Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
EY finds smart investors dodging carbon exposure
11 Oct 2017
Two-thirds of the investors surveyed by international accountancy company EY have already changed their investments because of carbon exposure.
FIRE FACT: Heat goes on the East Coast
10 Oct 2017
A large swathe of the East Coast will be at risk of fire for at least half of the year by the end of the century, a conference in Auckland has heard.
Toyota urges NZ to get out of big-emitting cars
10 Oct 2017
New Zealanders are buying bigger cars, damaging the country’s chances of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, say Toyota New Zealand chief Alistair Davis.
Climatecoin lines up the carbon markets
9 Oct 2017
Blockchain – the technology developed by cryptocurrency pioneer Bitcoin to knock financial intermediaries out of transactions – has the carbon markets in its sights.
Ministry denies cutting climate aid to Pacific
9 Oct 2017
New Zealand is denying an accusation that it is cutting its climate aid to the Pacific.
NZ cuts climate aid to Pacific, says report
6 Oct 2017
New Zealand is being accused of cutting climate finance to the Pacific.
WATCHDOG WARNS: Act now or face 'great risk'
5 Oct 2017
New Zealand will be stuck with high-emitting technologies if it doesn’t move to cut emissions soon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is warning.
Dairy group backs big climate change targets
3 Oct 2017
A dairy industry group supports carbon budgeting and the concept of a climate commission, and says New Zealand should be carbon neutral.
It's a big task keeping aircraft running in a warming world
3 Oct 2017
Climate change is forcing airport planners to rethink plane and runway design, since many of them are susceptible to excessive heat and at risk of sea level rise from coasts and rivers.
Europe playing a two-faced climate change game
3 Oct 2017
EU member states risk undermining the diminishing confidence Europeans have in the union by playing a two-faced game on climate change.
It's about more than politics
29 Sep 2017
The next three years are more than an electoral cycle; they make up the period that could determine – quite literally – what sort of world we live in. And that’s what should be on the minds of politicians jockeying to form the next government.
WINSTON'S THE WORD: What NZ First leader wants
25 Sep 2017
A party which has vowed to get rid of the Emissions Trading Scheme now holds the balance of power in New Zealand’s Parliament.
Dining with mining in the House of the Lord
22 Sep 2017
The mining industry possibly got more than it bargained for when it decided to hold its annual dinner in Christchurch’s Cardboard Cathedral this month – a climate change debate with the Anglican Church.
Nat turns up to debate and makes lone stand
20 Sep 2017
All political parties except National told an audience in Auckland last night that they rank climate change as the biggest issue they face.
THE COUNT: English stays silent on climate
18 Sep 2017
With less than one week left in the election campaign, Prime Minister Bill English has yet to mention climate change in any of his formal speeches or statements.
United Future backs emissions trading
18 Sep 2017
United Future’s new leader says he supports the Emissions Trading Scheme, the Zero Carbon Act and wants New Zealand to be carbon netural by 2050.
Climate change threatens Te Puke kiwifruit
15 Sep 2017
The most commonly grown variety of kiwifruit around Te Puke will not be commercially viable in the area by the end of the century, say scientists.
Climate-change baddies doing business in NZ
14 Sep 2017
Companies operating in New Zealand have been named as some of the most obstructive to global action on climate change.
PALMER PRESCRIPTION: Climate needs constitution
12 Sep 2017
If Sir Geoffrey Palmer had had his way, New Zealand would have already cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent.
What Morgan would have said ... if he'd had the chance
11 Sep 2017
The refusal by TVNZ to include The Opportunities Party in televised election debates does the public a disservice.
THE COUNT: English stays silent
11 Sep 2017
Week 12 of The Count ... and Prime Minister Bill English is still in the starting blocks.
High land prices key blocker to forest planting
7 Sep 2017
New Zealand won’t get more carbon-sequestering forests until land prices fall.
We need to get involved, says Maori candidate
7 Sep 2017
Maori need to get involved in fighting climate change, says Maori Party Kelston candidate Cinnamon Whitlock.
Refrigerant Recovery earns praise
7 Sep 2017
A business initiative that safely disposes of climate-damaging gases from the refrigeration and air conditioning industries has had its accreditation as a product stewardship scheme extended.
CLIMATE CASE: National happy the way things are
6 Sep 2017
National is taking a business-as-usual approach to climate policy, warning that Labour and the Greens would go too far if they got into government.
NZ backs global carbon markets cooperation
5 Sep 2017
New Zealand has signed a statement calling for renewed co-operation on carbon markets.
Greens want high-end wood products industry
5 Sep 2017
The Green Party wants a regional research institute to develop high-value wood products as part of a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Leaked report lifts lid on coastal property risks
4 Sep 2017
A climate change report the Government didn’t want public yet has been released by the Green Party.
THE COUNT: Peters outpaces Ardern
4 Sep 2017
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has pulled ahead of Labour leader Jacinda Ardern in The Count, but the Greens’ James Shaw is looking unassailable.
BLACK-OUT: What was ministry advice on Kiwirail?
1 Sep 2017
Heavily redacted documents give little clue what advice the Ministry for the Environment gave the Government on the scrapping of KiwiRail's electric engines.
CLIMATE REPORT: What is the Government hiding?
30 Aug 2017
The Government’s refusal to release a report on the impacts of climate change suggests it might contain something politically damaging, says constitutional law expert and former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer.
NZ backs global climate research project
30 Aug 2017
New Zealand is supporting a new $400,000 scholarship programme to build global expertise on climate change and food security.
What the parties say about climate change
29 Aug 2017
Three-and-a-bit weeks out from the general election, what do we know about the parties’ approach to climate change?
Climate change no big worry, says Prime Minister
28 Aug 2017
Prime Minister Bill English says climate change is not a major concern for most New Zealanders.
EDITORIAL: Honestly, it just doesn't make sense
25 Aug 2017
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | A plan to lift the speed limit on some roads to 110 kilometres an hour is the latest example of New Zealand’s lack of joined-up thinking on climate change.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS 2: Renewable energy.
25 Aug 2017
What will the political parties vying to run our country do about renewable energy?
Climate-savvy customers making presence felt
24 Aug 2017
Most New Zealand companies are already being affected by customer demands for environmental sustainability - or expect to feel an impact.
Fossil fuel business cops most blame for methane
24 Aug 2017
The extraction and burning of fossil fuels is responsible for much more methane in the atmosphere than scientists thought, research published today shows.
Brazilian downpours oust familiar drizzle
24 Aug 2017
Misty rain is giving way to fear of flash floods as Brazilian downpours cause chaos in the country’s biggest city.
Researchers to probe rich options for Maori land
23 Aug 2017
Rising carbon prices mean carbon farming, backed by manuka honey production, is becoming a viable use of Maori land, says the head of a Ruatoria charitable company.
Swiss trees swelter as climate warms
22 Aug 2017
Foresters are being urged to plant tree species resilient to climate change to save the timber industry as Swiss trees swelter.
THE COUNT: The Jacinda and James show
21 Aug 2017
It was Jacinda Ardern and James Shaw scoring in The Count last week.
EDITORIAL: Media missing the message
18 Aug 2017
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | “Climate change is the biggest story on any editor’s news-list right now,” claims a story in the Spinoff this week.
Drought legacy can be a lingering death
18 Aug 2017
A climate hazard that doesn’t disappear when the rainclouds gather, drought’s lingering death can delay recovery a very long time.
Our climate change policy a mess, says former PM
17 Aug 2017
New Zealand’s climate change policy is an “unholy mess” that won’t be fixed if the Cabinet doesn’t want it to be, says former prime minister and constitutional expert Sir Geoffrey Palmer.
Nation's best tell MPs how to do climate change
16 Aug 2017
Eminent New Zealanders backed by 60 NGOs will tell MPs today what they should do about climate change.
Super fund goes 40% low-carbon
16 Aug 2017
Forty per cent of the New Zealand Super Fund is now low-carbon.
Ocean oxygen depletion could happen again
15 Aug 2017
The deep past has cruel lessons for the near future, for example how ocean oxygen depletion can stifle the marine world. It could recur.
Climate change is triple risk to Europe
15 Aug 2017
New studies confirm climate change’s triple risk to Europe. The heat is on, lives are at risk and the floods are arriving earlier.
THE COUNT: Gareth and Jacinda on the board
14 Aug 2017
Three leaders scored points last week in The Count - Carbon News’ tally of the number of times the leaders of political party’s mention climate change in their formal speeches and statements as they seek to become our next prime minister.
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.
