Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
Bay of Plenty launches online carbon footprint tool
3 May 2023
Bay of Plenty councils have joined forces to launch “FutureFit,” an online carbon tracking tool to help people determine their carbon footprint and set climate-friendly goals.
Wellington communities to prepare for climate change events
2 May 2023
The Wellington City Council is starting a consultation process that will see communities at high risk of severe weather events developing their own adaptation plans.
Climate emergency lacks urgency: Rod Carr
24 Apr 2023
Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr tells Carbon News New Zealand's climate emergency lacks urgency, and while he loves markets it should be acknowledged they're myopic, reckless, and selfish.
Report highlights climate change danger to children's education in Pacific
24 Apr 2023
Like many mothers, Janet Iaticknu gets up in the morning and helps her children get ready for school.
Record breaking heatwaves cause 15,000 deaths in Europe
24 Apr 2023
Record-breaking heatwaves over the last few years, affecting the Europen continent and parts of China during the summer, have caused nearly 15,700 deaths, an analysis published by the United Nations Agency for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology, and Geophysics, claimed.
Best by the rest...
21 Apr 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate reporting in local media: how the Environment Minister failed to stop a major polluter getting ahead of a climate law change; why the Climate Change Commission’s advice could increase costs for Kiwis; and crowdsourcing for Papatūānuku - Te Tairāwhiti style.
Today is Aotearoa’s overshoot day
19 Apr 2023
If the whole world’s population consumed resources at the rate of New Zealanders, today marks the day we would overshoot the planet’s yearly bio-capacity.
NZ gives $15 million to Solomon Islands climate fund
18 Apr 2023
The government has committed $15 million dollars to a Solomon Island climate adaptation fund.
Reasons to be hopeful: 7 stories of underdogs and climate heroes to celebrate on Earth Day
14 Apr 2023
Every year more than a billion people mark Earth Day by taking action to protect the planet.
Best by the rest...
6 Apr 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: The finance minister seeks advice on the ETS as carbon prices plummet; National’s climate policy is under scrutiny; and kaitiakitanga as climate action.
Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy transition targets
5 Apr 2023
Germany aims to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2045. It has set the preliminary targets of cutting emissions by at least 65% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and 88% by 2040.
Rich countries could learn from Bangladesh
5 Apr 2023
For anyone who has sweated through record-high temperatures or waded through floodwater, it will come as no surprise that Britain is “strikingly unprepared" for the effects of climate change. That’s the conclusion of a recent report published by the Climate Change Committee, the UK’s independent advisory body on climate policy to the government.
Here's what you need to know about positive climate tipping points
4 Apr 2023
A recent landmark report on the climate crisis pointed out some near-term tipping points that could mean the difference between a habitable planet and an uninhabitable one.
Further ice loss for NZ’s glaciers
3 Apr 2023
Media release | NIWA’s annual end-of-summer snowline survey has revealed continued loss of snow and ice for New Zealand’s famous glaciers.
Torrents of Antarctic meltwater are slowing the currents that drive our vital ocean ‘overturning’ – and threaten its collapse
31 Mar 2023
The Conversation - Off the coast of Antarctica, trillions of tonnes of cold salty water sink to great depths. As the water sinks, it drives the deepest flows of the “overturning” circulation – a network of strong currents spanning the world’s oceans.
Govt announces new waste strategy will cut emissions
30 Mar 2023
The government announced a new waste strategy yesterday that it says will cut tens of thousands of CO2-equivalent emissions with kerbside food scrap collection.
Reserve Bank seeks feedback on managing climate-related risks
30 Mar 2023
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is seeking feedback on proposed new guidance for the financial sector on managing climate-related risks.
Is climate change to blame for the 8,000km long seaweed blob floating toward Florida and Mexico?
28 Mar 2023
A massive 8,000km long blob of seaweed is floating towards Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Brazilian Govt eyes permanent climate emergency for over 1000 cities
28 Mar 2023
Brazil's Minister of Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva Sunday admitted that President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva's administration was considering the possibility of declaring a state of climate emergency in 1,038 municipalities mapped as most vulnerable, Agencia Brasil reported.
Best by the rest...
24 Mar 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: the Climate Change Commision wants the Government to explain why it rejected advice; meanwhile, the commission failed to win legal costs from Lawyers for Climate Action NZ; and the Labour-Green coalition is under pressure as Labour dumps climate policies.
Dramatic changes in New Zealand river flows, research finds
24 Mar 2023
Media release | River flows in New Zealand have changed dramatically over the past 50 to 90 years as the climate has varied, a new study has found.
Climate freeloaders are destroying the planet
24 Mar 2023
Alaska isn't supposed to be an inferno—but its summers are now so warm that apocalyptic wildfires are almost inevitable.
Slave to energy
23 Mar 2023
Carbon News editor Jeremy Rose wrote his first climate story close to to quarter of a century ago. Many of the issues remain the same today. Today we republish the story to accompany Jeremy's piece on the dilemmas of whether to travel as a climate journalist.
Climate change: “It’s here, it's now, it’s us” - local experts on IPCC report
21 Mar 2023
The IPCC's latest report pulls no punches: “Climate change is here, it’s now, it’s us,” says Nick Cradock-Henry, GNS Science and IPCC contributing author.
Weathering the storm: How Japan is factoring climate change into defence policy
20 Mar 2023
Storm surges, flooding, more powerful typhoons and scorching temperatures — climate change will bring more of all to Japan, endangering military sites, personnel and gear, but also putting Tokyo and the Indo-Pacific at greater risk of geopolitical shocks.
Why countries shouldn’t rely on forests and soils to reach net zero
20 Mar 2023
Countries are betting on forests and soils to mop up their remaining “difficult-to-decarbonize” emissions to achieve their climate targets. More forests and better soils are good for nature and for adapting to climate change, but this strategy may prove a risk to the global goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate crisis worsens health disparities
17 Mar 2023
Climate change is already exacerbating health disparities for isolated communities and rural Māori - and we must prepare now for future disasters, rural doctors say.
As climate woes worsen, Africa's ecconomies suffer: UN
17 Mar 2023
From devastating cyclones and floods to an unrelenting drought, African countries are spending between 2% and 9% of their budgets to respond to extreme weather events, according to a United Nations report.
Greece must make up for lost time in climate adaptation
17 Mar 2023
A string of devastating wildfires and floods has forced Greece to step up its lagging climate adaptation efforts.
Floods, cyclones, thunderstorms: is climate change to blame for New Zealand’s summer of extreme weather?
16 Mar 2023
By James Renwick - The Conversation | The final months of New Zealand’s summer carried a massive sting, bringing “unprecedented” rainfalls several times over, from widespread flooding in Auckland at the end of January to ex-tropical Cyclone Gabrielle dumping record rains and causing devastating floods across the east coast of the North Island.
DRC dilemma: Generate oil wealth or combat climate change?
16 Mar 2023
The Democratic Republic of Congo wants more money for climate projects. Otherwise, oil drilling could replace fishermen in the world's largest peat bog. And that could spell devastation for the environment.
The UN’s climate handbook for a ‘liveable’ future
15 Mar 2023
Earth is hotter than it has been in 125,000 years but deadly heatwaves, storms and floods amplified by global warming could be a foretaste as planet-heating fossil fuels put a “liveable” future at risk.
French TV transforms weather forecasts to include climate change context
15 Mar 2023
State TV channels France 2 and France 3 have changed their daily weather forecasts into "weather and climate bulletins" as pat of France Televisions’ efforts to raise awareness about climate change. Presenters are showing not only what weather to expect, but the reasons behind it.
Our radioactive moment continues
13 Mar 2023
New Zealand has once again been ranked among the world’s climate change laggards - alongside the likes of Saudi Arabia - by Climate Action Tracker.
Why saving the whales means saving ourselves
13 Mar 2023
In 2016, disturbing footage captured on a sunny beach in Argentina went viral. The video appeared in news outlets around the world under variations of a disquieting headline: “Baby dolphin dies after a mob of tourists pass it around to pose for selfies.”
Climate-stressed Iraq says it will plant 5 million trees
13 Mar 2023
Iraq's prime minister on Sunday announced a campaign to combat the severe impacts of climate change on the water-scarce country, including by planting five million palms and trees.
U.N. official: Decarbonisation might not happen fast enough to stop climate change
10 Mar 2023
The world is not acting fast enough on global warming, according to a top official at the United Nations.
Threat of rising seas to Asian megacities could be way worse than we thought, study warns
9 Mar 2023
Parts of Asia’s largest cities could be under water by 2100 thanks to rising sea levels, according to a new study that combines both the impact of climate change with natural oceanic fluctuations.
Climate change blamed for declines in mountain plants
9 Mar 2023
Climate change has likely led to the decline of some of Scotland's mountain plants, according to new research.
High seas treaty a step forward - but “the work is far from over,” say experts
8 Mar 2023
Experts have welcomed an international treaty for the high seas - but say there is still a long way to go to ensure adequate protection and sustainable use.
Risky feedback loops are accelerating climate change, scientists warn
8 Mar 2023
Risky feedback loops that are accelerating global climate change may not be fully accounted for in current climate models, according to a recent study published in the scientific journal One Earth.
Climate change to cost Germany up to €900 billion by 2050 - study
7 Mar 2023
Extreme weather caused by climate change could cost Germany up to 900 billion euros in cumulative economic damage by mid-century, a study showed on Monday, as Europe's biggest economy seeks climate adaptation measures to cut the damages bill.
UK emissions fall 3.4% in 2022 as coal use drops to lowest level since 1757
7 Mar 2023
The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 3.4% in 2022, according to new Carbon Brief analysis, ending a post-Covid rebound.
Vanuatu hit by successive climate crisis fuelled cyclones
6 Mar 2023
New Zealand is sending much-needed humanitarian supplies to Vanuatu after two destructive cyclones and an earthquake within two days have impacted nearly 80% of the population.
Eleven Asian countries agree to pursue 'practical' carbon neutrality
6 Mar 2023
Japan and a group of 10 other countries in Asia have agreed to pursue "practical pathways" for carbon neutrality through coordinated steps such as developing hydrogen supply chains and setting decarbonization standards while ensuring energy security
Scientists discover a new way climate change threatens cold-blooded animals
6 Mar 2023
All animals need energy to live. They use it to breathe, circulate blood, digest food and move. Young animals use energy to grow, and later in life, to reproduce.
La Niña could lead to more heavy rain in the North Island
2 Mar 2023
Weather in the flood ravaged North Island looks to be drier in the coming months, but La Niña could still lead to the risk of heavy rain, according to NIWA’s March to May outlook.
Is climate change killing the haiku?
2 Mar 2023
Even amid relentless modernisation and urbannisation, Japan offers many daily moments that remind us of the seasons. Pop songs celebrate love and, with the advent of spring, sakura (cherry blossoms); restaurants advertise seasonal delicacies, and formal letters open with references to the golden beauty of trees under the autumn sun or snow flurrying in the winter air.
Could imitating volcanos fix the climate crisis? Science is spilt
1 Mar 2023
The controversial theory of solar geoengineering is at the centre of a growing body of climate research in Asia and elsewhere.
An incendiary form of lightning may surge under climate change
1 Mar 2023
A form of lightning with a knack for sparking wildfires may surge under climate change.
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.
Beef production drives 40% of agriculture-linked forest destruction, Brazil leads
Thu 26 Mar 2026
Beef production is the leading driver of agriculture-linked deforestation, accounting for 40% of all forest clearing done to open space for food production, according to details of a study released on Tuesday.
$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
Thu 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.
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.
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.
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.
What does India’s new Paris Agreement pledge mean for climate action?
Tue 31 Mar 2026
India has set a new target to reduce its “emissions intensity” – greenhouse gas emissions per unit of economic output – to 47% below 2005 levels by 2035.
Carbon price: Ups and downs amid geopolitical uncertainty
Thu 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.
Japan considers switch from LNG to coal
Tue 31 Mar 2026
Japan is considering ramping up coal-fired power generation amid a liquefied natural gas crunch that has led to significantly higher prices.
Hormuz crisis critical to New Zealand
10 Mar 2026
By Nathan Surendran | COMMENT: Why the Hormuz crisis is a symptom, not the disease – and what it means for New Zealand.
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.
Europe’s energy illusion: Why a €1 trillion green bet hasn’t broken the import habit
Tue 31 Mar 2026
The war with Iran is exposing a hard truth – Europe’s green push has left it no less dependent on imported energy.
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.
‘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.
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.
MfE forecasts suggest diminishing NZU stockpile
19 Mar 2026
By Clive Bradbury | ANALYSIS: The Ministry for the Environment has updated its NZ ETS forecasts of emissions, removals and entitlements from the Crown's financial forecasting, with predictions pointing to a significant drop in the ‘stockpile’ this year.
Open letter: NZ needs an essential use allocation plan for fuel – now
Mon 30 Mar 2026
Wise Response Society | We are writing to make one demand: the government must publish a quantified, ranked essential use allocation plan for fuel - with litres-per-day allocations, tied to actual onshore stock levels and realistic resupply assumptions.
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.
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.
Cleantech expo coming to Auckland
Thu 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.
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.
Close questioning over ‘ministerial latitude’ at climate hearing
17 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Lawyers challenging the legality of the government’s emissions reduction plans faced close questioning on the limits of ministerial foresight in the first of three days of hearings at the Wellington High Court yesterday.
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?
Cost of living dominates Kiwis’ concerns – but sustainability still shapes trust, choices and expectations of business
Mon 30 Mar 2026
Media release: Sustainable Business Council | The cost of living continues to emerge as New Zealanders’ top concern - yet sustainability continues to play a decisive role in how people judge businesses, according to new research.
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.
Balcony solar is spreading across the US
Tue 31 Mar 2026
The balcony solar movement is running hot in Germany, and now it is spreading into the US like gangbusters, just in time for US President Donald Trump’s war in Iran to send the cost of coal through the roof alongside oil and natural gas.
World-leading plasma torch takes aim at NZ's most potent greenhouse gases
24 Mar 2026
Media release | A high-tech plasma torch was lit up today as Minister of Conservation, Hon Tama Potaka, officially opened the $10 million National Refrigerant Destruction Facility – signalling a new era in addressing the environmental impact of New Zealand’s most potent greenhouse gases.
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.
Why the Iran war may have just killed the AI boom
Thu 26 Mar 2026
The $1.5 trillion in committed AI infrastructure spending by major tech companies is built on an assumption of a functional global supply chain, which the Iran conflict has fundamentally broken.
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.
Two Australian states offer free public transport as war pushes up fuel prices
Mon 30 Mar 2026
Public transport in two Australian states will be made free to incentivise people not to drive as fuel prices soar due to the war in the Middle East.
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.
Global coastal sea-level risks may be underestimated, say scientists
5 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Coastal communities across the Pacific and Southeast Asia could be facing greater sea-level rise risks than previously estimated, researchers say.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
Thu 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.
Western Australian communities want mandatory payments from new renewable developments
6 Mar 2026
The West Australian government wants to make new wind and solar farms pay into community funds, but host towns say more work needs to be done to make sure the payments actually happen.
