Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Humanity at climate crossroads, warns Stern
27 Oct 2015
Lord Stern, an expert on the economic impacts of climate change, says the stakes have never been higher for radical action to be agreed at the Paris summit.
Victoria's green efforts win high awards
27 Oct 2015
Victoria University’s commitment to sustainability and responsible environmental management have been recognised with top honours at the Australasia Green Gown Awards.
Hurricanes wreak economic havoc as world warms
27 Oct 2015
Analysis of insurance data convinces environmental economists that climate change is pushing up the cost of dealing with the disastrous effects of extreme weather events.
Big emitters shift burden to poorer nations
27 Oct 2015
Researchers say emissions reduction targets set by China, the US and Europe place harsh demands on the rest of the world, and could cast a pall over the Paris climate summit.
Wages set to fall unless warming is tackled
27 Oct 2015
Researchers say the economic costs of failing to take action on climate change will be much greater than previously thought – with average global incomes cut by almost a quarter.
Groser confirms ETS review this year
21 Oct 2015
The Emissions Trading Scheme review will start this year, Climate Change Minister Tim Groser has confirmed.
'Bottom-up' agreement possible in Paris
21 Oct 2015
International climate change negotiations in Paris are likely to produce a “bottom-up” agreement that will isn’t binding but will hold countries accountable for their actions, Climate Change Minister Tim Groser told business yesterday.
Business needs to take a stand
21 Oct 2015
Business needs to take a clear stand on carbon pricing, says former Climate Change Ambassador Dr Adrian Macey.
New pest threat will cost millions
21 Oct 2015
New Zealand faces another multi-million dollar fight to control pests in the South Island beech forests as the impacts of climate change start to bite.
Papers suggest what's on the table at ETS review
19 Oct 2015
Agricultural emissions, the one-for-two surrender subsidy, and the $25 price cap are likely to be on the table in the Emissions Trading Scheme review this year, according to confidential Government papers.
Email to English: Emissions cut target looks bad
19 Oct 2015
The Government knew that New Zealand’s post-2020 emissions reduction target didn’t look good compared with those of other developed countries when using the standard 1990 baseline, an internal email shows.
Powerful line-up to talk climate change
19 Oct 2015
New Zealand’s ability to come up with a plan for a low-carbon economy will be put to the test this week when businesses, politicians and scientists gather to talk about climate change.
We might have to help refugees, admits Groser
19 Oct 2015
New Zealand supports Pacific people’s desire to stay in their own countries – but acknowledges that climate migration might be a reality, says Climate Change Minister Tim Groser.
Follow us and save the world, says Groser
19 Oct 2015
Climate change would cease to be a problem if all other countries followed New Zealand’s lead and got 80 per cent of their electricity from renewable sources, the Climate Change Minister says.
Climate cash flow to poorer nations still too slow
19 Oct 2015
Rich countries are failing to fulfil pledges to make billions of dollars available to help the developing world to tackle climate change.
Europe faces a big chill, warn climate scientists
19 Oct 2015
Double jeopardy as the slowing of ocean currents threatens to combine with global warming to create scenes resembling those in the movie The Day After Tomorrow.
A new era of migration ... and not just for people
19 Oct 2015
The world is watching as refugees flood into a Europe unprepared for the new arrivals.
Worried health workers call for climate action
12 Oct 2015
Tens of thousands of New Zealand health workers are calling for New Zealand to take urgent action on climate change, which they say is a critical health issue.
NZ gives to help stop destruction of oceans
12 Oct 2015
New Zealand will contribute $1.8 million to help Pacific island nations to build resilience to ocean acidification as a result of climate change.
It's time for the hard work to begin
12 Oct 2015
Recent trips by President Obama highlight the costs of adapting – or responding – to climate change that we are paying today and will pay tomorrow.
France has a soil plan – and it’s not just about wine
12 Oct 2015
French wine lovers have always taken their soil very seriously. But now the country’s government has introduced fresh reasons for the rest of the world to pay attention to their terroir.
Climate-smart villages boost Nepali farmers' harvests
12 Oct 2015
Nepali farmers find environmentally friendly cultivation methods increase yields – and also help them adapt to rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall.
Biofuel, e-cars and trees are the way we must go
5 Oct 2015
New Zealand needs to embrace biofuels, electric vehicles and energy forests, and get rid of coal and gas-fired industrial processes if it wants to meet its 2050 emissions reduction commitment, officials have told the Government.
Our climate excuses don't wash, say enviro officials
5 Oct 2015
The Government’s favourite defence for the failure of New Zealand to take meaningful action on climate change – that it’s a small country generating negligible greenhouse gas emissions – doesn’t hold water, officials say.
China ups the pace, so the time to act is now
5 Oct 2015
China’s commitment to pricing carbon throughout its economy from 2017 means that the rest of the world should now be factoring the cost of greenhouse gas emissions into business projections, says a leading public policy analyst.
The climate change message is do something
5 Oct 2015
New research into what motivates people to take action on climate change shows that promoting the benefits of doing something to address the problem is an effective communication tool.
Climate change threatens financial crash, says banker
5 Oct 2015
The world’s most influential banker says an orderly switch from fossil fuels to renewables is needed to avoid turmoil on world stock markets.
Islands play vital climate change role, says UN chief
5 Oct 2015
Pacific island nations have a crucial role to play in efforts to advance a sustainable future, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the region’s leaders as they met at United Nations Headquarters.
Climate threatens Pacific with seesaw sea levels
5 Oct 2015
Scientists say coasts and communities in the Pacific region face more extreme weather hazards as climate change magnifies the devastating El Niño effect.
A 21st century government must care for nature
5 Oct 2015
Australia’s new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has announced what he calls a “21st century government”. This article is part of The Conversation’s series focusing on what such a government should look like. John Woinarski and Stephen Garnett report:
Global experts talk low-carbon economy
5 Oct 2015
International experts and institutions managing more than $1 trillion in funds gather in Melbourne this week talk about accelerating the shift to a low-carbon economy.
Elephant grass could offer viable alternative to coal
5 Oct 2015
By adapting a tropical grass to grow in the British climate, scientists hope to be able to replace coal in power stations with biofuel.
Government shows no interest in climate risks study
28 Sep 2015
The Government has rejected calls for a national assessment of the risk climate change poses to business, security, the environment and national well-being.
Here's to a low-emissions future for agriculture
28 Sep 2015
Agriculture in New Zealand could look vastly different in 2050 from the way it looks today, a cross-party seminar on climate change heard last week.
China unveils trading plan and joins hands with US
28 Sep 2015
China, the world’s largest carbon polluter, has reiterated its carbon trading commitment and has pledged $3.1 billion in climate financing to assist developing countries.
UN adopts bold new sustainability goals
28 Sep 2015
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a set of bold new global goals, which Ban Ki-moon hailed as a universal, integrated and transformative vision for a better world.
Volkswagen budgets billions to stem cheating tide
28 Sep 2015
Volkswagen has set aside €6.5 billion to cover the costs of the growing scandal over cheating on emissions tests in the US.
OECD urges end to policies which support fossil fuels
28 Sep 2015
The world should abandon fossil fuel support policies which belong in a past when healthy economies depended on pollution, say wealthiest nations.
Investors opt out of fossil fuels as climate talks near
28 Sep 2015
As momentum builds for a new deal on climate change, investors are becoming increasingly nervous about having their cash in fossil fuels.
Arctic thaw would cost half of world's annual earnings
28 Sep 2015
If Arctic soils melt and release frozen carbon, the impact would cost almost half the world’s annual gross domestic product, researchers say.
Forests move centre stage in India’s climate plan
28 Sep 2015
India, the world’s third-largest polluter, is planning to balance development with environment protection as it tackles climate change.
How low-tech farming can help African farmers
28 Sep 2015
Politicians and the Pope are not the only ones calling for action on climate change these days. Farmers are observing changes in rainfall, temperature and other patterns in weather that have spurred them into shifting their farming methods.
Backlash fear stopped move on agriculture emissions
21 Sep 2015
New Zealand came close to splitting agriculture off from its post-2020 emissions reduction target in a bid to save money, but dropped the idea amid fears of an international backlash.
How Groser battled for a 15% emissions cut
21 Sep 2015
Climate Change Minister Tim Groser wanted New Zealand to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 15 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030, a Treasury email shows.
No action on agriculture could cost us $13b
21 Sep 2015
Keeping agriculture out of the Emissions Trading Scheme could cost taxpayers $13 billion between 2020 and 2030, Treasury says.
More officials mirror Treasury advice to Cabinet
21 Sep 2015
Treasury bosses are not the only officials telling the Government that New Zealanders want a settled, broad agreement on climate change policy.
Member's bill demands end to fossil fuels investment
21 Sep 2015
A bill requiring public funds like ACC and Superannuation to stop investing in the exploration for and mining and production of fossil fuels has been drawn from the Parliamentary Members’ ballot.
Report shows up double-standards of G20 countries
21 Sep 2015
Many G20 countries are spending billions of dollars subsidising the fossil fuel industry while at the same time making commitments to tackle climate change, says a new study.
Turnbull should go back to his old climate self
21 Sep 2015
No more “stop the boats” or “axe the tax”. In announcing his challenge to Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull promised to take Australian politics away from the mantrafication of policy by three-word chant.
The global warming slowdown is an illusion
21 Sep 2015
Researchers say the world is continuing to warm, and evidence shows claims of a slowdown are unequivocally illusory.
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.
Fonterra admits ‘100% grass-fed’ claim breached law in greenwashing row
Today 11:45am
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Fonterra has admitted its “100% New Zealand grass-fed” claims on Anchor butter were misleading and breached the law, settling a case brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over packaging used between December 2023 and April 2025.
$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.
New protections for NZ migratory species under UN convention
Today 11:45am
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New international protections for migratory species, including several found in New Zealand, are a positive step – but global protections won’t halt the decline of migratory species on their own, experts say.
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.
Asia ramps up use of dirty fuels to cover energy shortfall triggered by Iran war
Today 11:45am
South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plants
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.
Watts’s last stand: Simeon Brown takes energy portfolio
Today 11:45am
By Pattrick Smellie | Energy Minister Simon Watts has lost the portfolio to Cabinet fixer Simeon Brown in a reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this morning.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Media round-up
Today 11:45am
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The widening political gap is deepening cracks in NZ's climate consensus, Christchurch recorded more than 30,000 extra cycling trips over two weeks, and is the energy crisis a renewable inflection point?
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.
Sci-tech prioritisation report is a joke that could cost NZ dearly, says NZ Association of Scientists
Today 11:45am
Media release: New Zealand Association of Scientists | The Prioritisation Report released yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Science Innovation and Technology Council makes a poor case for further cuts and changes to our research system.
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.
AI’s arrival complicates Big Tech climate goals, and some worry it’s locking in more fossil fuels
Today 11:45am
Six years ago, Google was confident that by 2030 it would power all operations with electricity generated from clean sources, including wind and solar power, and remove as much pollution as it produced. Today it calls those goals a “moonshot.” Microsoft says it’s still aiming to remove more carbon than it creates by 2030 but now describes the effort as “a marathon, not a sprint.”
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.
Momentum speeds up for low-emissions heavy transport
Today 11:45am
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s heavy vehicle sector is starting to move toward lower-emissions alternatives, with electric vehicles now delivering cost savings as well as lower emissions.
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.
