Topics tagged with 'Forestry'
Forestry Institute's open letter warns NZ may fail to meet climate commitments
23 Jun 2023
The New Zealand Forestry Institute has penned an open letter to MPs and the media outlining “deep concerns” about the future of forests and forest investment, with climate commitments at stake.
Carbon price plummets: what does ETS review mean for future prices?
22 Jun 2023
By Liz Kivi | The carbon price on the secondary market has slumped to its lowest point since 2021 in the wake of the government’s ETS announcement, after rallying briefly following last week’s failed Emissions Trading Scheme auction.
ETS forestry review critical to achieving emissions goals
20 Jun 2023
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: The government’s review of the Emissions Trading Scheme is critical and long overdue, with the potential to drive much deeper gross emission cuts and set up forestry as the long-term carbon sink New Zealand needs for net-negative emissions. But if done badly, the review risks trading off these separate but important goals and achieving neither.
ETS review options will take too long to implement: expert
20 Jun 2023
Proposed changes to the ETS will take too long to come into effect and do not go far enough to solve the core issues, according to an expert.
Activists say the world's biggest agribusiness company has broken deforestation promises
20 Jun 2023
Activists allege that the world’s largest agribusiness company has failed to keep pledges on eliminating deforestation from its supply chains.
ETS review looks at reducing NZUs at auction
19 Jun 2023
The government has opened public consultation on the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme as well as consultation on redesigning its Permanent Forest Category.
New research looks at methane-munching microorganisms in forest soils
15 Jun 2023
Scientists are working on new research into how much methane is consumed by microorganisms in New Zealand’s planted forest soils - and what potential these soils have to counteract the country’s outsized agricultural emissions.
National vows to keep agricultural emissions out of the ETS, restrict forestry planting
13 Jun 2023
By Liz Kivi | The NZ Institute of Forestry says the National Party’s newly unveiled climate and agricultural policy will hinder the country’s climate goals.
Govt invests in biomass research and bioenergy plant for Tairāwhiti
12 Jun 2023
The government is investing in a bioenergy plant, as well as research into biomass and better forestry practices, with the aim of making the forestry industry more sustainable.
Offsetting and carbon neutral claims in the dock
19 May 2023
By Ann Smith | COMMENT: Over the past few months, The Guardian has published five or more articles questioning the integrity of carbon offset projects that have been certified by well-known international organisations that issue carbon credits.
Canterbury receives nearly $2M funding for soil conservation
18 May 2023
Media release | Environment Canterbury’s Soil Conservation and Revegetation Programme (SCAR) receives $1,902,359 in funding, which will support farmers with erosion-prone land across North Canterbury.
NZ Institute of Forestry disappointed in Inquiry into Tairāwhiti land use report
17 May 2023
Media release | The New Zealand Institute of Forestry expresses deep disappointment in the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use causing woody debris (including forestry slash) and sediment-related damage in Tairāwhiti and Wairoa.
Land Use Inquiry does not safeguard against climate change: Forestry owners
15 May 2023
The Forest Owners Association says the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use will not safeguard forest owners against the long-term impacts of climate change.
Seeing REDD
15 May 2023
By Ann Smith | COMMENT: A REDD+ carbon offset project in Southland was the subject of negative press last week. However the project’s aim of preserving indigenous forest is critically important in the fight against climate change.
KiwiSaver contributions to deforestation on the up
9 May 2023
Over the past year New Zealand investments in companies involved in the destruction of rainforests has almost doubled from $38 million to $68 million.
Meat lobby report slams forestry role in ETS
5 May 2023
A report commissioned by New Zealand Beef + Lamb has unsurprisingly found that the full inclusion of forestry offsetting in the ETS is out of step with other cap and trade systems internationally and is hindering New Zealand’s efforts to decarbonise.
Market indifferent to commission’s advice
3 May 2023
By Jeremy Rose | Last Wednesday, journalists covering the release of the Climate Change Commission’s draft advice on the second emissions plan had to surrender their cellphones during a seven-and-a-half hour lock-up, and were under a strict embargo to coincide with the closing of the secondary carbon market.
Commission’s advice harks back to disregarded warnings from 30 years ago
28 Apr 2023
By Prof Ralph Chapman | It is both encouraging and depressing to see the arguments made about forest sequestration by the Climate Change Commission in its draft advice released this week.
Forestry issue lobbying intensifies
26 Apr 2023
As the deadline for the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use in Tairāwhiti to report draws closer, lobbying over the issue has become more intense, especially with a new minister at the helm.
National to ban overseas investment to convert farms into carbon forestry
19 Apr 2023
The National Party will ban foreign investment in farms to convert them to forestry for carbon farming.
Tiny decrease in gross emissions, net emissions up slightly
14 Apr 2023
New Zealand’s net emissions increased slightly in 2021 - by 3% - while gross emissions were down a tiny 0.7% on the previous year, a slight reduction in gross emissions for the second consecutive year.
Climate Change Commission doubles-down on ETS advice
13 Apr 2023
The Climate Change Commission has doubled-down in its latest advice to government on the need to increase the trigger price for the emission trading scheme’s cost containment reserve.
Trees grow for extra month as planet warms: study
29 Mar 2023
Researchers studying hardwoods in northwest Ohio say a century of warming has extended their annual growing season by a month on average.
Govt announces review of the ETS
23 Mar 2023
The government has announced it is reviewing the Emissions Trading Scheme to see whether it can play a stronger role in driving New Zealand’s climate response.
Massive jump in ETS forestry land registrations
21 Mar 2023
Jeremy Rose | More than 221,000 hectares of forest land was registered in the ETS last year - not far off half of the total 500,000 plus hectares registered since the scheme came into force in 2008.
Why countries shouldn’t rely on forests and soils to reach net zero
20 Mar 2023
Countries are betting on forests and soils to mop up their remaining “difficult-to-decarbonize” emissions to achieve their climate targets. More forests and better soils are good for nature and for adapting to climate change, but this strategy may prove a risk to the global goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Global ecosystems are at risk of losing carbon storage ability: study
15 Mar 2023
Several regions of the world are at risk of losing their ability to store carbon, which could result in the drastic transformation of ecosystems and accelerated climate change, one recent study has found.
Trees can only partly offset agricultural emissions: Environment commissioner
13 Mar 2023
Environment Commissioner Simon Upton has outlined the mammoth task facing the agriculture sector in reducing biological methane emissions to meet targets.
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.
$235 billion worth of NZ buildings exposed to flooding
Thu 30 Oct 2025
More than 750,000 New Zealanders live in locations exposed to one-in-100-year floods, according to a nationwide study which shows escalating flood risk.
Look out for these 8 big ag greenwashing terms at COP30
Tue 28 Oct 2025
Food and farming companies will claim agriculture is the solution to the climate crisis at the Brazil summit — even though food drives a third of global warming.
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.
Celebrities slam mining plans
Tue 28 Oct 2025
Actor Sam Neill has slammed plans for a gold mine in Otago, while Denniston Rose author Jenny Pattrick is backing a petition that would stop a coalmine on the West Coast.
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.
Taxonomy seen as key to shaping NZ’s voluntary nature credit market
Thu 30 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Experts say aligning the New Zealand Sustainable Finance Taxonomy with the development of voluntary nature credit markets could strengthen credibility, streamline investment, and support high-integrity environmental outcomes.
The Yangtze River is becoming the world’s largest electrified trade corridor
Thu 30 Oct 2025
The Gezhouba, a new 13,000-ton all-electric bulk carrier launched in Yichang, is more than a technical milestone. It is a sign that the electrification of inland shipping is moving from concept to inevitability.
‘Plain old dull’: NZU market continues to limp sideways
24 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The NZU market has been “plain old dull” in recent months, with activity driven mainly by credit opportunities or a specific need to raise cash, according to Lizzie Chambers of trading platform Carbon Match.
Genesis doubles down on Huntly as renewables ramp up
24 Oct 2025
Genesis Energy is doubling down on Huntly’s role as New Zealand’s energy backstop while accelerating one of the country’s largest pipelines of new renewable generation.
The merchants of doubt are back
3 Sep 2025
OPINION: If you don’t follow climate policy closely, you might not know that the Trump administration is launching an effort to overturn one of the most fundamental pillars of American climate policy.
Milestone for NZ Steel electrification
10 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | NZ Steel has passed an installation milestone for its new electric arc furnace, which will reduce emissions from the Glenbrook steel mill site by as much as one megatonne (1Mt) a year.
Carbon Finance Program upscales efforts to close climate investment gap in climate vulnerable nations
22 Oct 2025
Media release | The Climate Vulnerable Forum and its V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) will work with the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) to upscale the Carbon Finance Program in reach and impact, supporting more climate-vulnerable countries to host high-integrity carbon projects that yield tangible climate, nature, and sustainable development benefits.
All carrot, no stick for farmers on methane
17 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: The abandonment of methane emissions pricing and the adoption of a weaker target is effectively the last nail in the coffin of the historic cross-parliamentary consensus embedded in the Zero Carbon Act 2019.
Lake Onslow battery project set for revival?
Wed 29 Oct 2025
A newly formed private consortium has emerged with plans to finance and build the massive Lake Onslow pumped-hydro project, despite the coalition government’s decision to abandon the scheme.
From nuisance to crisis: New report on pest wasps In Aotearoa
24 Sep 2025
Media release: Moths and Butterflies NZ Trust | Just published is the Final Report of the Pest Wasps Survey carried out by the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (MBNZT) offering a comprehensive look at New Zealanders’ awareness, experiences, and attitudes toward wasps and the growing ecological, health, and social issues associated with them.
What makes Melissa such a dangerous storm?
Thu 30 Oct 2025
A very powerful hurricane has made landfall in Jamaica and is the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean island in modern history.
NZ marine heatwaves could double in intensity under high-emissions pathway
16 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show marine heatwaves will grow more intense around the North Island and more frequent around the South Island as the climate warms – raising risks for fisheries, aquaculture, coastal ecosystems and tourism.
Oil firm TotalEnergies made misleading green statements, court rules
Tue 28 Oct 2025
A French oil company engaged in “misleading commercial practices” about the scope of its environmental commitments, a court has ruled.
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.”
Super Fund smashes decarbonisation goals
23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The New Zealand Superannuation Fund continues to blow through its self-imposed targets for decarbonising its investment portfolio, increasing its exposure to fast-growing green technology opportunities in the process, according to its 2025 climate statement.
No major banks have yet committed to stop funding new oil, gas and coal, research finds
24 Oct 2025
‘The objectives of the Paris agreement are slipping further out of reach,’ say researchers.
Is greenhushing the new greenwashing? Or something else entirely
24 Oct 2025
Companies used to be accused of faking sustainability via greenwashing. Now some are hiding actual climate progress.
Coal imports up 650%
12 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams and Liz Kivi | Coal imports are up 650% as generators stockpile the most polluting fossil fuel ahead of next winter.
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.
Vero warns losses to rise 26% by 2050 over extreme weather
Wed 29 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Extreme weather could drive a 19–26% spike in annual insurance losses by 2050, fuelled by rising seas and more intense flooding, according to Vero’s latest Climate-Related Disclosures Report.
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.
Norway faces European Court climate ruling over oil licences
Wed 29 Oct 2025
The European Court of Human Rights will decide on Tuesday if Norway breached its climate obligations when it awarded Arctic oil exploration licenses in 2016.
Nelson commuters urged to ditch car once a week
22 Oct 2025
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Nelson has a bold carbon emission reduction target and residents are being encouraged to leave the car at home one day a week to help meet it.
Bill to ban new coal mines fails at first reading
24 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A bid to outlaw new coal mines was defeated at its first hurdle in Parliament this week, after a heated debate pitting climate imperatives against energy security and affordability.
Govt ‘captured by industry’ on methane – Carr
21 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr says that recent moves to weaken methane targets and halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing show the Government has been captured by industry.
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.
Climate impacts hit NZ with increasing wild weather
23 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand is facing a triple whammy of climate impacts today, with severe winds and rainfall predicted for much of the country while some areas are still dealing with wildfires ignited earlier in the week.
‘Weird and sad’ – Tuvalu Climate Minister condemns NZ halving methane target
15 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Dr Maina Talia, Tuvalu’s Minister for Home Affairs, Climate Change, and Environment, says he’s surprised at New Zealand’s decision to weaken its target for reducing methane emissions – and is planning to take up the issue with his counterpart Climate Minister Simon Watts this week.
Lobby group launches ‘blueprint’ for ocean management reform
18 Sep 2025
The Environmental Defence Society yesterday released its plan to tackle widespread ecological decline in our oceans.
FMA grants temporary 'no action' relief for for firms set to exit climate reporting regime
Wed 29 Oct 2025
The Financial Markets Authority has announced it won't take action against companies expecting to fall out of mandatory climate reporting obligations, if they fail to lodge climate statements while the law changes are pending.
Judge dismisses suit by young climate activists against Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies
17 Oct 2025
Plaintiffs had ‘overwhelming evidence’ of climate crisis but a court injunction would be ‘unworkable’, ruling says.
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.
Difficult trade-offs ahead for climate adaptation
17 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | While climate impacts are already here, bringing the urgent need to accelerate effective adaptation now, the Government's newly minted adaptation framework still leaves important questions unanswered about who will pay.
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.
Climate scientists and republican lawyers are taking aim at Big Tech’s emissions
17 Oct 2025
Technology companies have long been one of the biggest investors in clean energy, but new accounting rules could upend that.
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.
Councillor calls out ‘anti-EV propaganda’ after fatal bus fire
Wed 29 Oct 2025
By Torika Tokalau, Local Democracy Reporter | An Auckland councillor says he's disappointed with the level of misinformation circulating about a fatal collision involving an electric bus and car last week.
Fix it, don't ditch it: University of Auckland hosts first Repair Cafe
9 Oct 2025
Media release - Auckland University | The University's first-ever Repair Cafe is bringing students and staff together to give broken items a new lease on life, while promoting a culture of repair and reuse.
Council buys dairy farm to help clean up Lake Rotorua
21 Oct 2025
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has bought a 266-hectare dairy farm in the Lake Rotorua catchment and plans to retire it from production to reduce nitrogen entering the lake.
Adaptation plan at odds with public sentiment: survey
21 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s position on climate adaptation buyouts shows a disconnect with public opinion, according to survey findings from insurer Suncorp NZ.
‘Damp squib’ – Govt energy plan slammed for locking in fossil fuels
2 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Critics across business, climate groups and the opposition say the Government’s electricity reforms duck structural change, double down on LNG and gas, and offer little relief for soaring power prices – warning of an “expensive white elephant", deeper energy poverty and a missed chance to scale renewables.
