Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Politicians not helping, says climate academic
29 Jun 2016
Carbon dioxide emissions are rising faster than ever – and political claims that population growth is causing it don’t help, says one of New Zealand’s leading climate scientists.
Price floor or perish, experts tell European market
28 Jun 2016
Europe’s carbon market faces ruin without a price floor, an international think-tank says.
California trees have billion-dollar street value
27 Jun 2016
Researchers calculate the huge environmental and economic benefits to taxpayers of the trees that line many streets in California’s cities and suburbs.
How science can strengthen endangered plants
27 Jun 2016
As the human population swells – and in the face of a changing and unpredictable climate – the demand for natural resources increases. This leads to distressing rates of deforestation to prepare land for agriculture, medicinal and forestry products. Related to this is an alarming reduction in species worldwide.
EMISSIONS EDICT: Time to act, says Toyota chief
24 Jun 2016
New Zealand businesses should now be asking how they are going to cut emissions in line with the country’s international pledges – even if those commitments are not yet going far enough, says Toyota New Zealand managing director Alistair Davis.
A brief history of fossil-fuelled climate denial
24 Jun 2016
The fossil fuel industry has spent many millions of dollars on confusing the public about climate change. But the role of vested interests in climate science denial is only half the picture.
The race is on to feed a warming world
24 Jun 2016
Scientists warn that plant breeders will need to accelerate development schedules if they are to ensure the ever-growing population can be fed as global temperatures rise
Officials tell why we need a carbon price floor
23 Jun 2016
A carbon price floor would be challenging but would give businesses certainty and guarantee foresters a price that made planting trees worthwhile, officials told the Government.
COAL PART 5: China’s future is up in the air
23 Jun 2016
As the world moves to combat climate change, it’s increasingly doubtful that coal will continue to be a viable energy source, because of its high greenhouse gas emissions. Part 5 of a series.
Are the Greens the climate radicals Australia needs?
23 Jun 2016
If you despair of Australia’s lacklustre climate policies, you might take heart from the Greens’ stated goal of limiting global warming to 1.5degC. But are the party’s own policies up to the job?
Rugged climate puts the squeeze on cuddly koalas
23 Jun 2016
More frequent extremes of heat and drought predicted for Australia could have a devastating impact on the habitat of the marsupial found nowhere else on Earth.
PUMP SLUMP: True carbon cost would punish petrol
22 Jun 2016
Pricing the true cost of carbon pollution into fossil fuels would push retail petrol prices up 42 cents a litre, making electric vehicles far more attractive, according to a new report.
NZ unlikely to use banked credits, says minister
22 Jun 2016
The Government is unlikely to use New Zealand’s banked carbon credits to make-good on hot-air credits we have already surrendered internationally, a Parliamentary select committee has heard.
Catholic church thinking big on fossil fuel divestment
22 Jun 2016
The decision by four Australian Catholic orders to divest fully from fossil fuels can be interpreted as a direct response to the encyclical on the environment, issued by Pope Francis almost exactly a year ago.
Experts offer help to victims of solar charge
22 Jun 2016
Greenpeace has pooled its renewable energy and legal experts to create a solar hot desk to help people affected by New Zealand’s first charge for using solar energy.
COAL PART 4: Carbon capture unlikely to be the saviour
22 Jun 2016
Coal played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution and continues to fuel some of the world’s largest economies. This series looks at coal’s past, present and uncertain future.
Using CO2 could improve fracking efficiency
22 Jun 2016
Adding carbon dioxide instead of water to fracking fluids could help to fight climate change – and improve fracking efficiency, scientists say.
Bennett vows to hold carbon price at $25
21 Jun 2016
New Zealand’s carbon price cap will not rise above $25 for a long time – but neither will it go down, Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett has told a select committee.
Big players' threats might force NZ to sign early
20 Jun 2016
Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett says New Zealand might have to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change this year, as large countries threaten to lock us out of the process to set the crucial rules for the operation of international carbon markets and accounting.
Energy minister is electrifying
20 Jun 2016
Transport, Energy and Associate Climate Change Minister Simon Bridges is putting his money where his mouth is – he’s buying an electric car.
Climate warming raises global economic threats
20 Jun 2016
Research shows that the effects of extreme heat and weather events on production of raw materials has far-reaching and costly financial implications.
More want climate action now than before carbon tax
20 Jun 2016
By DEBORAH COTTON | In April 2011, not long after Julia Gillard was returned to power in the 2010 federal election, I asked a representative sample of Australians about their attitudes to climate policy.
UN says ratify; Government says not yet
17 Jun 2016
The Government has still not decided when it will ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change, Parliament heard yesterday.
Blow to carbon markets if Britain leaves Europe
17 Jun 2016
A “yes” Brexit vote would leave a large pro-market void in Brussels and will hold back the development of international carbon markets, the International Emissions Trading Association is warning.
Islands could become first 100% renewable nations
17 Jun 2016
The rich world might soon be shown up by small, tropical island nations which have plenty of wind and sun and aren’t lumbered with outdated, base-load power plants to keep running.
DIRTY DOLLARS: PM's bank backs the big polluters
16 Jun 2016
A bank in which Prime Minister John Key is a shareholder has been named one of the worst in the world for its level of investing in fossil fuels.
Record CO2 levels signal sizzling summers
16 Jun 2016
As carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reaches a historic high point that could continue for a lifetime, summer temperatures are also heading toward record levels
How low oil prices could weaken Paris pact
15 Jun 2016
Low oil prices could effectively cancel the impact of emissions reduction pledges made under the Paris Agreement, a new study warns.
Why we're getting it wrong on growth of cities
14 Jun 2016
New Zealand is failing to use joined-up thinking when it comes to preparing for the impacts of climate change, says the head of environmental planning at Waikato University.
HOW TO DO IT: Store CO2 by turning it into stone
14 Jun 2016
We seriously need to do something about CO2 emissions. Besides shifting to renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency, we need to start putting some of the CO2 away before it reaches the atmosphere.
COAL PART 3: How miners secured workers' rights
14 Jun 2016
Part three of this series examines coal’s role in the development of industrial relations. In New Zealand, it was a dispute at the West Coast's Blackball mine, over a lunch break, that led to the formation of the Federation of Labour (the "Red Feds"), and then to the birth of the Labour Party.
EECA chief to end 10 years at the top
13 Jun 2016
The head of the government’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority will stand down later this year.
It's a sign of the times
13 Jun 2016
Not sure where to charge your electric vehicle? Look for the new nationally approved sign, unveiled on Friday.
COAL PART 2: Window on an ancient world
13 Jun 2016
As the world moves to combat climate change, it’s increasingly doubtful that coal will continue to be a viable energy source, because of its high greenhouse gas emissions. But coal played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution and continues to fuel some of the world’s largest economies. Part 2 of a series looks at coal’s past, present and uncertain future.
Introducing: The bionic leaf that could fuel a revolution
13 Jun 2016
Renewable energy experts and microbiologists have teamed up to create a super-efficient artificial leaf that uses photosynthesis to produce carbon-neutral liquid fuels.
$20b Brownlee: We're doing all we can for climate
10 Jun 2016
Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says the Government is making every effort it can to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Victoria sets date to be carbon neutral
10 Jun 2016
The State of Victoria is pledging to be carbon-neutral by 2050.
Scientists puzzle over Antarctica’s long-term ice loss
10 Jun 2016
Analysis of satellite data records reveals that the worrying loss of hundreds of square kilometres of ice along West Antarctica’s coastline has been occurring for decades.
COAL PART 1: King of the Industrial Revolution, but not always on the right path
10 Jun 2016
As the world moves to combat climate change, it’s increasingly doubtful that coal will continue to be a viable energy source, because of its high greenhouse gas emissions. But coal played a vital role in the Industrial Revolution and continues to fuel some of the world’s largest economies. This is the first in a series looks at coal’s past, present and uncertain future, starting today with how it’s formed.
SEA-RISE RISK: We're facing damage worth billions
9 Jun 2016
More than a billion dollars worth of New Zealand’s road and rail networks is at risk from rising sea levels caused by climate change, a Ministry of Transport report says.
Energy independence won’t cure climate ills
9 Jun 2016
Analysts say tackling climate change is a more difficult and expensive challenge for governments than achieving the unconnected goal of being self-reliant for energy needs.
CARBON COST: Govt ignores roading impact
8 Jun 2016
The Government sought no advice on whether building major new roads would affect greenhouse gas emissions, documents show.
Bennett reaffirms energy aid for islands
8 Jun 2016
Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett has repeated New Zealand’s commitment to helping Pacific communities to withstand the impacts of climate change, after witnessing them first-hand.
Soil researcher has a wee problem
8 Jun 2016
Scientists are puzzled by unexpected and conflicting results from research into the affect of irrigation on greenhouse gas emissions from soil.
How to achieve sustainable clean water for everyone
8 Jun 2016
The provision of clean, safe drinking water in much of the world is one of the most significant public health achievements of the past century – and one of the foundation stones of a healthy society.
Big names back global renewable energy drive
7 Jun 2016
A new international campaign will see some of the world’s largest companies working with governments to scale-up renewable energy in support of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Europe’s renewables spending hits 10-year low
7 Jun 2016
The reputation of Europe as a renewable energy leader has taken a serious knock as its investment dropped by 21 per cent last year while global figures reached record levels.
Carbon price up 10.9% since subsidy dumped
3 Jun 2016
Carbon prices have climbed 10.9 per cent in the week since the phase-out of the one-for-two subsidy was announced.
Dams could be backup for melted glacier water
2 Jun 2016
Building dams at the bottom of disappearing glaciers to capture the runoff from melting mountain snow will be needed later this century to prevent widespread water shortages in the summer months.
Genghis could conquer anything … except climate change
2 Jun 2016
Climate fluctuation not only miight have paved the way for Genghis Khan’s conquests of Asia in the 13th century, sudden climatic change might also have halted the Mongol invasion of Europe, according to new research.
Farm-level emissions cuts possible, but almost everything stands in the way
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Progress to slash farming emissions is being blocked by limited farmer confidence in mitigation tools, inconsistent engagement, misinformation and a lack of clear policy signals, according to a new report.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
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.
Air NZ inks deal for its first internationally verified carbon credits
9 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Air New Zealand has committed to buying 8000 tonnes of carbon removals by 2030, in partnership with local native forest investment platform My Native Forest.
‘Cali Fund’ aiming to raise billions for nature receives first donation – of just $1,000
16 Dec 2025
A major biodiversity fund – which could, in theory, generate billions of dollars annually for conservation – received its first donation of just $1,000 in November.
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.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
Fri 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.
Seven quiet wins for climate and nature in 2025
Fri 19 Dec 2025
This year's environmental backdrop is familiar: emissions are rising and nature is continuing to decline. But there have nevertheless been bright spots in 2025.
Govt unveils plans for carbon storage regulations – and ETS rewards
Thu 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.
Global coal demand hit record high this year but is set to decline by 2030
Thu 18 Dec 2025
Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
RMA’s successors hinge on two untested bets
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Two ideas sit at the heart of the Government’s replacement for the Resource Management Act: regulatory relief and spatial planning.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
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.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
Fri 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.
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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
Fri 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”.
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.”
Westpac NZ announces partnership to form Blue Economy hub in Nelson
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Media release | Westpac NZ has announced a new three-year partnership with the Nelson Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to help accelerate the development of a sustainable marine economy – also known as the blue economy.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
15 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams The Government has pushed through legislation under urgency to almost halve New Zealand’s 2050 methane target – a move Opposition parties say disregards scientific advice, breaks the country’s hard-won political consensus on climate action, and shifts the burden of higher warming and higher future costs onto the next generation.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
15 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Despite ‘intransigent’ states blocking multilateralism and a disappointing official outcome, Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu says he left the COP30 climate summit feeling more positive than after previous UN climate conferences.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
29 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Green hydrogen pioneer Hiringa Energy is deep in planning to develop an “eight-to-nine figure” methanol plant near Whanganui, using a combination of biomass and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
Insurers welcome govt decision to keep NHC levy unchanged
21 Nov 2025
Media release |The Insurance Council of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s decision to leave the Natural Hazards Commission levy unchanged, amid ongoing concerns around the cost-of-living.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
Three Greenpeace activists removed by police from Fonterra
Wed 17 Dec 2025
Media release | Three Greenpeace activists were removed by police from Fonterra’s downtown Auckland offices, following a protest on Monday at the Shareholders’ Fund meeting over the corporation’s role in the contamination of rural communities’ drinking water.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
12 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says New Zealand restarting fossil fuel exploration and subsidies is an obvious breach of international law, exposing the country to international and domestic litigation.
Wetlands and biodiversity at risk as mining rules loosen: Greenpeace
Fri 19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greenpeace says Government changes to national direction instruments under the RMA paves the way for mining in wetlands and biodiversity hotspots and will expose some of Aotearoa’s most fragile ecosystems to irreversible damage.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
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.
Offshore windfarms enhance function of coastal waters and diversity of aquatic life
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Media release | A study conducted by researchers from Murdoch University in Australia and Dalian Ocean University in China has found that offshore windfarms can improve marine ecosystems and diversify aquatic food chains.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
Straterra has a new name: the New Zealand Minerals Council
16 Apr 2025
Media release | Straterra has been renamed as New Zealand Minerals Council, says chief executive Josie Vidal.
Could tidal energy one day power NZ?
Thu 18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests Aotearoa holds some of the world’s strongest tidal-stream energy potential – enough to generate up to 93% of today’s electricity use – but one expert cautions that extracting energy at such a scale could have significant impacts and remains highly uncertain.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
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.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
11 Dec 2025
Media release | Ten of the world’s largest oil and gas companies would create significantly more shareholder value by ending exploration and sharply curtailing upstream development, according to new analysis released today by ACCR.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
31 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government is expected to repeal the oil and gas ban today, with a last-minute amendment handing discretionary power to two ministers over the controversial issue of decommissioning.
The surprisingly convincing case against cars
Fri 19 Dec 2025
Life After Cars dares to imagine how different, and enriching, a car-free world could be.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
14 Nov 2025
Media release: Kaicycle | Since 2015, Kaicycle has grown from a humble pilot project growing kai and collecting compost on bicycles into the thriving urban farm and composting hub that Wellingtonians know and love.
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.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | This year New Zealand had its hottest spring since records began, with widespread heat, rainfall extremes and destructive wind driven by sudden stratospheric warming.
Media round-up
12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
