Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Indian businesses reluctant climate change players, says report
25 Jul 2008
Indian corporates are not ready to tackle climate change despite a wide awareness of the issues, says a study just released by global consultancy KPMG.
Kyoto foresters seek assurances on Labour and National's carbon credit promises
25 Jul 2008
The Kyoto Forestry Association (KFA) is seeking assurances from the Labour and National parties that their 2007 promises to post-1989 forest owners, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, can continue to be relied upon.
Public wants help with ETS costs, survey shows
22 Jul 2008
Overwhelming public support for help for households in coping with the costs of an emissions trading scheme could provide the impetus to get the scheme passed before the election.
Local councils doing the best they can with water, says Neilson
22 Jul 2008
Regional councils are doing as good a job of water management as can be expected with the tools and framework available, says the chief executive of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, Peter Neilson.
Canadian PM under pressure as major province signs up with US emissions group
22 Jul 2008
The Canadian government faces new pressure to adopt a more aggressive climate-change plan after its largest province threw its considerable political weight behind a North American initiative to tackle global warming.
BBC TV about to air climate change the thriller
22 Jul 2008
Climate change joins mainstream television this week with the screening in Britain of the environmental thriller Burn Up.
US scientists issue dire new warning on effects of climate change
22 Jul 2008
Climate change threatens the health and well-being of every American but could widen the divide between people who can adapt to a more hostile environment and society's youngest, oldest and poorest, a US government report says.
'Carbon bomb' lies waiting in world's wetlands, warn scientists
22 Jul 2008
New Zealand’s wetlands are part of a world-wide chain that could release a planet-warming "carbon bomb" if they are destroyed, ecological scientists say.
For animals, it might be a case of relocation, relocation, relocation
22 Jul 2008
ANIMALS threatened with extinction because of climate change should be moved to parts of the world where they are more likely to survive, a team of scientists has suggested.
‘Swindle’ doco broke the rules, says UK watchdog
22 Jul 2008
A documentary shown on Prime TV in New Zealand earlier this year which claimed that man-made climate change is a fraud broke strict broadcasting rules on impartiality, the UK media regulator said yesterday.
In time, Australia and NZ ETS plans can work together, say governments
18 Jul 2008
Australia and New Zealand have developed different emissions trading schemes because their economies are different, but will bring the schemes together over time. That’s the message from Wellington and Canberra this week as the governments of both countries push ahead with plans for emissions trading regimes as key planks of their climate change strategies.
Australia gets ETS agriculture right, say New Zealand farmers
18 Jul 2008
New Zealand farmers say they are sympathetic to Australia’s desire for caution over bringing agriculture into an emissions trading scheme.
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”.
NZ art focussing on climate on display at Beijing Biennale
Thu 12 Feb 2026
An artist responding to the consequences of climate disruption is the first New Zealander in six years to feature at the prestigious Beijing Art Biennale.
Carbon market rallies but auction floor still out of reach
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market has rallied, with secondary market prices up more than 25% in the past two weeks, although current prices in the mid-$40s are still far below this year’s $71 auction floor, with the first auction of 2026 less than three weeks away.
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.
Why Trump might be onboard with a UN carbon-offset programme for airlines
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The president’s team has backed the rollout of an initiative that calls for the use of sustainable aviation fuel and carbon credits, even as Trump has pulled back from other international emissions-reduction efforts.
World fight against invasive species comes to Auckland
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Media release: University of Auckland | From countering invasive pink salmon in Norway to controlling feral cats in the Cayman Islands, knowledge on eradicating invasive species will be shared by international experts in New Zealand.
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.
EU weighing options to support industry in carbon market overhaul
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The European Commission is looking at various ways to support industries in an upcoming overhaul of the EU carbon market to prevent them moving to areas with lower pollution standards, the head of the Commission’s climate department said late on Wednesday.
Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say
Fri 13 Feb 2026
The world is closer than thought to a “point of no return” after which runaway global heating cannot be stopped, scientists have said.
Minister’s letters: Mildly positive or just virtue signalling?
5 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market was buoyed slightly yesterday, after letters between the Government and the Climate Change Commission were proactively released.
NZ still lacking coherent energy strategy
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Rod Carr | COMMENT: The government’s levy-funded foreign gas proposal for an LNG terminal shows New Zealand’s politicians being outmanoeuvred yet again by the multi-trillion dollar energy industry.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: By deciding to underwrite the private construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, the Government has made a rational choice in favour of energy security and affordability.
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.
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.
Lawyers seek answers on climate impacts of LNG import facility
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action has written to Climate Change and Energy Minister Simon Watts warning that the Government's plan for an LNG import terminal could be in conflict with New Zealand’s climate obligations and emissions reduction targets.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
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.
'Damning' report challenges forestry’s role in Tairāwhiti as sector rejects conclusions
4 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New independent analysis commissioned by Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti challenges long-standing claims that industrial forestry underpins the Tairāwhiti economy.
LNG plan risks fossil fuel dependency: Environment Commissioner
Wed 11 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Importing liquefied natural gas risks creating a “new path dependency on fossil fuel” unless LNG is ring-fenced for use only in the electricity system and only during extended periods of hydro-electricity water shortages, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton.
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.”
European Central Bank's green supervision grows teeth, but will banks avoid being bitten?
Fri 13 Feb 2026
After several years of issuing guidance and repeatedly calling on banks to take climate and environmental risk management seriously, the European Central Bank is moving from guidance and expectations to enforcement.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
Thu 12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
Wed 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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
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”.
Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
4 Feb 2026
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
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.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
Govt unveils plans for carbon storage regulations – and ETS rewards
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.
Ministers celebrate fast-track milestone amid criticism
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government is marking the first anniversary of its fast-track approvals regime, saying it is helping “build New Zealand’s future”, despite continued criticism from environmental groups, opposition parties, and industry voices following several controversial project decisions.
Govt looks to Commission for ways to shore up carbon price
4 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government has asked the Climate Change Commission to look at lower auction volumes and an increase in the auction floor price as options to revive the Emissions Trading Scheme, as carbon prices remain weak.
NZ's latest climate target 'weak' – Climate Action Tracker
24 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's new international climate target to 2035 is weak, and could even allow for higher emissions than the 2030 target, according to a global scientific project that tracks government climate action.
Climate change linked to decline in southern right whale
Thu 12 Feb 2026
Scientists in Australia are warning southern right whales are showing signs of climate-related stress, just days after a Green Party Member’s Bill was introduced in New Zealand proposing legal personhood for whales.
Climate ambassador moves on
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government is on the hunt for a new top climate diplomat, with previous climate ambassador Stu Horne moving on to a posting in Honolulu as New Zealand’s Consul General to Hawai’i.
Commentators slam Govt inaction in aftermath of climate change-fuelled storms
30 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | Climate action - or inaction - is shaping up to be an election issue, with multiple commentators drawing a line between the Coalition Government’s backsliding on climate targets and the deadly extreme weather events of the past week.
Major health risks linked to plastics emissions set to soar by 2040
28 Jan 2026
The adverse health consequences stemming from the global plastics system are projected to more than double by 2040, driven by greenhouse gases, air pollutants and toxic chemicals released throughout its lifecycle.
Greenpeace set to take UK Government to court over deep-sea mining licences
5 Feb 2026
Environmental NGO Greenpeace has kick-started a legal challenge against the UK Government’s decision to approve the transfer of two seabed exploration licences to a newly-formed mining company with US links.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
Mon 9 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand and the United States' negotiations over critical minerals have raised questions for the Waitangi Tribunal’s long-running inquiry into climate change.
January floods driven by tropical systems and La Niña conditions
Thu 12 Feb 2026
Record-breaking rainfall across parts of Aotearoa in January was fuelled by tropical moisture and persistent low-pressure systems, with some regions recording more than five times their normal monthly rainfall, Earth Sciences New Zealand says.
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.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
Mon 9 Feb 2026
Media release | A new Antarctic science partnership with a leading UAE university will grow New Zealand’s advanced engineering and modelling capability, supporting high-value jobs, encouraging economic growth, and enabling smarter climate risk management, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says.
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.
China maximises battery recycling to shore up critical mineral supplies
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Beijing is bracing for a tsunami of spent EV batteries by taking steps to boost recycling – a strategy that could also cut its reliance on imports of clean energy minerals.
EU to ban destruction of unsold clothes and shoes
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The European Commission has adopted new measures that will require medium and large companies to stop discarding unsold clothing and footwear, in the bloc’s latest move to target textile waste.
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.
Argentina fires ravage pristine Patagonia forests, fueling criticism of Milei’s austerity
4 Feb 2026
The wildfires, among the worst to hit the drought-stricken Patagonia region in decades, have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (174 square miles) of Argentina’s forests in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Construction is set to start this month on Hiringa Energy’s long delayed green hydrogen project in South Taranaki, after years of consenting fights that culminated in the Court of Appeal rejecting Greenpeace’s challenge in late 2023.
