Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Rather than divest, advocate for carbon balancing
4 May 2015
At many universities and other institutions, heartfelt campaigns are under way to divest from fossil fuel companies as a way to address climate change.
Man-made climate change increases extinction dangers
4 May 2015
Climate change threatens one in six of the world’s species with extinction, according to new research.
Commitment to end flaring is boost for climate talks
4 May 2015
Companies and governments responsible for 40 per cent of global gas flaring have made a commitment to stop their climate-damaging activities within the next 15 years.
US braces itself for even worse wildfire season
4 May 2015
The firefighters are primed, hoses at the ready. May and June are often the peak months for forest fires in the southwest of the US, and the outlook for this year is grim.
Europe sets timetable to slash plastic bag use
4 May 2015
Single-use plastic bags could soon become a thing of the past in European supermarkets.
Apparently, we're going to slash thousands of tonnes of emissions by 2020
28 Apr 2015
The Government expects the Emissions Trading Scheme to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 10,000 kilotonnes in 2020.
Watchdog calls for 30% emissions cut by 2025
28 Apr 2015
Australia should pledge far deeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions than its current target if it is to do its fair share in tackling climate change, according to a report by the Climate Change Authority, which advises the federal government on climate policy.
Unburnable carbon: why we need to leave fossil fuels in the ground
28 Apr 2015
Ninety per cent of Australia’s current coal reserves will need to be left in the ground for Australia to play its role in limiting warming to no more than 2C.
It's up to central banks to back the climate change fight
28 Apr 2015
In the aftermath of the 2008/9 global financial crisis central banks around the world pumped billions of dollars into the monetary system to safeguard the world economy.
Call for an end to ‘business as usual’ option on climate
28 Apr 2015
The whole issue of climate is much too important to be left to governments and their leaders, says Mary Robinson, the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy on climate change.
There’s nothing ‘perma’ about Arctic permafrost
28 Apr 2015
Permafrost - a vast, frozen subsurface layer of soil - covers nearly a quarter of the land in the northern hemisphere. It contains centuries worth of carbon in the form of plants that have died since the last ice age but remained frozen rather than decomposing.
NZ's fine on fossil-fuel subsidies, says Groser
20 Apr 2015
New Zealand has been given a clean bill-of-health on fossil-fuel subsidies, the Government says.
Minister happy with dairying emissions progress
20 Apr 2015
The dairy industry is making progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Government says.
Treasury COO to be new voice for the environment
20 Apr 2015
New Zealand has a new Secretary for the Environment.
Big Oil faces new pressure to disclose climate risk
20 Apr 2015
A $2 trillion group of investors have asked regulators to force oil and gas companies to provide more disclosures about climate-related risks to their businesses.
Battery costs drop even faster as electric car sales keep rising
20 Apr 2015
The cost of batteries is one of the major hurdles standing in the way of widespread use of electric cars and household solar batteries.
NZ city leaders lie low on new climate pact
13 Apr 2015
New Zealand cities are not among those signing up to a new compact on climate change.
Investors chip in as renewables rise toward record level
13 Apr 2015
Carbon dioxide levels might be soaring, and governments might be slow to reduce fossil fuel emissions and contain climate change, but the smart money could nevertheless be going into renewable sources such as wind and solar power.
Unhappy birthday for UK's nuclear white elephants
13 Apr 2015
A state-of-the-art British plant designed to re-use spent nuclear fuel so as to cut greenhouse gas emissions is to close after years of what its critics call “commercial and technical failure.”
Water Man of India makes rivers flow again
13 Apr 2015
Revival of traditional rainwater harvesting has transformed the driest state in India, and could be used to combat the effects of climate change across the world.
NZ hangs back as countries commit to carbon cuts
7 Apr 2015
Russia did it. The United States did it. All the countries in the European Union have done it, as have Mexico, Norway, Switzerland and Latvia. Even oil-and-mineral-exporting Gabon, population 1.3 million, did it.
How the US’s post-2020 climate target could fit into a global deal
7 Apr 2015
The United States' formal submission this week of its intended post 2020 climate target raises several questions for this year’s global climate talks.
BP’s extreme climate forecast puts energy giant in a bind
7 Apr 2015
BP’s annual Energy Outlook report details the results from modelling of what it sees as the “most likely” energy scenario out to 2035.
Hi-tech farming seen as way to green the food chain
7 Apr 2015
Connected agriculture – from farm to retail – has been promoted at an event in Brussels as the way to wean European agriculture off its addiction to chemicals, water and fossil fuels.
New ocean energy plan could worsen global warming
7 Apr 2015
One of renewable energy’s more outspoken enthusiasts has delivered bad news for the prospects of developing ocean thermal energy. His prediction is that although the technology could work for a while, after about 50 years it could actually exacerbate long-term global warning.
Rich nations urged to cut temperature rise targets
7 Apr 2015
The official target of limiting global warming to a 2C rise has been described by a senior scientist as “utterly inadequate” to protect the people most at risk from climate change.
Forest experts are wrong, say climate change ministers
30 Mar 2015
The Government is sticking to its guns – forest planting is down because of the cyclical nature of the industry, and not because carbon prices are too low to encourage planting.
We're watching carbon prices, says Government
30 Mar 2015
The Government says it is watching carbon prices creep higher.
Australia well short of meeting emissions target
30 Mar 2015
Australia’s flagship climate change scheme will buy the country just half of its 2020 emissions reduction target, a market watcher says.
China ramps up the rhetoric on climate change
30 Mar 2015
By KEIRAN COOKE.- Zheng Guogang, head of the China Meteorological Administration, says future variations in climate are likely to reduce crop yields and damage the environment.
Beat-the-heat beans could keep feeding millions
30 Mar 2015
Scientists believe they may have found how to safeguard a staple tropical crop, on which hundreds of millions of people depend, from the depredations of climate change.
Fossil-fuel investment risk not on our radar, says Treasury
23 Mar 2015
Fossil-fuel investment exposure might be worrying the Bank of England, but it has failed to cause any ripples at New Zealand’s Treasury.
Memo Jo: Foresters need a bit more than praise
23 Mar 2015
Forest owners want the Government to put its money where its mouth is on sustainable forestry – and are gathering the numbers to back their case.
NZ slow to commit to Paris emissions deadline
23 Mar 2015
New Zealand will not get its post-2020 emissions reduction target into the United Nations by the end of the month.
Old King Coal is sick ... but not yet dying
23 Mar 2015
A global investigation into every coal-fired power plant proposed in the past five years shows that only one in three of them has actually been built.
Why is low-carbon energy innovation so slow? You can thank Economics 101
23 Mar 2015
The world needs a lot of energy. Global energy demand is expected to increase by 37 per cent percent over the next 25 years, according to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2014.
Law firm awards student environment prize
23 Mar 2015
Rachael Witney is the winner of the Simpson Grierson Environmental Law Prize for 2014.
Foresters draw up wishlist for ETS review
16 Mar 2015
The Emissions Trading Scheme review is likely to be pushed into next year, forest owners say.
Chemical fertilisers poison our water, says study
16 Mar 2015
Waterways – including human drinking supplies – are being poisoned by excessive use of chemical fertilisers, new research shows.
Heat is on to slow down faster rise in temperatures
16 Mar 2015
Analysis of temperature records and reconstructions of past climates indicates that the pace of global warming is about to accelerate.
Why is pumping CO2 underground stuck in second gear?
16 Mar 2015
There are many uncertainties with respect to global climate change, but there is one thing about which I have no doubts: we will not solve climate change by running out of fossil fuels.
World needs early warning of climate-linked disasters
16 Mar 2015
A senior French political leader has told an international conference on how to reduce the risk from natural disasters that 70 per cent of them are now linked to climate change, twice as many as 20 years ago.
Carbon measure puts us among worst in the world
9 Mar 2015
New Zealand’s carbon intensity is going through the roof, despite Government claims to the contrary.
Beehive breaking our climate change pledge
9 Mar 2015
Latest figures show that New Zealand is not planting enough trees to meet its climate change pledges, and a carbon forestry expert says that the Government is to blame.
How well prepared are businesses for climate change?
9 Mar 2015
The world is changing. The weather is becoming more volatile, with the number of extreme weather events on the rise. Climate change represents the new normal: the Earth is already showing the impacts of our actions, which will continue to become more visible.
Four ways to boost Australia’s economy and help the climate
9 Mar 2015
Australia likely has several decades of coal left in it.
How artificial lagoons can be used to harvest energy from the tides
9 Mar 2015
The search for alternative energy sources in the age of climate change has overlooked tidal energy: a vast and unexploited worldwide resource.
Prices fail to reflect real costs of fossil fuels
9 Mar 2015
Forget the price of petrol at the pumps. The true cost of any fossil fuel is much greater if social costs are factored in, according to new research.
Govt vows to ask public about emissions target
2 Mar 2015
The Government will consult the public over New Zealand’s post-2020 emissions reduction target.
Sydney aims to save $600m on energy bills
2 Mar 2015
Sydney is aiming to become one of the world’s most energy-efficient cities, slashing greenhouse gas pollution and saving $600 million on energy bills by 2030.
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.
