Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Does the IPCC need fixing?
12 Feb 2010
New Zealand climate scientist give their views on the call for reforms of the IPCC.
Country on alert as scammers steal carbon units
5 Feb 2010
The New Zealand carbon registry is issuing warnings to members after the theft of nearly $6 million worth of carbon units in an international email scam.
NZ ready to commit to Copenhagen Accord
5 Feb 2010
New Zealand is to submit its 2020 emissions reduction target to the Copenhagen Accord.
Obama retreats from goal of cap-and-trade bill
5 Feb 2010
President Barack Obama said this week for the first time legislation that would require industries to pay for emissions of greenhouse gases might need to be separated from a more popular "green jobs" bill in the Senate.
Rudd and Abbott trade blows over climate schemes
5 Feb 2010
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has seized on an admission by a top economist commissioned to cost Opposition leader Tony Abbott's rival climate change plan that the country needs an emissions trading scheme.
UK will pay people for wind and solar power
5 Feb 2010
Britain soon will being paying homeowners who produce low-carbon power such as solar or wind.
55 nations set 2020 goals under Copenhagen Accord
5 Feb 2010
Fifty-five nations accounting for almost 80 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions have set national goals for fighting climate change by a deadline in the Copenhagen Accord, the United Nations says.
I won't resign, says posh-suits Pachauri
5 Feb 2010
Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri has refused to apologise for a mistake in a 2007 climate change report and has hit out at his critics.
US cleantech stocks fall despite major market growth
5 Feb 2010
By Nick Hodge. - The disparity between cleantech news and stock performance couldn't be greater.
Copenhagen - a letter from Gordon Brown
5 Feb 2010
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown reflects in an open letter to Labour MP Alan Williams on the way forward after the Copenhagen climate change conference - including financing the green economy.
No submissions as allocations deadline looms
29 Jan 2010
No submissions have been made on the crucial regulations governing the allocation of free carbon credits to trade-exposed industries.
Blame weak ETS on big business, says Fitzsimons
29 Jan 2010
New Zealand business has effectively prevented the country taking real action on climate change, says the country’s leading Green politician.
Wanted: New chief for big boys' lobby group
29 Jan 2010
The Greenhouse Gas Coalition wants a new executive director.
Australia presses on with 5% reduction target
29 Jan 2010
The Australian Government has committed to introducing an emissions trading scheme with a floating carbon market in 2012 regardless of what the rest of the world does to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Nations must not delay, says UN climate chief
29 Jan 2010
The failure of last month’s UN summit in Copenhagen to agree on ambitious and immediate global action to combat climate change means that the task has become more, not less urgent, the UN’s senior climate official says.
Tell the whole story, adviser tells scientists
29 Jan 2010
A failure by some scientists to be candid on the uncertainty of predicting the rate of climate change is to blame for fuelling scepticism about such predictions, according the British government's chief scientific adviser.
American opinion cools on global warming
29 Jan 2010
Public concern in the United States about global warming has dropped sharply since the autumn of 2008, according to a national survey released yesterday by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities.
Harsh winter actually a sign of climate change, says report
29 Jan 2010
North America’s extreme winter weather is in fact a sign of how climate change disrupts long-standing patterns, says a new report by the National Wildlife Federation.
Fishing industry gets climate change warning
22 Jan 2010
The fishing industry is being warned to be aware of the impact climate change is having on fisheries.
Aussie Greens want $20b carbon tax to break ETS impasse
22 Jan 2010
The Australian Government has been asked by the Greens to back a $20 billion interim carbon tax proposal to start cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Obama climate plans under fire from all sides
22 Jan 2010
The chances of the US passing climate change legislation this year appear highly unlikely now the Democrats have lost their filibuster-proof Senate majority and a rejuvenated Republican party has stepped up efforts to block carbon legislation.
Cool heads prevail over Copenhagen, says De Boer
22 Jan 2010
UN climate chief Yvo de Boer has admitted that last month’s conference in Copenhagen was not a success, but said that “cool heads” are seeing it as a way to reach an international agreement on climate change.
IPCC says sorry over glacier melting conclusion
22 Jan 2010
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has expressed regret over “poor application of well-established procedures” in substantiating an estimated rate of recession and date for the disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers.
China seen as world carbon market leader
22 Jan 2010
China could become the world's largest market for environmental products, says the founder of the Chicago Climate Exchange, Richard Sandor.
Big players, but most Indians unaware of climate change
22 Jan 2010
Although India has emerged as a key player in global climate negotiations, the average Indian remains unaware of climate change.
Come on, Kiwis, let’s ride the green wave
22 Jan 2010
Les Mills International chairman Phillip Mills argues for the benefits of a green economy.
An alternative lesson from Copenhagen
22 Jan 2010
Otago water resources consultant Dugald McTavish presents his five-point plan for the future.
Treasury gave thumbs down to ETS intensity-based scheme
18 Dec 2009
Treasury told the Government not to adopt an intensity-based scheme for the allocation of free carbon credits to heavy emitters.
NZ might get its way, says business council head
18 Dec 2009
New Zealand might get what it wants on forestry and land-use – providing an agreement comes out of the Copenhagen international climate change talks.
Countries suspicious of verification checks
18 Dec 2009
The verification of carbon reduction is emerging as a sticking point between the United States and China.
NZ pours $45m into global research fund
18 Dec 2009
New Zealand will put $45 million towards the Global Research Alliance on agriculture greenhouse gases over the next four years.
Copenhagen in crisis: Why it all comes down to China
18 Dec 2009
China will shape whatever deal comes out of Copenhagen as the UN climate change conference heads into its final day.
Ban urges leaders to act as hours tick away
18 Dec 2009
The outcome of climate change negotiations in Copenhagen hinges on the issues of emissions reductions and financing, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
UN shuts clean coal out of emissions trading
18 Dec 2009
The clean-coal industry has been shut out of the global emissions trading scheme at the Copenhagen climate change talks, dealing a blow to the UK, US and Australia.
Big business puts case for global action
18 Dec 2009
Global business leaders assembled at the Copenhagen summit have called for ambitious, global action on climate change.
If diplomacy fails, there is always the fantastic Plan B
18 Dec 2009
Just five years ago, anyone who talked of easing Earth's climate crisis by fertilising the seas with iron, scattering particles in the stratosphere to reflect sunlight or building a sunshade in space courted ridicule.
Most UK voters believe climate change is important
18 Dec 2009
Three in four British voters believe world leaders are on an important mission at the climate change conference in Copenhagen, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll.
IPCC winnings go to climate science scholars
18 Dec 2009
The Nobel Peace Prize will pay dividends in the developing world by funding scholarships for climate-science studies.
Global ag fund missed opportunity, says Chauvel
18 Dec 2009
National’s announcement of the United States, Canadian and New Zealand financial contributions to a Global Agriculture Fund represents a huge missed opportunity for NZ Inc, Labour’s climate change spokesperson Charles Chauvel says.
Copenhagen time running out, says forester
11 Dec 2009
The Copenhagen climate change conference must make progress on land use and land change issues by this weekend, says the chief executive of the New Zealand Forest Owners' Association.
Copenhagen split as island states make stand
11 Dec 2009
A climate change stand led by the Pacific nation of Tuvalu has split the Copenhagen conference down the middle.
Leaked ‘Danish text’ pushes power for the rich
11 Dec 2009
The UN Copenhagen climate talks erupted after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.
Forget US dollars, Stern tells China
11 Dec 2009
Top United States climate official Todd Stern dropped a bombshell in Copenhagen yesterday when he ruled out American financial help for China to meet any climate change commitments.
UN view: The talks are going well
11 Dec 2009
The United Nations says talks under way at the climate change conference in Copenhagen have entered the drafting phase towards reaching a final agreement.
Republicans plan conference counter-attack
11 Dec 2009
A Republican counter-delegation is forming to undermine the Obama administration's work on an international climate change agreement in Copenhagen.
The editorial that gave world the message …
11 Dec 2009
An editorial calling for action from world leaders on climate change was published by 56 newspapers around the world in 20 languages on the day the Copenhagen conference opened.
Canada receives award of shame
11 Dec 2009
Canada has received an award at the Copenhagen climate conference – but not one to brag about.
UK’s richest man could pocket £1bn from trading
11 Dec 2009
Britain’s richest man, Lakshmi Mittal, majority owner of steel giant ArcelorMittal, could make more than £1 billion over the next two years from the European Union’s emissions trading scheme.
NZ does quick ETS rules patch-up after Aussie collapse
4 Dec 2009
The collapse of Australia’s proposed emissions trading scheme leaves New Zealand without a set of rules for the allocation of free credits to trade-exposed heavy emitters.
Forester: Our credits attracting world interest
4 Dec 2009
A company which has already sold millions of dollars of worth of New Zealand forestry credits says there is strong international interest in the units.
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
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
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
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.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
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
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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'.
