Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
ON THE BALL: Provincial pride could drive emissions goal
19 Aug 2020
Ranfurly Shield-style competition between provinces could get New Zealanders to finally cut greenhouse gas emissions, provincial local councils say.
Tsunami risk grows as sea-levels rise
19 Aug 2020
Nine per cent of New Zealanders live in a tsunami zone – and the threat will increase as the climate warms, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says.
Greenland's ice sheet at 'point of no return'
18 Aug 2020
Greenland's ice sheet has reached the point of no return and would continue to melt even if the climate crisis were halted, scientists are warning.
Australia's environment laws 'must mention climate change'
17 Aug 2020
Australia's 20-year-old national environmental laws need to be modernised to address climate change as part of the statutory review now under way, the chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Andrew Barr, has said.
Delays expected to bulk of UN climate report
17 Aug 2020
Most of a blockbuster United Nations scientific report on climate change is likely to be delayed beyond a UN climate summit due in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021 because of covid-19.
Woolly rhinos wiped out by climate change
14 Aug 2020
Although overhunting led to the demise of some prehistoric megafauna after the last ice age, a new study found that the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros may have been caused by climate change.
UPTON: Coastal retreat the only sensible option
13 Aug 2020
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton is calling for fast, orderly retreat from coastal areas vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
CLIMATE CRISIS: Last decade was the hottest on record
13 Aug 2020
The past decade was the hottest ever recorded globally, with 2019 either the second or third warmest year on record, as the climate crisis accelerated temperatures upwards worldwide, scientists have confirmed.
Can Kamala Harris shift US position on climate?
13 Aug 2020
Joe Biden’s pick of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate for the United States presidency could reinvigorate stalled world action on climate change in a “night and day” switch if the Democrats defeat Donald Trump, climate policy experts say.
SHAW: Next government all about emissions cuts
12 Aug 2020
Climate policy in the next government will focus on tangible ways to cut emissions, Green Party co-leader James Shaw says.
WORTH NOTING ...
12 Aug 2020
The dissolution of Parliament today has been postponed until at least Monday because of the new covid-19 pandemic lockdown imposed last night.
TEN YEARS AGO ...
12 Aug 2020
Ten years ago, new United Nations climate head Christina Figueres was warning nations that time was not on their side when it came to taking action on climate change.
Native species key to cutting emissions
11 Aug 2020
Restoration of New Zealand’s wild places should count towards the country’s emissions reduction targets, the Government says.
WORTH NOTING ...
10 Aug 2020
Parliament’s Environment Select Committee meets today to hear submissions on the Building (Building Products and Methods, Modular Components, and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
South Africa tightens restrictions for new coal power in landmark ruling
10 Aug 2020
South Africa is tightening environmental demands for new coal-fired power plants, after a ‘landmark’ ruling that licences for water use should consider the risks of climate change.
Paris weathers one of worst heatwaves in a century
10 Aug 2020
Paris is facing one of its worst heat waves in more than a century, with daily average temperatures hovering around 30deg over a seven-day period and hitting a maximum of 39 degrees on Sunday, according to forecaster Meteo-France.
FRIDAY POLITICS: It's a choice of slow or slower
7 Aug 2020
Young protesters are targeting both Labour and National with sit-ins in Dunedin today, saying both have failed to address the climate crisis.
Satellites find new colonies of emperor penguins
6 Aug 2020
Satellite observations have found a raft of new emperor penguin breeding sites in the Antarctic - welcome news as the species faces increasing pressure from climate change.
EMISSIONS DOWNER: We must make them lower
5 Aug 2020
New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions could be about a fifth lower this year than last year because of covid-19, an international science consortium says.
WORTH NOTING ...
5 Aug 2020
Submissions on proposals to introduce a permitting system for the trade in mercury and to ban mercury from batteries, switches and relays, lamps and other equipment close today.
Ireland's Supreme Court damns country's climate policies
5 Aug 2020
In what’s being seen as a landmark judgement, Ireland’s Supreme Court has ruled that the Dublin Government's policies on climate change are inadequate and has called for more action and clarity on the issue.
Finance sector essential to adapting to climate change
4 Aug 2020
The Government is being told banks should toughen up on lending for properties vulnerable to sea-level rise and flooding.
New-look Scott Base is all go for green
4 Aug 2020
THE COLOUR of the new Scott Base may not be decided, but one thing is clear – the building will be green.
John Kerry backs new carbon-price ETF
4 Aug 2020
John Kerry is betting that Wall Street will succeed where governments failed in the fight against climate change.
Count climate in insurance risk, says Robertson
3 Aug 2020
The Reserve Bank should be required to take climate change into account when assessing threats to the insurance industry, the finance minister says.
WORTH NOTING ...
3 Aug 2020
The 52nd Parliament sits this week for the last time, before being dissolved on August 12.
WORTH NOTING ...
31 Jul 2020
Today is the last day for submissions on new air-quality standards to reduce the amount of small particulate matter New Zealanders breathe.
Country's climate change costs are climbing
30 Jul 2020
Climate change is now swallowing the lion’s share of the Government’s environmental spending, prompting suggestions we should have a dedicated Climate Change Ministry.
WORTH NOTING ...
30 Jul 2020
The Environment Committee is sitting today to discuss the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill.
New law needed for managed retreat, says review
29 Jul 2020
Authorities could have the power to seize land threatened by climate change under a proposed new Public Works Act-type law.
WORTH NOTING ...
28 Jul 2020
Today is the last day to enter the Sustainable Business Awards – get yours in by 5pm.
OPINION: I’m bewildered that Trump would imperil America by abandoning the Paris Agreement
28 Jul 2020
By BAN KI-MOON | The Paris agreement to tackle climate change is an extraordinary opportunity. In a remarkable display of unity, almost every nation on Earth has agreed to make critical changes that will help humanity avoid disaster. But Donald Trump is walking away.
Human climate change causes record Arctic heat
27 Jul 2020
AN INTERNATIONAL team of scientists has pinned the strange weather and record heat in the Siberian Arctic firmly on human-induced climate change.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Ready and willing
24 Jul 2020
In a week that saw the end of the political careers of a Cabinet minister and yet another Opposition MP, a political drama of a climate sort has been playing out in suburban Auckland.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
23 Jul 2020
Parliament sits today in Wellington, while Environment Canterbury meets in Christchurch.
Covid crisis delays climate NES
22 Jul 2020
National guidelines on dealing with greenhouse gas emissions might be delayed because of the covid-19 crisis.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
22 Jul 2020
Sustainable finance is on the agenda for a Sustainable Business Network/Institute of Finance Professionals session today.
We might meet Paris, say officials
21 Jul 2020
New Zealand’s 2030 emissions reduction target might be consistent with the Paris Agreement – it all depends on how you look at it, officials have told the Government.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
21 Jul 2020
Parliament sits today for the first time since Judith Collins replaced Todd Muller as Leader of the Opposition.
Morgan Stanley tallying its climate impact
21 Jul 2020
Morgan Stanley will become the first major United States bank to publicly disclose how much its loans and investments contribute to climate change.
Is storing CO2 in rocks a solution to climate change?
21 Jul 2020
An effective climate change solution may lie in rocks beneath our feet.
Developing floodplains risks lives, warns scientist
20 Jul 2020
An expert in river flooding is calling for a halt to all development on floodplains in the wake of a massive storm that hit Northland at the weekend, causing extensive flooding.
Push on with the plan, Aucklanders told
20 Jul 2020
Auckland's plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change should not be postponed because of the covid-19 pandemic, councillors are being told.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
17 Jul 2020
Parliament resumes next week with a new-look National Party Front Bench.
Pandemic delays ClimCom's first report
16 Jul 2020
The Climate Change Commission is under pressure from the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic and could be up to three months' late filing New Zealand's first emissions-budget recommendations.
Climate stays with Simpson
16 Jul 2020
Coromandel MP Scott Simpson has retained the climate change portfolio in the latest National Party reshuffle.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
16 Jul 2020
The Government is taking applications to fast-track infrastructure projects through the consenting process, using the recently passed Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act.
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.
