Topics tagged with 'Greenhouse Effect'
It's getting hot in here. says Hawaii
16 Jul 2010
Global warming is already leading to rising temperatures in the mountains and declining rainfall in Hawaii, say climate change experts.
Soil saviour Flannery to tell our farmers how
9 Jul 2010
Australian scientist and environmentalist Tim Flannery is heading to New Zealand to push the idea of sequestering carbon in our soil.
Climate bill would save US billions, Congress hears
9 Jul 2010
Congressional sponsors of the stalled US climate change bill received a boost this week from a finding by a nonpartisan office that the measure would reduce the federal deficit by $19 billion during the next decade.
Businesses can shout about carbon neutral
9 Jul 2010
A new Carbon Neutral Program is to be implemented by the Australian Carbon Trust, the Government has announced.
China talks to pave way for Mexico summit
9 Jul 2010
China will host an additional round of climate talks in October in Tianjin before UN members convene in Mexico at the end of the year for a climate change summit.
Obama optimistic on climate bill despite senate rifts
2 Jul 2010
US President Barack Obama spent 90 minutes trying to convince senators to move forward with climate change legislation yesterday … and came away optimistic that a climate bill can be passed in spite of rifts.
UK must take radical action, warns watchdog
2 Jul 2010
Britain needs to build twice as many wind farms every year, put more than a million electric cars on the road and insulate every home in the country in order to meet ambitious legally binding climate change targets, Government advisers have warned.
Bank puts its money where its lightbulbs are
2 Jul 2010
Deutsche Bank and Ecuador have entered into a pioneering transaction to finance household energy efficiency through the carbon market.
We're doing our fair share, says Smith
2 Jul 2010
The entry of transport fuels, electricity and industry into the emissions trading scheme this week marks an important step in New Zealand doing its fair share on climate change, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith says.
Japanese told to go to bed early to cut emissions
2 Jul 2010
The Japanese government has launched a campaign encouraging people to go to bed and get up extra early in order to reduce household carbon dioxide emissions.
UN gives bad Bulgaria the Kyoto boot
2 Jul 2010
Bulgaria has been suspended from United Nations carbon trading for violating greenhouse reporting rules set under the Kyoto Protocol.
FORUM: Half the story
2 Jul 2010
Terry Dunleavy, of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition, takes issue with a story in last Friday's Carbon News.
Event: Energy Roundtable
2 Jul 2010
An event which promises to bring people from the energy sector together to share ideas on smart new technologies will take place in Wellington in September.
Govt fails to provide climate-friendly choices, say Greens
2 Jul 2010
The John Key Government has failed to provide climate-friendly choices to help households avoid the higher costs that could result from their Emissions Trading Scheme, says the Green Party.
Climate change key issue for new Australian leader
25 Jun 2010
Climate change will be the defining issue of the Australian election and could lead to a change of leadership in the Liberals as well, predicts New Zealand Labour's climate change spokesman.
We won't dump you in it, minister tells farmers
25 Jun 2010
Agriculture Minister David Carter is promising farmers they will not come into the Emissions Trading Scheme if New Zealand’s trading partners have not moved to cut their carbon emissions.
Minister happy to talk to anyone ... or no one
25 Jun 2010
Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith will press ahead with public meetings on the Emissions Trading Scheme – even if not many people turn up.
Carbon trading heads off oil in Europe
25 Jun 2010
Carbon emissions early this year overtook Brent crude oil to become the largest commodity type traded in Europe.
All Australia's power could be renewable, says report
25 Jun 2010
Renewable sources could provide all of Australia's energy by 2020, says a new report.
Canada promises to show coal the door
25 Jun 2010
Canada’s Conservative government has vowed to scrub Canada clean of dirty coal-powered electricity generation.
De Boer departs … delighted, determined
25 Jun 2010
The UN’s outgoing chief climate negotiator, Yvo de Boer, is confident that the world is making progress on global warming.
Analysis shows National's ETS the 'worst of all worlds'
25 Jun 2010
A book by Victoria University economist Geoff Bertram and climate change analyst Simon Terry highlights the deep flaws in National’s Emission Trading Scheme, Labour’s climate change spokesman Charles Chauvel said.
Bank carbon desk: We're run off our feet
18 Jun 2010
Westpac says it’s trading “significant” volumes of carbon on the New Zealand market.
NZ climate man gets key Kyoto job
18 Jun 2010
New Zealand’s Climate Change Ambassador, Adrian Macey, has been elected vice-chair of the Kyoto Protocol Negotiations process.
Clover breakthrough could cut farm emissions
18 Jun 2010
A team of kiwi scientists think they can alter white clover so that animals grazing on it receive a more protein and produce less methane.
UK minister vows to ease path for nuclear power
18 Jun 2010
Britain’s new coalition government will remove regulatory barriers and encourage nuclear power by establishing a minimum price for carbon.
New PM aims to slash Govt emissions
18 Jun 2010
Carbon emissions from the UK central government will be cut by 10 per cent in the next 12 months, new Prime Minister David Cameron says.
Surprise! Bonn talks make some progress
18 Jun 2010
Delegates from 184 countries meeting in Bonn last week were never going to find it easy to deal with the debris left after the inconclusive result of last December’s UN climate change summit in Copenhagen.
Organic farmer: We're not all the same
11 Jun 2010
An organic sheep and beef farmer who says she doesn’t mind paying for any environmental damage she causes is calling for the environmental benefits of organic farming to be recognised under the ETS.
Zero carbon low on green goals for Asian firms
11 Jun 2010
Zero carbon footprint targets are "unusual" and have their challenges, according to a consultant who points out that green goals are for now still secondary to attaining growth in Asia, particularly China.
Nations work hard on trust at Bonn talks
11 Jun 2010
Climate change negotiators from 194 countries are hard at work in Bonn, not just hammering out details of a future world deal but at rebuilding trust among nations.
Americans begin to worry again
11 Jun 2010
Public concern about global warming is again on the rise in the United States, according to a survey just released by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities.
US climate bill key to Pacific carbon market
4 Jun 2010
A former New Zealand Government official who chaired some of the meetings at the Copenhagen climate change talks says that a move by the United States into a cap-and-trade scheme could lead to a Pacific-wide carbon market.
Vital ETS rules for agriculture emissions being prepared
4 Jun 2010
All-important fine detail determining how emissions are measured for agriculture are now being developed.
MAF issues several new ETS guides for forestry and agriculture
4 Jun 2010
MAF has produced several new guides relating to the ETS and forestry and agriculture.
US airlines challenge EU emissions rules
4 Jun 2010
American airlines have begun legal action to try to exempt themselves from a European carbon emissions trading scheme due to come into force in 2012.
Figueres believes world deal can be done in Mexico
4 Jun 2010
Agreement can be reached in Mexico this year on the basis for a post-2012 global climate change deal, believes the UN’s new climate chief Christiana Figueres
We must move from meat diet, says UN
4 Jun 2010
A global shift toward a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report says.
Scientists find islands growing, not shrinking
4 Jun 2010
Climate scientists have expressed surprise at findings that indicate that many low lying Pacific islands are not sinking but expanding.
NZ owners sitting pretty, says forest chief
4 Jun 2010
A “perfect storm” may be brewing for the forest sector, says Forest Owners' chief executive David Rhodes.
Power companies explain ETS price rises
28 May 2010
At least one of the power companies implementing price rises on the back of the Emissions Trading Scheme is basing its calculations on the maximum carbon price.
Indonesia agrees to curb commercial deforestation
28 May 2010
Indonesia has declared a two-year moratorium on clearing natural forests as part of a billion-dollar deal aimed at reviving efforts to fight climate change.
Europe sees ‘green bond’ reviving carbon trade
28 May 2010
European regulators and businesses are trying to revive carbon trading through the use of a supplemental “green bond” system that would function alongside the current cap-and-trade scheme, according to a report in the New York Times.
Time to pay up, UN tells rich nations
28 May 2010
The United Nations has told rich countries it’s time to front up with the money they pledged in Copenhagen last December to fight climate change.
Blair to earn millions from climate dealings
28 May 2010
Former British prime minister Tony Blair is set to earn millions of pounds advising an American businessman on how to make money from tackling climate change.
Pacific climate change could drive droughts
28 May 2010
Climate scientists are concerned a rise in temperature in the Pacific region due to climate change, could increase droughts in New Zealand and Australia.
Ministry pushes to meet allocations deadline
21 May 2010
The Ministry for the Environment says it is making “all reasonable endeavours” to provide businesses with some certainty over who will get free carbon credits before emitters start entering the scheme on July 1.
NZ on right road with ETS, says negotiator
21 May 2010
Political developments in the United States and elsewhere back the New Zealand Government’s decision to press ahead with the Emissions Trading Scheme, says Climate Change Negotiations Minister Tim Groser.
Garnaut: Carbon tax better than nothing
21 May 2010
The architect of Australia’s dumped emissions trading scheme has called for an interim carbon tax to be imposed.
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
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
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
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'.
