Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Maori Party sticks to polluters-should-pay stance on ETS fuel plans
18 Jul 2008
The Maori Party is unlikely to push for an Australian-style buffer against the effects of increased fuel prices under New Zealand’s proposed emissions trading scheme.
Long-haul airlines to get carbon relief from Europe
18 Jul 2008
Airlines flying long-haul to Europe will get extra allocations of carbon credits under the European emissions trading scheme, says the European Commission to New Zealand.
Biofuel subsidies waste of money, says OECD report
18 Jul 2008
Government subsidies for biofuels are not helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new OECD report.
US power giant will spend $10b to slash gas emissions
18 Jul 2008
The United States’ largest electricity and gas utility, Exelon, has released a $10 billion plan to eliminate or offset its carbon dioxide emissions, positioning itself ahead of expected federal climate change legislation.
Canadian premiers squabble over climate change action
18 Jul 2008
The annual Canadian premiers' conference has opened in Ottawa with rival camps in the climate change debate digging in their heels, reports the Toronto Star.
Pioneering carbon scheme promotes school energy efficiency
18 Jul 2008
Carbon emissions from UK state schools are to be included in a pioneering carbon trading scheme for local authorities from April 2010, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced yesterday.
UN embarks on worldwide survey to assess deforestation
18 Jul 2008
As part of efforts to gain a comprehensive understanding of the world's forests, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation will carry out a global remote sensing survey of the vital ecosystems.
Spending on science and innovation is best for combating climate change
18 Jul 2008
There are technological solutions to the problems created by technology, writes Kim Carr, Australia’s Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research:
Consider Aussie ETS before passing bill, say Nats
18 Jul 2008
New Zealand needs to give careful consideration to the design of the Australian emissions trading scheme before passing the current bill, says National Party Climate Change spokesman Nick Smith.
Parker, Swan meet tomorrow to talk emissions trading
16 Jul 2008
Australia’s proposed emissions trading scheme will be top of the agenda for a meeting between New Zealand Climate Change Minister David Parker and Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan tomorrow.
Australia announces all-gases and almost-all sectors ETS
16 Jul 2008
Australia has announced a proposal for a broad emissions trading scheme that covers all six greenhouse gases and every sector except agriculture.
Acting on climate change: towards an Australian carbon pollution reduction scheme
16 Jul 2008
The following is the official summary of the Australian Government’s green paper on climate change, released today by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong.
World won't buy ETS dream, top economist tells Aussies
15 Jul 2008
Australians are being told by one of the world’s leading economists that the world will never support an emissions trading regime.
Air NZ reviewing implications of EU emissions plan
15 Jul 2008
Air New Zealand remains tight-lipped over the possible impact of the European Parliament’s second-reading vote in favour of including aviation in the European Union’s emissions trading scheme in 2012.
‘Missing’ greenhouse gas poses problem for government’s information technology thrust
15 Jul 2008
Nitrogen trifluoride is a little-recognised greenhouse gas with a punch many times that of carbon dioxide. It is sometimes rated as 17,000 times greater, and it is an emissions contaminant deliberately - if unknowingly - being fostered by the government.
Bush administration slams door on climate change
15 Jul 2008
Arguing that it's the wrong tool for the job, the Bush Administration has said that it will not use the nation's leading clean air law to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Garnaut urges big spend on renewable energy and carbon capture
15 Jul 2008
Australia must plough significant research and development dollars into renewable energy sources, including geothermal and solar energy, as well as carbon capture and storage, says the author of the national climate change review, Professor Ross Garnaut.
Corporate 'greening' wasted on consumers, report says
15 Jul 2008
Consumers are showing an increasing willingness to adjust their habits in ways they believe will help to address the problem of climate change, but at the same time, they aren’t recognising the efforts of major corporations trying to do the same thing, according to the results of a new international market survey.
Queensland looks at transforming cattle land with trees
15 Jul 2008
CSIRO research under way in Central Queensland’s cattle country is investigating whether the integration of trees, pasture and livestock into a single agricultural system will produce greater net returns for producers and the environment.
Campaign highlights climate-change plight of women
15 Jul 2008
The international aid agency Oxfam is highlighting how women around the world are hardest hit by storms, floods and droughts caused by global warming.
Petrol shock: $8 a litre within 10 years, says Aussie report
11 Jul 2008
Petrol prices could hit $A8 a litre within 10 years, adding 31 cents to the price of a loaf of bread and pushing weekly household fuel bills as high as $220 a week, the Australian research institute CSIRO is warning in a report out today.
Poll shows most of us want action on climate change
11 Jul 2008
Another poll has confirmed that most New Zealanders believe that climate change is human-induced and want to take action.
NZIER-funded polling shows coalition deal may have to deliver ETS policy
11 Jul 2008
Emissions trading is an issue of great concern to Maori and Green party voters - and the major parties might need them to form a coalition after this year's election.
NZ, Australia emissions schemes sit happily together, says Parker
11 Jul 2008
New Zealand and Australia’s emissions-trading schemes are compatible and line-up on the basics, says Climate Change Minister David Parker.
Frustrated scientists hammer home the climate change message
11 Jul 2008
New Zealand scientists have gone on the offensive over climate change, issuing a 1700-word statement setting out the evidence that the climate is changing because of human activity.
ANALYSIS: The NZIER and friends' poll slip is showing
11 Jul 2008
A close-call election result is probably not what the NZIER and its major emitter study funders would have most liked in the results of their June TNS Conversa poll.
G8 good start but fast action needed to tackle global crises, says UN chief
11 Jul 2008
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the Group of Eight’s statement on climate change, food security and development as a good start for addressing the three interrelated global crises, while stressing the need for speedier action in the days ahead.
Green cars - Honda's Civic GX pick of the bunch
11 Jul 2008
Honda’s Civic GX comes out on top of an American list of what’s hot in the world of environmentally friendly cars.
Roundtable: NZIER survey confirms ETS proposals lack support
11 Jul 2008
“The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research survey confirms what the Business Roundtable has been saying: that the government has failed to make a robust case to the public that further action against climate change is in New Zealand’s interests, and that without public support any action is likely to be politically unsustainable”, Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable said.
UN agency says G8 leaders 'missed opportunity'
11 Jul 2008
Commenting on the outcome of the Group of Eight (G8) Summit in Japan, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said the world's richest countries had shown insufficient leadership on climate change.
NZIER releases public poll on climate change
8 Jul 2008
New research shows there is little public support for the proposed emissions trading scheme, says the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.
ANALYSIS: The poll result NZIER’s mystery funders won’t like
8 Jul 2008
Perhaps the most sobering result for the NZIER and its supporters in its June TNS poll on emissions trading is the party vote one.
Worried union wants summit talks on climate change
8 Jul 2008
A national summit on climate change is being mooted by private-sector union heavyweight the EPMU.
October vote by EU Environment Committee to decide on new ETS detail
8 Jul 2008
The European Parliament’s Environment Committee will vote on October on proposed amendments to Europe’s phase three emissions trading scheme.
Garnaut review releases draft report
8 Jul 2008
Australians are facing risks of damaging climate change. Without strong and early action by Australia and all major economies we are likely to face severe and costly impacts on Australia’s prosperity and enjoyment of life, according to the Garnaut Climate Change Review’s Draft Report, released on Friday.
Did the ETS really cause big business to leak?: the Dutch evidence
8 Jul 2008
Everywhere emissions trading is being considered, heavy emitters are saying they will relocate to countries without a price on carbon.
Japan summit to test G8 leaders on climate change, world economy and security
8 Jul 2008
The leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations gather in Hokkaido, Japan, today for their annual summit and face the challenge of showing greater resolve to fight global warming, remedying the world economy and easing tensions in the world's hot spots.
Climate change report reads like a disaster novel, says Australian minister
8 Jul 2008
Australian scientists predicting climate catastrophe across their country have been told by a senior government minister that their report “reads like a disaster novel”.
Troubled Tasmania: Where do we sit in carbon trading scheme?
8 Jul 2008
Tasmanians blessed with large forest reserves and a significant renewable energy base are questioning how their state would fit into the Australian carbon-trading picture.
Braver than Kiwis, British Columbians start paying carbon tax on fuel
8 Jul 2008
Canada’s British Columbian state government’s new carbon tax came into effect last week, indicating how the New Zealand may have missed a chance to introduce carbon prices here with limited public opposition.
India shapes up as second-biggest emitter, says report
8 Jul 2008
India, with a rising demand for crude oil and coal, is likely to overtake the US as the second-largest emitter of carbon from energy use by 2050 after China, a new study says.
Seoul aims for voluntary compliance with greenhouse gas protocols
8 Jul 2008
South Korea plans to seek flexible and voluntary compliance with the international effort to cut back on greenhouse gases, the country's climate change ambassador said yesterday.
Employers using ETS scare tactics on workers, says union
4 Jul 2008
Employers are playing on workers’ fear for their jobs as part of a campaign to undermine plans for an emissions trading scheme, says the country’s largest trade union, which will today announce its position on climate change and emissions trading.
Dissenters will support ETS if it's law, minutes show
4 Jul 2008
Heavy emitters have revealed privately they will "fall in behind" the emissions trading scheme if it is passed into law.
ANALYSIS: The Labour-National negotiation that should be under way
4 Jul 2008
National and Labour are not far apart on the adjustments needed to make the emissions trading bill acceptable to both and restore multi-party support for the measure.
No horse trading on other issues in Govt - NZ First ETS negotiations
4 Jul 2008
Winston Peters has revealed his negotiating position over the emissions trading bill does not involve any other issue.
Australian managers not ready for ETS
4 Jul 2008
Australia’s emissions trading scheme will be unveiled today – and a new study shows two thirds of business people think it’s justified
China 1: Asian giant must do its bit to solve world problems, says UN chief
4 Jul 2008
The United Nations expects China to be at the forefront of efforts to tackle the world’s biggest challenges, such as the global food crisis, climate change and the quest to slash poverty, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this week.
China 2: First try at emissions trading exchange falls over
4 Jul 2008
The creation of China's first emissions trading exchange has been postponed indefinitely amid disagreements on foreign ownership in the bourse.
China 3: Foreign governments help to map plans for climate change
4 Jul 2008
A joint initiative by foreign governments and international agencies has been launched in Beijing to assist China's ecologically fragile provinces to map out plans to cope with the climate change.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Media release - Earth Sciences New Zealand | A world-first study of marine life, including sea creatures found in New Zealand's dark, cold, pressurised ocean depths, has revealed that deep-sea life is surprisingly more connected than previously thought.
Does NZ need a national incentive scheme for wetlands?
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | An expert is calling for a national incentive programme to restore New Zealand’s wetlands and wants to stop schemes to drain these vital carbon-sequestering ecosystems.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
Airlines risk legal challenges by advertising jet fuel as “sustainable”, NGO warns
18 Jul 2025
Amid suspected fraud in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a new report says the airline industry should stop calling all alternatives to kerosene “sustainable”.
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
11 Jul 2025
In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, the UK city of Exeter recently played host to the second international conference on “tipping points”.
Sustainability claims questioned as renewable diesel surges
14 May 2025
Critics are sceptical about industry claims of renewable diesel life-cycle greenhouse gas emission cuts and warn renewable diesel carbon releases will surge if sourcing is scaled up, triggering tropical deforestation as producers convert forests to energy crops, such as oil palm and soy.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
Tue 22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
Greenpeace hails Italy court ruling allowing climate lawsuit against energy company to go ahead
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Italy’s highest court has ruled that a lawsuit brought by climate activists against Italian energy company ENI and its government shareholders can go ahead.
Bearish sentiment lingers for carbon market
11 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The compliance carbon market could be set for a gradual upward trajectory, however unsold volume from the quarterly Emissions Trading Scheme auctions continues to act as ‘a price ceiling,’ according to an expert.
EU wants to see China take more ambitious climate action
15 Jul 2025
The world needs China to show more leadership on climate action, highlighting the importance of cutting planet-heating emissions and reducing the Chinese economy's reliance on coal.
Forestry can be a big plus for sheep and beef farmers – but there are caveats
Tue 22 Jul 2025
By Keith Woodford | OPINION: These are good times for sheep and beef farmers with record product prices for meat, which is precisely why now is the time for sheep and beef farmers to be looking again at farm forestry.
Common low-grade clay strengthens low-carbon concrete
5 Jun 2025
Media release | Engineers at RMIT University have converted low-grade clay into a high-performance cement supplement, opening a potential new market in sustainable construction materials.
Cuts to climate finance put exports in jeopardy: Lawyers
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has halved international climate finance, a move aid organisations describe as “devastating,” and which lawyers say could put our Paris Agreement commitments and export market access at risk.
NZ voluntary carbon market’s sad state
14 Jul 2025
By John O’Brien | OPINION: A combination of scandals, challenging economic times, and cheaper offshore carbon credits, mean that the domestic voluntary carbon market in New Zealand remains absolutely tiny.
Media round-up
Fri 25 Jul 2025
In our round-up of the climate coverage in local media: Dairy conversions surge; Gore is hit with a drinking water crisis; meanwhile farming lobby groups Groundswell and Federated Farmers are up in arms about a plan to classify environmental impacts in the agriculture and forestry sector.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
Extreme weather events are the new frontline of online climate denial – report
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Climate science deniers are flooding social media with false claims during extreme weather events, drowning out reliable information and putting lives at risk.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
‘Ideological sludge’: How NZ is quiet quitting climate action
17 Jul 2025
New Zealand once stood out as a world leader on climate change. In June it became the first country in the world to abandon a commitment to phase out oil, gas and coal.
NZ govt’s fossil fuel plans could break international law
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government could be breaching international law with its plans to subsidise and expand fossil fuel extraction, following a ruling overnight from the world’s highest court.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
SBTi releases Net Zero Standard for banks, investors
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The Science Based Targets initiative announced the release of its finalised Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, aimed at enabling banks and investors to set net zero-aligned targets for their lending, investing, insurance and capital markets activities.
Methanex closure comes early this year
14 May 2025
The almost-now-annual closure of Methanex has come earlier this year, giving more confidence that the electricity system will get through the winter without a fuel shortfall.
Electric firebricks: decarbonising high-temperature industrial heat
13 Jun 2025
By Ian Mason | A new technology could offer a more cost-effective solution than hydrogen to decarbonise one ‘hard-to-abate’ sector of New Zealand’s economy, as well as having ample potential for demand response as the electricity grid becomes more renewable.
Climate catastrophes are creating a ‘new market reality’ for insurance carriers
Wed 23 Jul 2025
Raging wildfires and severe storms contributed to record-high global insurance losses — totalling an estimated US$84 billion — for the first six months of the year.
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.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
Clear-sighted view to trade-offs crucial to reimagining our relationship with the land
7 Jul 2025
By Nick Swallow | COMMENT: New Zealand could see a 70% drop in the value of dairy land if we pursue our emissions targets for agriculture, according to a new report.
Elation as Whanganui gets voice in fast-track seabed mining decision
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporter | A Whanganui District councillor is “elated” her council has been named a relevant authority in the fast-track application process for a seabed mining project off South Taranaki.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand is making progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but more work is needed – urgently – to set up for future reductions, according to the latest report from the Climate Change Commission.
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.
Ocean heatwaves may signal climate tipping point
Fri 25 Jul 2025
A recent study that tapped into satellite data has revealed that 2023 marked an unprecedented year for marine heatwaves, with record-breaking levels of duration, reach and intensity across the world's oceans.
Markets aren't going to save us – Carr
9 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Consumerism is reaching its ecological and economic limits, and only systemic change - not market tweaks - can steer us away from climate catastrophe, according to former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr.
Millions of tons of tiny plastic particles are polluting the ocean, study finds
15 Jul 2025
At least 27 million tonnes of nanoplastics are estimated to be floating in the North Atlantic Ocean, weighing more than all wild land mammals combined.
Another offensive launched in the government’s war on nature
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Media release - Environmental Defence Society | Last week the Minister for Resource Management Reform, Chris Bishop, announced that the government would be intervening, yet again, to prevent councils from progressing environmental protections under the Resource Management Act.
Activists sue US development bank over $4.6bn loan to massive Mozambique gas project
18 Jul 2025
Environmental groups claim loan is ‘unlawful’ in legal filing.
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.
Switching to renewables is ‘smart economics’ - Guterres
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The global energy transition is now “unstoppable” due to “smart economics”, UN secretary-general António Guterres has said in an online speech titled: “A moment of opportunity.”
Root intelligence: How old trees learn to suck more CO2 from the air
Thu 24 Jul 2025
New research finds that centuries-old oaks can dynamically rewire how they absorb nutrients—suggesting forests may be more resilient allies in the climate fight than once believed.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Can robot taxis solve NZ's transport woes?
Wed 23 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Ministry of Transport has tested the idea of driverless taxis as a futuristic fix. But while new modelling explores how "robotaxis" could ease congestion and reduce car ownership, critics say it misses a crucial point – the country’s worsening transport emissions.
United Nations carbon market rules agreed but concerns remain
25 Nov 2024
New carbon market rules agreed at the fractious UN climate summit will be a relief to New Zealand and Singapore, who were leading the negotiations, but concerns about greenwashing and disadvantaging nature-based solutions remain.
Fast, sustained phase-out of fossil fuels: best-performing countries in coal and transport sectors
10 Jul 2025
By Robert McLachlan | It’s true that climate change is getting worse – it will continue to get worse until emissions fall to near zero. But is action on phasing out fossil fuels really stalling?
UN court's decision could reshape approach to climate commitments
Tue 22 Jul 2025
The International Court of Justice will this week deliver its advisory opinion on what obligations countries have to address the impacts of climate change. It will be a vital step toward climate justice and equity, according to one local expert.
Waste Levy risks becoming ‘slush fund’ under proposed changes – Commissioner
5 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Proposed changes to New Zealand's waste legislation risk undermining public trust in the waste levy scheme, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
