Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
We're not ready for droughts and rising seas
6 Dec 2018
New reports on drought and sea-level rise highlight New Zealand’s lack of preparation for the impacts of climate change.
Tarrant to head Green Investment Fund
5 Dec 2018
Angel investor and independent director Cecilia Tarrant is to head the Government’s $100 million Green Investment Fund.
We're on the move but dragging the doughnut
3 Dec 2018
New Zealand is one of three countries leading the charge to the new economy – but it’s got no right to call itself a developed country, says Doughnut Economics founder Kate Raworth.
Recycling alone not plastics solution
3 Dec 2018
Recycling alone will not solve New Zealand’s plastics pollution problem – the country needs to use less, a new report says.
ClimCom could make methane call, says Treasury
30 Nov 2018
Treasury has suggested the Government delay setting a 2050 emissions reduction target, saying giving the decision to the yet-to-be-established climate commission would allow more time to decide by how much methane emissions should be reduced.
EDITORIAL: New UN report drops a bomb
28 Nov 2018
A report out today saying that global emissions are rising again because of economic growth should be the bomb needed to blast us out of our self-congratulatory complacency.
Campaigners take aim at NZ-owned banks
22 Nov 2018
Three New Zealand-owned banks are the new targets of anti-fossil-fuel campaigners.
Why the new economy needs a financing plan
21 Nov 2018
New Zealand needs an impact investment plan to push financing of the new economy, says a report out today.
We need to act 'today', says new IPCC report
21 Nov 2018
Action on climate change must be stepped up if the climate crisis is to be averted, the International Panel on Climate Change is warning.
Ardern talks climate on Asia-Pacific swing
20 Nov 2018
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern used international talks in Papua New Zealand and Singapore to push for action on climate change, her office says.
Academics call for emergency action
20 Nov 2018
One hundred and fifty New Zealand academics calling for “emergency” action on climate change say economic growth has to stop.
Stand by for multiple disasters, say experts
20 Nov 2018
Heatwaves, droughts, wildfire, storms, floods, sea-surges, food shortages and diseases – climate change could see communities hit by multiple disasters at once, scientists say.
Scientists see new energy value in our forests
19 Nov 2018
Forestry’s value to New Zealand’s climate change effort is not in carbon storage but in powering the low-carbon economy, says our leading forest research institute.
Shaw heads south to check out ice-melt threat
13 Nov 2018
Climate minister James Shaw is heading to Antarctica as scientists warn we already might have triggered tipping points leading to irreversible melting of the polar ice sheets.
New RMA will cover effects of climate change
9 Nov 2018
The Government’s overhaul of the Resource Management Act will include the way it deals with climate change.
Carbon Clock wound back - just a tick
9 Nov 2018
The Carbon Clock showing how much time the world has left before it exhausts its carbon budget has been set back a fraction.
Oil and gas exploration ban becomes law
8 Nov 2018
New oil and gas exploration is now banned from New Zealand’s waters and from most of its land.
Meat farmers want two-pronged methane move
6 Nov 2018
Beef, lamb and deer farmers say they accept New Zealand’s methane emissions will have be cut – but not to net-zero.
Nitrogen inhibitors could return to the farm
5 Nov 2018
Nitrogen inhibitors could be in use on New Zealand farms again by 2020, farmers say.
Exploration ban close to becoming law
5 Nov 2018
The Government’s partial ban on new oil and gas exploration could become law this week.
Waste Management boosts sustainability
5 Nov 2018
Waste Management is to make sustainable procurement a priority.
You're dreaming, business lobby tells Govt
2 Nov 2018
Business New Zealand doesn’t support any of the Government’s proposed 2050 emissions reduction targets, saying they are based on wishful thinking and magic.
Govt backs electric trains on main trunk line
31 Oct 2018
Electric locomotives are to stay on the main trunk line.
Don't do a Rogernomics, warns enviro chief
30 Oct 2018
Decarbonising the New Zealand economy cannot be a repeat of Rogernomics, says Environment Secretary Vicky Robertson.
Exploration ban sound signal, says forum chair
26 Oct 2018
Changes to the Crown Minerals Act that will see most new oil and gas exploration banned are the type of signals businesses need, says one of the people heading a ground-breaking finance sector project.
Big Gas wants exploration ban put on hold
17 Oct 2018
Five of the country’s biggest users of natural gas want the Government’s ban on exploration for new reserves put on hold while a “detailed” assessment of the role of gas is carried out.
TRIBUTE: Climate-change pioneer Bernard Forde
16 Oct 2018
By ADELIA HALLETT | Today is the funeral of a man who pushed, to the best of his scientific and political ability, to get action on climate change.
Why our monetary system suits Zero Carbon Act
15 Oct 2018
New Zealand’s monetary policy system is a good model for the Zero Carbon Act, says the country’s stock exchange.
Few of our councillors vote electric for mayoral motor
15 Oct 2018
The nation’s mayors might on the front line for dealing with the impacts of climate change, but that doesn’t mean they’re going carbon-neutral in their choice of mayoral car.
At last, we're beginning to talk like grown-ups
12 Oct 2018
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | Depending on your viewpoint, the world moved closer to – or further away from – climate destruction this week.
$840 MILLION: What climate change has cost us
11 Oct 2018
Climate change has cost New Zealand at least $840 million over the past decade – prompting warnings at a business conference that adaptation to now-unavoidable impacts could cost more than cutting emissions.
Why 6 per cent a year should get the job done
10 Oct 2018
Cutting global emissions by 6 per cent a year should keep warming to no more than 1.5deg, one of New Zealand’s top mathematicians has calculated.
NEW NATS: We're getting the climate message
10 Oct 2018
The National Party says it’s going through a “metamorphosis” on climate change – and it appears to include accepting that the way New Zealand uses its land is going to change.
Government backs cuts to reach 1.5deg
9 Oct 2018
The Government backs emissions cuts in line with keeping global warming to no more than 1.5deg, and says negotiations with the National Party for cross-party agreement on climate policy are going well.
IPCC: Farming and tourism put on notice
8 Oct 2018
The International Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5deg report delivers a wake-up call for two of New Zealand’s biggest industries – agriculture and tourism.
IPCC: Reaching 1.5deg is no easy task
8 Oct 2018
Keeping global warming to no more than 1.5deg is possible and sensible, but it will not be easy, the International Panel on Climate Change says.
Public backs Govt's long-term climate strategy
4 Oct 2018
The Government’s plans to lock climate policy into long-term legislation – and to include all methane – has overwhelming public support.
MONDAY'S MESSAGE: Quite simply, it's up to us
3 Oct 2018
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | One of the most important scientific papers ever produced will be released on Monday, and the ramifications for New Zealand could be huge.
Regional energy leaders to talk transition
2 Oct 2018
Political and energy sector leaders from across Asia and the Pacific will converge in Wellington later this month to talk about the implications on the region’s energy systems of the low-carbon transition.
Multilateralism is the key, PM tells world
1 Oct 2018
The world must return to multilateralism if it is to combat climate change, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Make nature your business, urges academic
28 Sep 2018
Companies are being told to take a hard look at what they can do for New Zealand’s struggling biodiversity – because it’s good for business.
New report criticises slow disclosure
28 Sep 2018
Another report just released says companies are slow to disclose the financial implications of climate risk for their businesses.
PM ticks off leaders over Paris pact inaction
27 Sep 2018
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has told world leaders they will have to compromise their country’s positions if the Paris Agreement is to come into force.
Ministry likes look of targeted green taxes
26 Sep 2018
The Ministry for the Environment says it likes environmental taxes – especially for dealing with climate change and water problems.
PM PLEADS CLIMATE CASE FOR PACIFIC
25 Sep 2018
Pacific people have a right to keep their maritime zones – even if their islands are gone, New Zealand has told the United Nations.
Investors voice concern at lack of risk disclosure
21 Sep 2018
Investors are calling on Australian businesses to lift their game in the wake of a report showing they are failing to disclosure their carbon exposure to the market.
Officials wobble under Govt's climate assault
18 Sep 2018
The Government’s heavy climate-change work programme is putting pressure on officials, confidential papers show.
WISE WORDS: Where ProdCom report is wrong
17 Sep 2018
The Productivity Commission has got it wrong, say some of our wisest people.
OPINION: A dangerous political compromise
17 Sep 2018
By SIR ALAN MARK | After decades of sitting on our hands, the simple the act of commissioning an inquiry into becoming a low-carbon economy has been hugely positive on public perception.
Climate action-man puts new emissions option
14 Sep 2018
The man who got politicians from both sides of Parliament to agree on climate change says there might be a third option for dealing with New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
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.
