Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Union Square clock counts the time we're wasting
21 Sep 2020
New York’s Union Square Metronome clock is being turned into a giant climate clock tracking the time left to transform the world’s economy and energy systems to avoid catastrophic levels of climate change.
High carbon prices threaten NZ's low-carbon drive, say miners
17 Sep 2020
Record-high carbon prices risk driving away the very companies New Zealand needs in its push to decarbonise the economy, the minerals sector says.
Energy companies keep right to sue states in private courts
17 Sep 2020
Negotiators have ruled out an overhaul of private courts that allow energy companies to sue national governments when climate change policies hurt their profits.
Melting Arctic needs new name to match reality
17 Sep 2020
Change in the far north is happening so fast that soon the Arctic won’t be arctic any more.
Mass migration set to increase as world warms
16 Sep 2020
There is strong evidence that deteriorating environments caused by climate change are driving millions of people to resort to mass migration in their search for a better life, both within countries and across borders.
Govt confirms mandatory climate-risk reporting regime
15 Sep 2020
New Zealand’s largest financial institutions and companies will be the first in the world to face mandatory disclosure of their climate risks.
OPINION: Now is the time for businesses to step up
15 Sep 2020
While covid-19 wreaks havoc on economies, industries and businesses around the world, some challenges are equally as urgent and potentially as devastating.
Warming could pass 1.5deg before 2030, warns UN
14 Sep 2020
Global temperatures could exceed the 1.5deg limit set in the Paris Agreement in the next decade, according to a World Meteorological Society report for the United Nations.
US wildfires could spark financial crisis
11 Sep 2020
The devastating wildfires now sweeping across the western United States are among the sparks from climate change that could ignite a financial crisis by damaging home values, state tourism and local government budgets, says an advisory panel to a US markets regulator.
Climate change, migration and a deadly disease
11 Sep 2020
For thousands of years, an unknown virus lingered quietly among the wild ruminants of South Africa.
Australia’s gas plans could use quarter of world’s carbon budget
11 Sep 2020
A push to develop Australia’s gas resources could jeopardise global efforts keep global warming to safe levels, eating up more than a quarter of the world’s remaining carbon budget, a new report suggests.
CONSERVATION CRISIS: two reports bring bad news for wildlife
11 Sep 2020
International conservation organisation WWF says the world's populations of wildlife have fallen 68 per cent since 1978, and a leaked United Nations report shows that none of the 2020 biodiversity goals have been met.
Gas exploration won't be rushed, Beach tells EPA
9 Sep 2020
Any gas discovery by Beach Energy off the North Otago coast next year could require a further two years’ work to plan and prepare an appraisal drilling programme to determine how to develop it, the Environmental Protection Authority heard yesterday.
WORTH NOTING
9 Sep 2020
Dates for the Environmental Defence Society’s Climate Change and Business Conference have been changed.
Shorter lifespan of faster-growing trees will add to climate crisis, study finds
9 Sep 2020
Live fast, die young is a truism often applied to rock stars but could just as easily describe trees, according to new research. Trees that grow rapidly have a shorter lifespan, which could spell bad news for tackling the climate crisis.
If business must disclose carbon debt, then so should we, says Shaw
8 Sep 2020
The Government is trying to find a way to calculate the cost of the country’s likely carbon debt – and is considering using revenue from the Emissions Trading Scheme to buy international carbon credits to help deal with it.
Smithfield going for carbon-negative
7 Sep 2020
The world's biggest pork producer is promising to be carbon-negative on its own emissions by 2030.
IPCC: the dirty tricks faced by scientists over three decades
7 Sep 2020
Thirty years ago, in a small Swedish city called Sundsvall, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its first major report.
Young activists go to court over climate change
7 Sep 2020
Six young Portuguese activists are taking a European human rights case against 33 countries in the latest legal effort to force governments to step up their fight against climate change.
Aviation emissions nearly doubled in two decades
7 Sep 2020
Flying is responsible for 3.5 per cent of global emissions, scientists say in new research.
Warming climate brings record winter temperatures
4 Sep 2020
This winter was the warmest on record in New Zealand and is in line with scientific predictions about climate change, scientists say.
City sues fossil-fuel companies over climate change
4 Sep 2020
The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from ExxonMobil and other major oil and gas companies for misleading the public about the harmful climate-related impacts such as sea level rise they knew would be caused by burning fossil fuels.
Countries promise green recovery but keep quiet on fossil bailouts
4 Sep 2020
Major economies promised to recover green after covid-19 and accelerate climate action during a virtual ministerial meeting hosted by Japan overnight.
Plant world feels effect of growing climate heat
3 Sep 2020
From one end of the Americas to the other, climate heating is subjecting the plant world to radical change, with cold-resistant species increasingly yielding place to those that welcome the rising warmth.
Arctic fires have released 205 megatonnes of CO2 this year alone
2 Sep 2020
The amount of carbon dioxide emitted by Arctic wildfires this year is already 35 per cent higher than the figure for the whole of 2019.
Construction sector latest focus for emissions cuts
1 Sep 2020
Emissions limits will be imposed as part of resource consents for new buildings under proposals to cut emissions from the construction sector.
Australia's biggest emitters offset only a fraction of emissions
1 Sep 2020
Only 1.2 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions released by Australia’s top 65 emitting companies had to be offset under federal and state laws last financial year, an analysis has found.
Rewilding the heart of New York
1 Sep 2020
Biodiversity and effects of climate change can be significantly affected by small-scale rewilding projects, argues designer and environmentalist Julia Watson, who has temporarily covered New York's Rockefeller Center plaza and ice rinks with native plants.
Climate commission gives election advice
31 Aug 2020
The Climate Change Commission wants political parties and voters to assess election promises against its set of climate principles.
National climate pledges must be increased well before COP, Guterres tells nations
31 Aug 2020
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has repeated calls for countries to increase their 2030 emissions reduction targets – and to do it soon.
Australia 'woefully unprepared', say business, farming and environment heads
31 Aug 2020
Business, industry, farming and environmental leaders have joined forces to warn Australia is “woefully unprepared” for the impact of climate change over the coming decades and to urge the Morrison Government to do far more to cut emissions and improve the country’s resilience.
Farm emissions-measuring system has potential, says Toitû
28 Aug 2020
Environmental certification company Toitû Envirocare says its new farm-carbon certification programmes will help farmers get a slice of a huge international market for sustainable products.
Australia's chief scientist rejects experts' letter warning him not to back gas
28 Aug 2020
Australia’s chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, has rejected a letter from leading scientists who warned his advocacy for increased use of gas-fired electricity was at odds with the Paris climate agreement.
ANTARCTICA: 60% of ice shelves at risk
28 Aug 2020
Approximately 60% of Antarctica’s ice shelves could be vulnerable to fracture, accelerating the loss of the Antarctic ice sheet and increasing sea-level rise, according to a paper.
FOOTPRINT FANTASY: is it time to forget about carbon footprints?
28 Aug 2020
A new app tracks your carbon footprint in real-time. It’s funded by BP.
Household consumption driving our emissions
27 Aug 2020
Our attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions are being undermined by New Zealand's growing consumerism.
Joint venture invests billions in 'natural capital'
27 Aug 2020
A push to better recognise the economic value of “natural capital” – water systems, biodiversity, soil and carbon stores – has prompted the creation of what aims to be the world’s largest investment firm dedicated to projects that help the planet.
INDUSTRY: cut emissions by improving rubbish collection
26 Aug 2020
Cutting collection of household rubbish to fortnightly instead of weekly would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the industry says.
Europe's tough 2030 plan achievable
26 Aug 2020
A European Union plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions up to 55 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 is technically and economically possible, researchers say.
Soaring costs of extreme weather
26 Aug 2020
The costs of wildfire, hurricanes, floods and droughts have quadrupled since 1980, a new report shows.
Funding welcome for recycling plant upgrades
26 Aug 2020
Local Government New Zealand has today welcomed the stimulus funding to upgrade seven high-tech recycling plants across New Zealand, including recommendations on how New Zealand’s kerbside recycling can be standardised.
EDITORIAL: Nature, enter us...
25 Aug 2020
By ADELIA HALLETT | At last we’re waking up to the fact that nature is our best defence against climate change.
Covid-19 cuts our ecological footprint by 9.3%
24 Aug 2020
The rate at which humanity is consuming the Earth's resources declined sharply this year as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, according to researchers.
Restoring forests can reduce greenhouse gases
24 Aug 2020
There is one straightforward way to reduce greenhouse gases: by taking better care of the world’s natural forests.
Clemenger Group New Zealand awarded for commitment to climate action
24 Aug 2020
MEDIA RELEASE - Clemenger Group New Zealand - the country’s leading group of advertising, marketing communications agencies - has been awarded a Toitû carbonreduce certification.
Energy-and-transport plan key to emissions cuts
21 Aug 2020
Business is calling for integrated transport and energy planning to speed the country’s decarbonisation, saying increasing carbon prices can't do the job alone.
Colorado wildfires - climate change 'in the here-and-now’
21 Aug 2020
Despite the intense heat and smoky air, John Omstead decided to spend one of his days off fly fishing. He traveled from his home town of Vail to a spot on the Eagle River near Dotsero, just a few miles away from the Grizzly Creek fire raging in Glenwood Canyon.
Experts investigating companies' climate claims
20 Aug 2020
Investors looking for evidence that companies really are addressing climate risk are hiring outside experts to find it.
Net Zero: How we stop causing climate change
20 Aug 2020
The world is nowhere near tackling the climate crisis, says a new book by an Oxford scholar, Net Zero: How we stop causing climate change. But at least we know how to.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Dairy farmers' lack of climate action 'even bleaker' than water inaction – Upton
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government projections for cutting agricultural emissions are being undermined by low farmer uptake, with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment warning the country is relying on “heroic” assumptions to meet its methane targets.
$30m airline fund risks ‘burning public money’ without lasting benefit – expert
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A $30 million government package to support regional air routes risks delivering poor value for money while increasing emissions, according to transport strategist Tim Adriaansen.
Signs of jet fuel hoarding emerge in Asia on Iran oil shock
26 Mar 2026
Signs are growing that Asian countries are hoarding jet fuel after the Iran war sent oil prices surging, reflecting growing strain on the aviation industry.
Wellington planting nears one million trees
Mon 30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greater Wellington’s parks restoration programme will hit one million native trees this year, with the first dams to rewet peat wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park now completed after a years-long effort to bring these ecosystems – and their carbon sequestering superpowers – back to life.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
3 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Economic contraction will impact carbon market
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | While higher fossil fuel prices strengthen the long-run economics of decarbonisation, the current fuel crisis won’t inspire near-term confidence in the carbon market, according to Lizzie Chambers of Carbon Match.
Why the real oil crisis hasn’t started yet
Wed 1 Apr 2026
If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed much longer, things will get really bad, really fast.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
26 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | After ups and downs in recent weeks, the carbon market again broke above the $40 mark this week, with questions around how the Middle East conflict will play out weighing on market confidence.
Labour mulls GIDI 2.0 as factory closures mount
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Factory closures across the country could have been prevented if the last Labour-led government’s GIDI fund to assist companies with the cost of electrification hadn't been scrapped, Labour energy spokesperson, Megan Woods, says.
Death toll in Afghanistan flooding increases to 28, authorities say
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Afghan authorities said Monday that the death toll from severe weather that has struck swathes of the country over the past four days has increased to 28, with 49 people injured. Dozens of people have died from extreme weather in the country so far this year.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Carbon trading schemes cut more emissions than carbon taxes, according to global study
20 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Carbon trading schemes are more effective than carbon taxes at reducing emissions, cutting fossil fuel use, and accelerating the shift to renewable energy, a global study has found.
‘Even more bonkers now’ – energy expert on LNG terminal
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | An energy consultant says the Government’s plan to back an LNG import facility is a “non-starter” in the face of rising gas prices due to the Middle East conflict.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Double danger? Climate change, El Niño push Earth 'beyond its limits'
Wed 1 Apr 2026
A freakish March heat wave has already pushed temperatures to summertime levels throughout much of the western and central United States, but a new report comes with a dire warning: This is just the beginning.
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.
Lawyers complain to ombudsman over Govt failure to release LNG modelling
Wed 1 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman over the Government’s failure to release information about its controversial decision to build a LNG import terminal.
RMA to speed up fossil fuel consents
18 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | An energy lobby group has welcomed a last-minute amendment to the RMA that puts fossil fuels on the same footing as renewables, however a sustainable energy expert says the move “beggars belief.”
FMA to ease conditions for green bond issues
Tue 31 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Green, social and sustainability-linked bonds will face lower disclosure requirements and regulatory costs under a class exemption newly granted by the Financial Markets Authority.
Five trees can’t offset a car: Lawyers accuse Mazda of greenwashing
9 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action NZ is taking Mazda to the Advertising Standards Authority over its claims that a tree-planting programme will offset vehicle emissions.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
Media round-up
20 Mar 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Crown lawyers agree High Court could quash emissions plan if found unlawful; NZ is locked in 'disaster inertia'; and climate change is notably absent from new development laws.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
19 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s controversial changes to New Zealand’s legal framework for climate policy have thrown a spanner in the works for a long-running Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into climate change.
Govt process to change climate plan ‘fundamentally flawed’, says judge
18 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The government’s 2024 changes to New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan was “as fundamentally flawed a process as I think I have ever seen”, the judge presiding in a case challenging climate change decision-making has said.
Cleantech expo coming to Auckland
26 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s first national cleantech expo is set to bring together 30 innovators, in what organisers say is the country’s fastest growing area in the tech sector.
NZ First targets regional share of mining royalties
Mon 30 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand First has proposed returning 50% of mining royalties to regional communities, saying that too much of the value from resource extraction is currently flowing to Wellington.
Tuvalu prioritises climate change in agreement with NZ
Fri 27 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has pledged an additional $20 million to climate resilience work in Tuvalu, more than doubling Aotearoa's aid to the tiny island nation in the current financial year.
NZ's latest climate target 'weak' – Climate Action Tracker
24 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's new international climate target to 2035 is weak, and could even allow for higher emissions than the 2030 target, according to a global scientific project that tracks government climate action.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
25 Mar 2026
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Opposition in Golden Bay to a controversial gold mine at Sams Creek has flared up over the weekend after several activists briefly occupied a drilling site.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
World-leading plasma torch takes aim at NZ's most potent greenhouse gases
24 Mar 2026
Media release | A high-tech plasma torch was lit up today as Minister of Conservation, Hon Tama Potaka, officially opened the $10 million National Refrigerant Destruction Facility – signalling a new era in addressing the environmental impact of New Zealand’s most potent greenhouse gases.
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.
Why the Iran war may have just killed the AI boom
26 Mar 2026
The $1.5 trillion in committed AI infrastructure spending by major tech companies is built on an assumption of a functional global supply chain, which the Iran conflict has fundamentally broken.
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.
Two Australian states offer free public transport as war pushes up fuel prices
Mon 30 Mar 2026
Public transport in two Australian states will be made free to incentivise people not to drive as fuel prices soar due to the war in the Middle East.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
‘Stop burning fossil fuels’ pleads scientist as extreme rain causes floods yet again
Fri 27 Mar 2026
Northland and Auckland have again been lashed by heavy rain, with hundreds of people evacuated last night because of extensive flooding in the Far North, and some areas hit by more than a month's average rainfall in just 24 hours.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Record wind output helps shield the UK from worst of Iran war fallout
Wed 1 Apr 2026
Record output from wind farms has helped boost total clean power supplies in the United Kingdom to new highs so far in 2026, and allowed power firms to pare use of fossil fuels to multi-year lows.
