to 100% of trees in Australian cities, and most urban species worldwide
21 Sep 2022
A study published today in Nature Climate Change found climate change will put 90-100% of the trees and shrubs planted in Australian capital cities at risk by 2050.
What happens to net zero if the trees don’t survive?
Wed 20 Aug 2025
When climate change undermines the climate plan.
Media round-up
Fri 22 Aug 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The climate advice the government didn't want you to see; New Zealand's groundbreaking climate law has become ‘a shell’; and could the Electricity Authority be about to inadvertently increase power prices?
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
Why plane turbulence is becoming more frequent - and more severe
6 Aug 2025
As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.
Bolivia will choose a new president but environmental activists see little hope of progress
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Many Indigenous and environmental leaders doubt the election will bring progress in stopping deforestation, wildfires or pollution in the Amazon.
Media round-up
15 Aug 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Australia could be about to leapfrog New Zealand on climate targets; 'strangled' rivers are fighting back; and 10 rangatahi will join Aotearoa New Zealand’s delegation at the United Nations' major climate conference in Brazil.
‘Problems looming’ for Govt's key climate tool
Fri 22 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | There are serious unresolved issues for the Emissions Trading Scheme which mean it could become unstable and ineffective at driving emissions reductions, according to the Climate Change Commission.
Record solar growth keeps China’s CO2 falling in first half of 2025
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Clean-energy growth helped China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fall by 1% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, extending a declining trend that started in March 2024.
Govt opts for status quo for ETS auctions
Tue 19 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has chosen not to increase auction volumes in the Emissions Trading Scheme, a decision applauded by carbon market insiders and climate campaigners alike, despite it contradicting the Climate Change Commission’s advice.
Coal mining company continuing with fast-track plans despite costly protest
Fri 22 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A marathon 23-day coal bucket occupation protesting Bathurst Resources' plan to mine the Denniston Plateau ended on Tuesday, when Climate Liberation Aotearoa activists Rachel Andrews and Tāmati Taptiklis climbed down from the 80-metre high Stockton mine ropeway and were taken into custody.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
What does 'drier' really mean in 'green' homes?
1 Aug 2025
Media release - Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland | Researchers say green-rating systems could improve clarity and effectiveness by explicitly defining ‘drier’ and using two measures of humidity.
RMA to speed up fossil fuel consents
Mon 18 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | An energy lobby group has welcomed a last-minute amendment to the RMA that puts fossil fuels on the same footing as renewables, however a sustainable energy expert says the move “beggars belief.”
Certainty crucial to emissions cuts – Watts
Wed 20 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says that policy certainty is the Government’s primary lever for unlocking private capital and meeting climate targets, telling a carbon forestry conference that ETS settings are 'locked' through 2030.
Why helping customers electrify is a growth opportunity for energy retailers
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Media release – Cogo | The global shift to a low-carbon economy is transforming the energy market. For energy retailers, this shift brings both pressure and possibility.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
Nearly half of Kiwi in the dark about risks facing their homes
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Media release – Tower | As weather events become more frequent and extreme its important people have information about the risks that could affect their property.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
Shane Jones on climate change – it’s real, but…
15 Aug 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones believes climate change is real, but is uninterested in what is causing it and primarily focused on adapting to it.
A modest geothermal strategy
31 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has unveiled a far more modest geothermal energy strategy than its primary backer, Resources Minister Shane Jones, had sought.
Governments in Global South get dedicated support to tap into carbon markets
Thu 21 Aug 2025
Media release – VCMI | A new toolkit will help emerging markets and developing economies decide how best to generate and sell carbon credits to access climate finance, accelerate innovation and help close the $1.3 trillion climate finance gap.
How the meat industry uses environmental groups to make beef seem climate-friendly
11 Aug 2025
The meat industry may have enlisted environmental groups to persuade people to “feel better” about eating beef, despite the sector’s ballooning emissions of climate-heating pollution.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
29 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Green hydrogen pioneer Hiringa Energy is deep in planning to develop an “eight-to-nine figure” methanol plant near Whanganui, using a combination of biomass and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
Will NZ walk away from the Paris Agreement?
20 Dec 2024
By Geoff Bertram | COMMENT: Unless the government can find very cheap offshore mitigation, the temptation to walk away from its Paris Agreement obligations may well be too strong to resist for a coalition government focused on fiscal austerity.
Forestry sector could take legal action over ETS changes
14 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | The forestry sector is threatening legal action against the Government over changes to legislation intended to limit whole farm-to-forest conversions in the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Forestry the source of all ETS risk, says top economist
15 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Forestry is the source of all of the risk in New Zealand's Emissions Trading Scheme and it's inevitable that the scheme has to be reformed, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment chief economist Geoff Simmons.
NZ's latest climate target 'weak' – Climate Action Tracker
24 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's new international climate target to 2035 is weak, and could even allow for higher emissions than the 2030 target, according to a global scientific project that tracks government climate action.
Oil states accused of using scare tactics in bid to sink green shipping deal
12 Aug 2025
Saudi Arabia, Iran and other oil-reliant countries are campaigning to stop the adoption of the IMO’s Net-zero Framework in October.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
Wed 20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
Backlash over govt conservation changes
4 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government’s proposed changes to the Conservation Act are the most significant roll back in conservation protections in a generation, according to the Green Party.
Failed plastic treaty 'significant disappointment'
Mon 18 Aug 2025
The failure of negotiations on a legally-binding global plastics treaty is a "significant disappointment," but no treaty is still better than a weak one, according to a New Zealand expert.
Strong NZ representation in upcoming global climate report
Thu 21 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams and Liz Kivi | Eighteen New Zealanders are among more than 600 experts appointed by the IPCC for its next painstaking scientific deep dive into the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.
Activists facing intimidation tactics at Bathurst mine
Tue 19 Aug 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate Liberation Aotearoa activists suspended 80m high in a coal bucket at a the Stockton mine on the West Coast say coal mining company Bathurst Resources is using ‘hostile’ tactics to try and remove them.
Straterra has a new name: the New Zealand Minerals Council
16 Apr 2025
Media release | Straterra has been renamed as New Zealand Minerals Council, says chief executive Josie Vidal.
The US Department of Agriculture bans support for renewables, a lifeline for farmers
Thu 21 Aug 2025
The agency said it’s concerned that farmland is being consumed by wind and solar facilities – which occupy a tiny fraction of the country’s productive acres.
Will reflective roofs help beat the heat?
15 Aug 2025
Media release - University of Auckland | About 500 roofs across four continents have been painted with a reflective coating, as part of research into tackling the health impacts of climate change.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Carbon price underperforming: Environment secretary
13 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has been focussed on reducing the Emissions Trading Scheme ‘stockpile’ and carbon prices should rise soon, according to the Secretary for the Environment.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
31 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government is expected to repeal the oil and gas ban today, with a last-minute amendment handing discretionary power to two ministers over the controversial issue of decommissioning.
African $60 billion high-speed rail project takes shape
15 Aug 2025
One of the largest infrastructure projects in Africa has received a new update that could see construction begin soon.
'Yet another rate': Franz Josef ratepayers balk at $2.8m stopbank extension
4 Aug 2025
By Lois Williams, Local Democracy Reporter | Franz Josef ratepayers have given the thumbs down to plans for a $2.8 million stopbank extension to protect the town’s sewerage plant from the Waiho River.
Warmer end to winter but dry spell expected over southern lakes
5 Aug 2025
As hydro lake levels hover just below average levels, climate forecasts indicate that warmer than usual weather conditions will reduce demand, but there will likely be less rain over the southern hydro lakes as New Zealand moves towards spring and summer.
Record UK wildfires have burned an area twice the size of Glasgow in 2025
12 Aug 2025
Wildfires have scorched more than 40,000 hectares of land so far this year across the UK – an area more than twice the size of the Scottish city of Glasgow.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
