Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Consumers get paid in US ‘cap and dividend’ scheme
3 Mar 2009
US Congressman Chris van Hollen says he plans to introduce legislation soon that would cap carbon emissions, require all emission allowances to be sold at auction and distribute at least 90 per cent of the auction revenues to consumers in the form of monthly dividend checks.
Obama raises hopes for Copenhagen climate pact
3 Mar 2009
Until recently, the idea that the world’s most powerful nations might come together to tackle global warming seemed an environmentalist’s pipedream.
'Alive and well' AAUs surviving money crisis
3 Mar 2009
The market for government-level emissions rights under the Kyoto Protocol is alive and well, mostly unfazed by the global economic downturn, according to Reuters.
Planted forests critical to wood supplies, says UN
3 Mar 2009
Planted forests which provided wood that is renewable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly have become increasingly critical to future supplies, according to a new study by the United Nations.
Business group to push for interim green tax
27 Feb 2009
The prospect of delaying the emissions trading scheme and introducing a green tax as an interim measure is being raised by a major business group.
Confused foresters lament lack of Government direction
27 Feb 2009
New Zealand forest owners will soon be able to claim AAUs for carbon sequestered last year, but a lack of clarity over Government policy means the country unlikely to see a flurry of carbon-market activity.
Business NZ stance may not give Government support it needs on ETS
27 Feb 2009
ANALYSIS: Policies proposed in a draft Business New Zealand submission to the select committee reviewing the ETS, obtained by Carbon News, would aim to “remove the carbon risk for business”.
Roundtable lines up Lomborg for second tour
27 Feb 2009
The New Zealand Business Roundtable appears to be planning a reprise tour of New Zealand by influential climate change academic Bjorn Lomborg.
Carbon price floor not the way to go, say experts
27 Feb 2009
Falling carbon prices should not be supported through artificial price floors or direct government intervention, as this may deter new players and stunt the still-nascent market's growth, carbon market experts believe.
Pressure builds on Rudd to delay emissions scheme
27 Feb 2009
The Rudd government yesterday came under renewed pressure to delay plans for carbon trading when Australia’s leading industry body claimed the global downturn made a 2010 start unrealistic.
Australia goes all-out to cut animal gas emissions
27 Feb 2009
Australia will invest in a major research effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock – the nation’s third largest source of emissions, including methane.
Green activists change minds over nuclear power
27 Feb 2009
Britain’s green lobby for the first time has come out in support of nuclear power technology after years of opposition.
There’s money to be made in climate change
27 Feb 2009
The number of lobbyists seeking to influence United States federal policy on climate change has grown more than 300 per cent in five years, according to a new Center for Public Integrity report.
Consumers keen for energy answers, says report
27 Feb 2009
Consumers around the globe are willing to become more involved with managing their energy use, says a new report by US-based Global Business Services.
Rocket carrying space carbon-spy crashes into sea
27 Feb 2009
A rocket carrying a satellite to track the chief culprit in global warming crashed into the ocean near Antarctica after launch, dealing a major setback to NASA's network for monitoring Earth and its environment from above.
Watch the carbon dioxide flow on Google Earth
27 Feb 2009
New interactive Google Earth maps, created by NASA, Purdue University and the Department of Energy, show the amount of carbon dioxide being dumped into the US atmosphere every hour.
Obama's commitment to ETS a signal to NZ
27 Feb 2009
A renewed strong commitment to introduce emissions trading by US President Barrack Obama sends New Zealand a signal to get on with implementing its own ETS scheme and securing the country’s trade and tourism, says the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.
TZ1 signs up another scheme
24 Feb 2009
New Zealand-based environmental markets registry provider TZ1 Registry has been appointed as the global registry for Plan Vivo.
Stern warns of ‘extended world war' over climate
24 Feb 2009
If countries don't deal with climate change decisively, "we're talking about extended world war," eminent British economist Lord Nicholas Stern has warned.
Aussies in dark on emissions effort, survey shows
24 Feb 2009
Most Australians have no idea how Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's emissions trading scheme will work, and do not realise individual efforts will make no difference to stopping climate change.
Britons beat the petrol price thanks to fish and chips
24 Feb 2009
As he has done frequently over the past 18 months, a man drives his blue diesel Peugeot 205 on to a farm near Nuneaton, England, where signs pointed one way for “eggs” and another for “oil.”
Federated Farmers: Fitzsimons' departure should lead to ETS rethink
24 Feb 2009
“With the news that Jeanette Fitzsimons is to resign as the Green Party’s Co-Leader, the Green Party now stands at a crossroads,” says Frank Brenmuhl, Federated Farmers climate change spokesperson.
Green light for New Zealand’s first Solar City Pilot
24 Feb 2009
Developers of Nelson Solar City have announced the next stage of their project with the launch of a pilot scheme involving 25 homes and businesses.
UN: Heat waves and extreme drought will increase with climate change
24 Feb 2009
The severe drought and searing heat that recently allowed wildfires to char much of Australia will oppress wide swathes of the earth with increasing frequency this century, according to a forecast by scientists who met last week in Beijing, China.
Green ideology gets blame for tragic bushfires
20 Feb 2009
The Australian Unity Party is circulating in New Zealand an article by Sydney Morning Herald conservative columnist Miranda Devine headed "Green Ideas Must Take Blame for Deaths".
Rudd ditches inquiry and sticks with emissions plans
20 Feb 2009
Mounting criticism of Australia’s proposed carbon trading policy forced Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to end the confusion late yesterday by abandoning plans for a new inquiry and declaring the scheme would start as planned in mid-2010.
UN urges green revolution to rescue the world’s hungry
20 Feb 2009
Unless major changes are made - including the way food is produced, handled and disposed of around the world - last year’s food crisis which plunged millions back into hunger may foreshadow an even bigger crisis in the years to come, the UN has warned.
UK windmills flap helplessly as coal remains king
20 Feb 2009
If you flick a switch in Britain today, the light goes on because of coal.
Brazil climate changes threaten coffee crop
20 Feb 2009
The future for Brazil's mighty farm sector could be grim, with hotter temperatures pushing crops past its borders, uphill into the Andes and toward the tip of South America.
New grass could wipe out cattle gas emissions
17 Feb 2009
A new strain of grass could mean that grazing cattle will cease emitting measurable amounts of methane.
Biochar pioneer recruits top Australian scientist
17 Feb 2009
Blenheim-based charcoal technology company Carbonscape has scored a coup by recruiting highly respected climate change campaigner Professor Tim Flannery on to its board of directors.
Global warming worse than we thought, say scientists
17 Feb 2009
The pace of global warming is likely to be much faster than recent predictions, because industrial greenhouse gas emissions have increased more quickly than expected, according to scientists.
Clean energy at crossroads as firms cut plans and staff
17 Feb 2009
Green companies are in retreat, with a wave of staff layoffs and production cuts that could have dire consequences for government efforts to fight climate change by quickly bringing low-carbon power projects on stream.
Firestorms here to stay, scientists tell Aussies
17 Feb 2009
Scientists say that Australia can expect more of the scorching conditions that fanned the firestorms that killed at least 181 people this month.
Britain wants green makeover of all homes
17 Feb 2009
All UK households will have a green makeover by 2030 under government plans to reduce carbon emissions and cut energy bills.
Kiribati seeks new homeland as sea levels rise
17 Feb 2009
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is following in the steps of the Maldives by preparing for relocation for its people as rising sea levels threaten to submerge the nation.
Clinton tries to build climate change pact with China
17 Feb 2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hopes to recruit China as a partner in American efforts to reduce global warming on her first official tour through Asia this week.
Climate change truth is self-evident: Greens
17 Feb 2009
As Auckland experiences its highest-ever temperatures, droughts worsen each year and Australian bush fires rage, the New Zealand Government is looking more and more behind the game, say the Greens.
Event: sustainability and the law
17 Feb 2009
Lawyers from more than a dozen countries will meet business executives from New Zealand and beyond at a sustainability conference hosted by Auckland law firm Fortune Manning.
Big emitters win more time to put ETS review case
13 Feb 2009
The closing date for submissions on the emissions trading scheme review has been extended because a group representing some of New Zealand’s largest companies realised it wasn’t going to be heard, Carbon News has learnt.
ETS review beginning of the end, says Turnbull
13 Feb 2009
The Rudd Government’s decision to order a review of its emissions trading scheme is the first step to abandoning the plan, Australian Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull says.
UN chief lines up Obama for debut appearance
13 Feb 2009
US President Barack Obama is expected to make his first appearance at the United Nations next month.
European cities (and Christchurch) sign climate pact
13 Feb 2009
Mayors from more than 350 cities across Europe signed an EU climate change agreement this week pledging to cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 20 per cent by 2020.
Ford first to offer battery-powered commercial van
13 Feb 2009
Ford has become the first of the big three car makers to announce plans to market a pure battery electric-powered light commercial vehicle in North America.
Coast Guard prepares as Arctic shipping lanes melt
13 Feb 2009
Global warming could be a boon for international shipping if vessels eventually use the Arctic Ocean to cut transit routes in half between Europe and Asia.
Explorer Graphics works help MFE map soil carbon
13 Feb 2009
Porirua-based Geographic Information Systems company Explorer Graphics Limited says it has signed a major contract with the Ministry for the Environment to help it meet New Zealand's requirements under the Kyoto Protocol.
Ice could hold clue to greenhouse effect
13 Feb 2009
It wasn’t always quite so cold at the north and south poles.
Kiwis a bit short on good ideas, UK expert says
10 Feb 2009
A British marine energy expert says New Zealand is lacking ideas and needs to do more to support the emergence of the marine energy industry.
NZ research finds new life in old concrete
10 Feb 2009
Research in New Zealand by Swiss-owned Holcim has identified a carbon dioxide re-uptake process in demolition concrete material.
Top polar scientists turn eyes on Antarctica
10 Feb 2009
More than 50 top international polar scientists meet in Wellington this week to discuss their cutting-edge climate change research.
Farm-level emissions cuts possible, but almost everything stands in the way
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Progress to slash farming emissions is being blocked by limited farmer confidence in mitigation tools, inconsistent engagement, misinformation and a lack of clear policy signals, according to a new report.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
Air NZ inks deal for its first internationally verified carbon credits
9 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Air New Zealand has committed to buying 8000 tonnes of carbon removals by 2030, in partnership with local native forest investment platform My Native Forest.
‘Cali Fund’ aiming to raise billions for nature receives first donation – of just $1,000
Tue 16 Dec 2025
A major biodiversity fund – which could, in theory, generate billions of dollars annually for conservation – received its first donation of just $1,000 in November.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Forestry biomass could replace as much as 40% of fossil fuel-generated process heat by 2050, but access to supply, regulatory settings and business cases for converting to wood-based heat sources are required, the Government says in a series of documents released yesterday.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s controversial changes to New Zealand’s legal framework for climate policy have thrown a spanner in the works for a long-running Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into climate change.
Seven quiet wins for climate and nature in 2025
Fri 19 Dec 2025
This year's environmental backdrop is familiar: emissions are rising and nature is continuing to decline. But there have nevertheless been bright spots in 2025.
Govt unveils plans for carbon storage regulations – and ETS rewards
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government has released plans to regulate carbon capture and storage in natural geological formations, which include Emissions Trading Scheme incentives, with the aim of introducing related legislation in 2026.
Global coal demand hit record high this year but is set to decline by 2030
Thu 18 Dec 2025
Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
RMA’s successors hinge on two untested bets
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Two ideas sit at the heart of the Government’s replacement for the Resource Management Act: regulatory relief and spatial planning.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
DOC trims costs and winds down jobs for nature
10 Nov 2025
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is entering a new phase of tighter budgets and structural change as it winds down the pandemic-era Jobs for Nature programme and reshapes its operations to absorb long-term cost pressures.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
Fri 19 Dec 2025
The warming impact of hydrogen has been “overlooked” in projections of climate change, according to authors of the latest “global hydrogen budget”.
RMA to speed up fossil fuel consents
18 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | An energy lobby group has welcomed a last-minute amendment to the RMA that puts fossil fuels on the same footing as renewables, however a sustainable energy expert says the move “beggars belief.”
Westpac NZ announces partnership to form Blue Economy hub in Nelson
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Media release | Westpac NZ has announced a new three-year partnership with the Nelson Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to help accelerate the development of a sustainable marine economy – also known as the blue economy.
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
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Media release | Three Greenpeace activists were removed by police from Fonterra’s downtown Auckland offices, following a protest on Monday at the Shareholders’ Fund meeting over the corporation’s role in the contamination of rural communities’ drinking water.
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
Tue 16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
NZ's latest climate target 'weak' – Climate Action Tracker
24 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's new international climate target to 2035 is weak, and could even allow for higher emissions than the 2030 target, according to a global scientific project that tracks government climate action.
Offshore windfarms enhance function of coastal waters and diversity of aquatic life
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Media release | A study conducted by researchers from Murdoch University in Australia and Dalian Ocean University in China has found that offshore windfarms can improve marine ecosystems and diversify aquatic food chains.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
Tue 16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
Straterra has a new name: the New Zealand Minerals Council
16 Apr 2025
Media release | Straterra has been renamed as New Zealand Minerals Council, says chief executive Josie Vidal.
Could tidal energy one day power NZ?
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests Aotearoa holds some of the world’s strongest tidal-stream energy potential – enough to generate up to 93% of today’s electricity use – but one expert cautions that extracting energy at such a scale could have significant impacts and remains highly uncertain.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
Tue 16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
Solar households to get little-noticed tax break
23 Sep 2025
A provision in the government’s latest tax bill would exempt households from paying tax on income they earn by selling excess electricity back to the grid.
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'.
