Topics tagged with 'Green finance'
Vote against directors failing the climate, says ISS
16 Feb 2021
Major financial investors are to be urged by the world’s largest shareholder advisory firm to vote against company board members if they fail to address global heating in their roles.
Ditch GDP and value nature, says report
3 Feb 2021
Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history, says a report calling for a new economic framework recognising the importance of ecology.
BlackRock threatens to sell shares in worst climate polluters
27 Jan 2021
BlackRock, the world’s biggest investment fund manager, has threatened to sell shares in the worst corporate polluters in a bid to support the goal of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
FTSE giants fail to disclose their carbon footprint
14 Dec 2020
BP, Glencore and Rolls-Royce are among eight FTSE 100 companies who have refused to comply with investor demands to disclose their carbon dioxide emissions, as the UK government prepares to compel firms to report their climate impact.
UN chief calls for more climate finance for poor nations as 2020 goal slips
14 Dec 2020
Rich nations are "lagging badly" on a longstanding pledge to channel $100 billion a year in funding, from 2020 onwards, to help poorer countries develop cleanly and adapt to the worsening impacts of climate change, the U.N. chief said on Saturday.
Bank links bosses' pay to sustainability performance
8 Dec 2020
Deutsche Bank says it will join a small number of financial institutions that link management pay to environmental, social and governance-related criteria.
WORTH NOTING ...
4 Dec 2020
The Christchurch office of the Accident Compensation Corporation is the target of 350 Aotearoa’s fossil fuel-divestment campaign today.
Carbon-zero public sector could include State investments
3 Dec 2020
The Government will decide in March whether a carbon-neutral public service will include the State’s investment portfolios.
Carbon-pricing rises as world's weapon of choice in climate fight
25 Nov 2020
Can you put a price on pollution? Some of the world's biggest economies are doing just that as they wrestle with how to make good on grand pledges to tame planet-warming emissions.
XR launches campaign of financial disobedience
24 Nov 2020
Extinction Rebellion is launching a campaign of financial civil disobedience aimed at exposing the “political economy’s complicity” in the unfolding ecological crisis.
Green guide to investment
23 Nov 2020
The European Commission has launched “the world’s first ever ‘green-list’” of sustainable economic activities for private investors by publishing draft guidelines under the EU’s green finance taxonomy.
Billionaire investor forcing climate action from companies
23 Nov 2020
British billionaire Chris Hohn is aiming to force hundreds of US and European companies to slash their greenhouse gas emissions by enlisting global investors to demand an annual vote on their climate plans at shareholder meetings.
Gas denied ‘transition’ fuel status in draft EU green finance rules
17 Nov 2020
Power plants fuelled by natural gas will not be classed as “sustainable” or “transition” investments in Europe unless they meet emission limits which are so low that none are currently able to comply, draft rules show.
EIB seeks to become climate bank’
16 Nov 2020
European governments have approved a roadmap to turn the European Investment Bank into a “climate bank” with a €1 trillion green investment package to be spent by 2030.
Meridian looking good to carbon-averse Blackrock
12 Nov 2020
Blackrock has increased its stake in Meridian as part of its carbon-divestment strategy.
Carney calls for credible voluntary carbon market
12 Nov 2020
United Nations special envoy and former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney wants stronger quality control on voluntary carbon markets to meet growing business demand.
UK follows NZ on compulsory carbon disclosure
11 Nov 2020
Large companies and financial institutions in the UK will have to come clean about their exposure to climate risks within five years under the terms of a tougher regime announced.
Europe ready to restart transatlantic climate talks
10 Nov 2020
The European Commission and senior EU lawmakers say they are ready to intensify dialogue with the US on climate change, listing car CO2 limits and green finance among areas where “real transatlantic cooperation” is again possible after the four-year “Trump parenthesis”.
Aotearoa Circle chooses new finance leaders
5 Nov 2020
Former Reserve Bank director Bridget Coates and Chapman Tripp partner Ross Pennington are the new co-chairs of The Aotearoa Circle's Sustainable Finance Forum.
PLANET IN PERIL: Why we must change our financial system
4 Nov 2020
New Zealand can have a sustainable financial system by 2030, driving environmental, social and economic prosperity, a panel of public and private-sector heavyweights says.
Pension fund settles landmark climate lawsuit
3 Nov 2020
One of Australia's largest pension funds has agreed to settle a landmark climate risk litigation filed by a 25-year-old member who alleged it was failing to protect his retirement savings against climate change.
The cost to Australia of unchecked climate change
2 Nov 2020
Australia’s economy will be six per cent smaller, there will be 880,000 fewer jobs and $3.4 trillion in economic opportunities will be lost if the climate crisis goes unchecked for next 50 years, new analysis shows.
Bank to ban companies using coal
30 Oct 2020
The ANZ Bank says it will not take on any new customers using coal, and that by 2030 it will finance gas and renewable power generation only.
World Bank branch backs coal megaproject
23 Oct 2020
The World Bank’s private lending branch is indirectly backing one of the world’s biggest new coal complexes, despite a new green policy.
First deal done under Paris Agreement to offset emissions
22 Oct 2020
Switzerland has struck a carbon offsetting agreement with Peru, in what the two nations say is the first deal of its kind under Article 6 of the Paris agreement.
Australian business wants a Green New Deal
22 Oct 2020
Australian company directors want a more radical policy reset to recover from the covid-19 recession including bigger investments in infrastructure, reforms of industrial relations and a Green New Deal.
Mandatory climate disclosure coming to UK companies...
20 Oct 2020
Current rules on company disclosures to help markets price in risks from climate change will become mandatory, a senior Bank of England official said on Friday.
...and investors say they want it
20 Oct 2020
An influential group of investors is urging UK regulators to make climate risk reporting mandatory for nearly 500 FTSE-listed firms.
Delivering credit for carbon storage
19 Oct 2020
In 1915, Mike Gibbs’ ancestors made their way from the flat, agricultural plains of Southland to the wild, steep, forested edge of Eastern Fiordland.
Why Britain needs negative interest rates
19 Oct 2020
As Britain and the rest of Europe battle the second wave of the covid-19 pandemic, desperate eyes turn to central bank bosses, wondering what rescue plans they have up their sleeves.
Top asset owners commit to big carbon emissions cuts
14 Oct 2020
Thirty of the world’s largest asset owners, with portfolios worth a combined $US5 trillion, have committed to cutting the carbon emissions linked to companies they invest in by up to 29 per cent within the next four years.
Pope backs divestment from companies not protecting the environment
12 Oct 2020
POPE FRANCIS is urging people to pull investments from companies that are not committed to protecting the environment, adding his voice to calls for the economic model that emerges from the coronavirus pandemic to be a sustainable one.
Govt confirms mandatory climate-risk reporting regime
15 Sep 2020
New Zealand’s largest financial institutions and companies will be the first in the world to face mandatory disclosure of their climate risks.
Asian multilateral bank to end coal-related financing
15 Sep 2020
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is promising to end all coal financing, but has yet to write this into policy.
France seeks German collaboration on hydrogen in EU green recovery
11 Sep 2020
France hopes to collaborate with Germany on clean hydrogen projects as part of Europe’s green recovery from the pandemic, the country’s finance minister has said ahead of a meeting with his German counterpart today.
ANZ cracking down on customers' carbon footprints
10 Sep 2020
A major New Zealand bank is asking its biggest-emitting customers to explain how they will reduce their carbon footprints.
Compulsory climate-risk reporting rules out soon, says minister
4 Sep 2020
The Government’s plans for mandatory disclosure of companies’ climate-change risk should be unveiled before the election.
Doubts over green bonds’ impact in Asia’s low-carbon transition
28 Aug 2020
A new study has uncovered scant disclosure by green bond issuers of their environmental impact, and a lack of social safeguards to protect communities from unintended consequences of financed projects.
Joint venture invests billions in 'natural capital'
27 Aug 2020
A push to better recognise the economic value of “natural capital” – water systems, biodiversity, soil and carbon stores – has prompted the creation of what aims to be the world’s largest investment firm dedicated to projects that help the planet.
Prospect of snap election reanimates Canada’s carbon tax battle
26 Aug 2020
Canada’s carbon tax is facing a renewed backlash amid talk of a green recovery to covid-19 and the prospect of a snap election in the autumn.
Major investment firm dumps Exxon, Chevron and Rio Tinto
25 Aug 2020
A Nordic hedge fund worth more than $US90 billion (£68.6 billion) has dumped its stocks in some of the world’s biggest oil companies and miners responsible for lobbying against climate action.
Climate fund for poor nations vows to drive green covid-recovery
25 Aug 2020
The Green Climate Fund has promised developing nations it will ramp up efforts to help them tackle climate challenges as they strive to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, approving $879 million in backing for 15 new projects around the world.
Experts investigating companies' climate claims
20 Aug 2020
Investors looking for evidence that companies really are addressing climate risk are hiring outside experts to find it.
Shining a spotlight on managed funds
11 Aug 2020
The ethics of all 390 managed funds operating in New Zealand are about to be opened up to public scrutiny.
RGGI cuts carbon and helps kids to breath
4 Aug 2020
With Virginia and Pennsylvania clamoring to join, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, affectionately known as RGGI (pronounced “Reggie”), is becoming the coolest climate club on the United States East Coast.
Big Hydro not the only way, says energy expert
27 Jul 2020
Paying industry not to use electricity during peak demand should be considered as an alternative to a multi-billion-dollar new hydro scheme, an energy expert says.
Big emitters marshall carbon forces in Australia
27 Jul 2020
Companies responsible for 14 per cent of Australia’s industrial emissions are coming together to figure out how to decarbonise the sector.
Kiwi protesters put pressure on Australian banks
24 Jul 2020
Australian banks operating in New Zealand are being urged to follow Kiwibank’s lead and stop lending on fossil-fuel projects.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
$30m airline fund risks ‘burning public money’ without lasting benefit – expert
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A $30 million government package to support regional air routes risks delivering poor value for money while increasing emissions, according to transport strategist Tim Adriaansen.
Signs of jet fuel hoarding emerge in Asia on Iran oil shock
26 Mar 2026
Signs are growing that Asian countries are hoarding jet fuel after the Iran war sent oil prices surging, reflecting growing strain on the aviation industry.
New protections for NZ migratory species under UN convention
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New international protections for migratory species, including several found in New Zealand, are a positive step – but global protections won’t halt the decline of migratory species on their own, experts say.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
3 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Economic contraction will impact carbon market
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | While higher fossil fuel prices strengthen the long-run economics of decarbonisation, the current fuel crisis won’t inspire near-term confidence in the carbon market, according to Lizzie Chambers of Carbon Match.
Asia ramps up use of dirty fuels to cover energy shortfall triggered by Iran war
Thu 2 Apr 2026
South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plants
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
Labour mulls GIDI 2.0 as factory closures mount
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Factory closures across the country could have been prevented if the last Labour-led government’s GIDI fund to assist companies with the cost of electrification hadn't been scrapped, Labour energy spokesperson, Megan Woods, says.
Death toll in Afghanistan flooding increases to 28, authorities say
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Afghan authorities said Monday that the death toll from severe weather that has struck swathes of the country over the past four days has increased to 28, with 49 people injured. Dozens of people have died from extreme weather in the country so far this year.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
Watts’s last stand: Simeon Brown takes energy portfolio
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Energy Minister Simon Watts has lost the portfolio to Cabinet fixer Simeon Brown in a reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this morning.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Dairy farmers' lack of climate action 'even bleaker' than water inaction – Upton
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government projections for cutting agricultural emissions are being undermined by low farmer uptake, with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warning the country is relying on “heroic” assumptions to meet its methane targets.
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.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Lawyers complain to ombudsman over Govt failure to release LNG modelling
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman over the Government’s failure to release information about its controversial decision to build a LNG import terminal.
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.”
Five trees can’t offset a car: Lawyers accuse Mazda of greenwashing
9 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action NZ is taking Mazda to the Advertising Standards Authority over its claims that a tree-planting programme will offset vehicle emissions.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
Media round-up
20 Mar 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Crown lawyers agree High Court could quash emissions plan if found unlawful; NZ is locked in 'disaster inertia'; and climate change is notably absent from new development laws.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
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.
Cleantech expo coming to Auckland
26 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s first national cleantech expo is set to bring together 30 innovators, in what organisers say is the country’s fastest growing area in the tech sector.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
27 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has pledged an additional $20 million to climate resilience work in Tuvalu, more than doubling Aotearoa's aid to the tiny island nation in the current financial year.
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.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
Govt process to change climate plan ‘fundamentally flawed’, says judge
18 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The government’s 2024 changes to New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan was “as fundamentally flawed a process as I think I have ever seen”, the judge presiding in a case challenging climate change decision-making has said.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Media round-up
Thu 2 Apr 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The widening political gap is deepening cracks in NZ's climate consensus, Christchurch recorded more than 30,000 extra cycling trips over two weeks, and is the energy crisis a renewable inflection point?
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
25 Mar 2026
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Opposition in Golden Bay to a controversial gold mine at Sams Creek has flared up over the weekend after several activists briefly occupied a drilling site.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
Sci-tech prioritisation report is a joke that could cost NZ dearly, says NZ Association of Scientists
Thu 2 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Association of Scientists | The Prioritisation Report released yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Science Innovation and Technology Council makes a poor case for further cuts and changes to our research system.
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.
AI’s arrival complicates Big Tech climate goals, and some worry it’s locking in more fossil fuels
Thu 2 Apr 2026
Six years ago, Google was confident that by 2030 it would power all operations with electricity generated from clean sources, including wind and solar power, and remove as much pollution as it produced. Today it calls those goals a “moonshot.” Microsoft says it’s still aiming to remove more carbon than it creates by 2030 but now describes the effort as “a marathon, not a sprint.”
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
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.
Momentum speeds up for low-emissions heavy transport
Thu 2 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s heavy vehicle sector is starting to move toward lower-emissions alternatives, with electric vehicles now delivering cost savings as well as lower emissions.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
‘Stop burning fossil fuels’ pleads scientist as extreme rain causes floods yet again
27 Mar 2026
Northland and Auckland have again been lashed by heavy rain, with hundreds of people evacuated last night because of extensive flooding in the Far North, and some areas hit by more than a month's average rainfall in just 24 hours.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Record wind output helps shield the UK from worst of Iran war fallout
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Record output from wind farms has helped boost total clean power supplies in the United Kingdom to new highs so far in 2026, and allowed power firms to pare use of fossil fuels to multi-year lows.
