Topics tagged with 'Kyoto'
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.
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.
Will NZ walk away from the Paris Agreement?
20 Dec 2024
By Geoff Bertram | COMMENT: Unless the government can find very cheap offshore mitigation, the temptation to walk away from its Paris Agreement obligations may well be too strong to resist for a coalition government focused on fiscal austerity.
NZ submits first Paris Agreement progress report
19 Dec 2024
New Zealand has submitted its first report to the UN on how the country is tracking towards its international climate target to 2030 under the Paris Agreement.
Complex Article 6 rules pave way to unruly carbon markets
25 Nov 2024
Media release | Despite the best efforts of activists and some climate negotiators, the agreement reached on Article 6 carbon markets at COP29 in Baku risks facilitating cowboy carbon markets at a time when the world needs a sheriff.
NZ must work with other countries to reach climate goals: new research
14 Oct 2024
By Liz Kivi | Aotearoa’s international climate targets can only be met through funding significant emissions reductions in other countries. But a lack of public support to spend this money overseas is paralysing New Zealand’s progress towards its goal, according to researchers.
How is the draft Emissions Reduction Plan supposed to work?
5 Aug 2024
COMMENT: In its new climate plan, the coalition government seems to be setting New Zealand up to withdraw from the world carbon market before 2035, argues economist Geoff Bertram.
NZ government swimming against the tide of history: Oil Change International
15 Dec 2023
Oil Change International campaign manager David Tong says the COP28 call to move away from fossil fuels shows the New Zealand government is trying to swim against the tide of history.
Watts tells COP28 NZ is committed to "ambitious" NDC
11 Dec 2023
In his first major speech on climate change since becoming the minister, Simon Watts re-stated New Zealand’s commitment to meeting our “ambitious” Nationally Determined Contribution.
New Zealand criticised for dependence on offsetting
7 Dec 2023
New Zealand has been singled out, along with Japan and South Korea, for relying on offshore offsetting to meet its nationally determined contribution in the latest update by non-profit Climate Action Tracker.
New Zealand continues to punch above its weight in Fossil awards
4 Dec 2023
New Zealand has once again won itself the dubious honour of a Fossil of the Day Award at COP 28 in Dubai, the third time in as may years.
Scrutiny on global voluntary carbon market and changes to ETS led to Toitū dropping NZUs
1 Dec 2023
By Ann Smith | OPINION: Toitū’s decision last week to transition away from accepting New Zealand carbon credits brought the global voluntary carbon market, and debates about its integrity, into sharp focus.
Massive native reforestation project proposed
29 Nov 2023
By Jeremy Rose | New Zealand could go from being a buyer of offshore carbon credits to an exporter of offsets, according to the promoters of an ambitious plan to reforest and restore 2.1 million hectares of indigenous forests over the next 10 years.
Proposal to include non-forestry land in NDC calculation
25 Oct 2023
By Jeremy Rose | A Cabinet minute from July of this year agreed in principle to include non-forest land in New Zealand’s nationally determined contribution.
Climate issues and the 2023 Election: Is Aotearoa heading in a sustainable direction?
30 Aug 2023
By Ralph Chapman | COMMENT: In the glare of now daily global climate disasters, climate change is taking a higher profile as an election issue in Aotearoa.
ETS review looks at reducing NZUs at auction
19 Jun 2023
The government has opened public consultation on the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme as well as consultation on redesigning its Permanent Forest Category.
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.
Nations fight to be called climate vulnerable in IPCC report
24 Mar 2023
Government negotiators fought bitterly last week over which groups and regions are defined as particularly vulnerable to climate change in the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Govt announces review of the ETS
23 Mar 2023
The government has announced it is reviewing the Emissions Trading Scheme to see whether it can play a stronger role in driving New Zealand’s climate response.
New IPCC report shows the ‘climate time bomb is ticking,’ says UN Secretary General António Guterres
21 Mar 2023
The latest climate science assessment warns—once again—that global warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius would be devastating for Earth’s people and ecosystems.
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.
New mechanism provides a key tool for countries to meet their climate goals
14 Mar 2023
The full operationalisation of the ‘Article 6.4 mechanism’, as established in the Paris Agreement, is key to help countries unlock the goals set out in their climate action plans, said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.
A loss and damage deal was finalised at COP27. Now, the hard work begins
2 Mar 2023
Loss and damage costs related to climate change could total more than $1 trillion by 2050. Where will the money come from, and who will get it?
NZ meets 2020 decarbonisation target with Kyoto credits
19 Dec 2022
New Zealand is meeting its commitment to reducing the country’s 2013-2022 emissions by 5% compared to 1990 levels by using 6.5 million Kyoto protocol credits.
Which countries are ‘particularly vulnerable’ to climate change?
9 Dec 2022
The G77+China bloc of developing countries wanted all developing countries to be eligible for the funds. The European Union – which caused a lot of climate change and so will be expected to pay into the fund – wanted the money to only go to “particularly vulnerable” developing countries.
1.5 degrees not just aspirational: Shaw
25 Nov 2022
Climate change minister James Shaw says New Zealand’s commitment to 1.5 degrees is “absolutely essential.”
Shaw commits New Zealand to an indigenous framework for climate action
17 Nov 2022
Climate change minister James Shaw told delegates at COP27 in Egypt yesterday, that New Zealand was developing an indigenous framework for climate action led by Māori, for Māori.
We’re on a ‘highway to climate hell:’ UN chief Guterres
8 Nov 2022
The United Nations secretary general issued a stark warning Monday, telling attendees at the COP27 summit that the world was losing its fight against climate change while also repeating his call to phase-out coal by the year 2040.
Climate pledges depend too much on natural carbon sinks: report
2 Nov 2022
Current climate pledges focus too much on land-based carbon sinks such as tree planting rather than food production and biodiversity, researchers from Australia, Denmark, Sweden and elsewhere said in a report on Tuesday.
Revolution is in the air at Sisi's climate conference
31 Oct 2022
Storm clouds are gathering over the skies of Egypt which have a hint of revolution within them. They could be the real reason why prominent climate change protagonists like Britain's King Charles III and politicians are not attending the prestigious global COP27 due to be held in Sharm El Sheikh from 6 to 18 November.
African climate diplomats reject African Union’s pro-gas stance for Cop27
5 Aug 2022
African climate negotiators have quashed a proposal by the African Union to promote gas as a bridge fuel for the continent at UN talks.
India approves climate plan with increased ambition, clarifying energy goals
4 Aug 2022
India’s cabinet has approved an updated national climate plan, cementing targets pledged by Narendra Modi in November, including a 2070 net zero goal and 45% reduction in emissions intensity by 2030.
Rich nations hit brakes on climate aid to poor at UN talks
20 Jun 2022
Rich countries including the European Union and the United States have pushed back against efforts to put financial help for poor nations suffering the devastating effects of global warming firmly on the agenda for this year’s U.N. climate summit.
Norway underpaid Indonesia for forest protection results: study
26 Jan 2022
Norway’s scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation in Indonesia made only a tiny dent in meeting the nation’s climate target – but the forest nation deserved to have been paid more for it, a study has found.
Denmark bets on North Sea carbon capture to hit climate goals
15 Dec 2021
Denmark will allocate 16 billion Danish crowns (US$2.43 billion) towards carbon capture and storage subsidies over the coming decade in a move to reach one of the world's most ambitious climate targets, its government has announced.
Who will be the judge of countries' climate plans?
13 Dec 2021
Countries have until the end of next year to ensure their climate commitments meet the Paris agreement's cap on global warming. But who will check that their promises really do stack up?
The millions of tonnes of carbon emissions that don't offically exist
10 Dec 2021
How a blind spot in the Kyoto Protocol helped create the biomass industry.
New Zealand’s climate change regulation is messy and complex – here’s how to improve it
24 Nov 2021
Waikato University associate professor of law Nathan Cooper says the Emissions Reduction Plan provides the perfect opportunity to align New Zealand's national and international climate targets.
Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Glasgow: Carbon Brief
16 Nov 2021
Carbon Brief provides an in-depth summary of all the key outcomes in Glasgow – both inside and outside the COP26.
Fixing climate finance: Jeffrey Sachs
16 Nov 2021
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) fell far short of what is needed for a safe planet, owing mainly to the same lack of trust that has burdened global climate negotiations for almost three decades.
COP26: New global climate deal struck in Glasgow
15 Nov 2021
The Glasgow Climate Pact is the first ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce coal, the worst fossil fuel for greenhouse gases.
Saudi Arabia denies playing climate saboteur at Glasgow
12 Nov 2021
The tightest of smiles on his face and the fabric of his traditional thobe swirling about him as he strides through a hallway at U.N. climate talks, Saudi Arabia's energy minister expresses shock at repeated complaints that the world's largest oil producer is working behind the scenes to sabotage negotiations.
Glasgow Conversations: Day 10
11 Nov 2021
On day 10 of COP26, Alastair Thompson is there when the US and China announce what he believes to be the most significant news of the summit to date.
Bornean communities locked into 2-million-hectare carbon deal they don’t know about
11 Nov 2021
Leaders in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, have signed a profit-sharing deal to market carbon and other natural capital from more than 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of the state’s forests for at least the next 100 years. But the communities living in and around those forests know next to nothing about it.
Glasgow Conversations: Day 8
9 Nov 2021
On day 8 of COP26, Alastair Thompson attends a Barak Obama talk, a briefing by climate change minister James Shaw, and delves into the important but mind numbingly complicated world of climate finance.
Countries far apart as climate talks enter final week
9 Nov 2021
UN climate talks have entered their final week with countries still worlds apart on key issues including how rapidly the world curbs carbon emissions and how to help nations already impacted by global heating.
Cabinet watered-down James Shaw’s proposal for revised NDC
8 Nov 2021
A leaked Cabinet paper has revealed climate change minister James Shaw failed to convince Cabinet to include agriculture in New Zealand’s net zero commitments, and that Treasury and MBIE both opposed more ambitious climate targets.
Glasgow Conversations: Week 2
8 Nov 2021
As COP26 enters its second week, Alastair Thompson talks to Jeremy Rose about the week that's been and the one to come.
Al Gore warns of a $22 trillion ‘subprime carbon bubble’
4 Nov 2021
Al Gore, the former vice president of the U.S. and the chairman of Generation Investment Management LLP, said the world is witnessing a sustainability revolution and warned that investors caught on the wrong side of history will face losses.
Doing the maths on Biden’s climate pledge
4 Nov 2021
President Biden took a math problem to Glasgow. He and his advisers have spent the first two days of the international climate conference known as COP 26 trying to persuade world leaders that U.S. actions will add up to a 50 percent emissions reduction over nine years.
Auckland Council opens $1m Climate and Emergency Readiness Fund
4 Feb 2026
Community groups across Tāmaki Makaurau are being invited to apply for a new $1 million Climate and Emergency Readiness Fund, designed to support locally led action on climate change, disaster preparedness and climate adaptation.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Construction is set to start this month on Hiringa Energy’s long delayed green hydrogen project in South Taranaki, after years of consenting fights that culminated in the Court of Appeal rejecting Greenpeace’s challenge in late 2023.
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.
World fight against invasive species comes to Auckland
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Media release: University of Auckland | From countering invasive pink salmon in Norway to controlling feral cats in the Cayman Islands, knowledge on eradicating invasive species will be shared by international experts in New Zealand.
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.
EU weighing options to support industry in carbon market overhaul
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The European Commission is looking at various ways to support industries in an upcoming overhaul of the EU carbon market to prevent them moving to areas with lower pollution standards, the head of the Commission’s climate department said late on Wednesday.
IEA calls peak coal, even as 'Age of Electricity' takes hold to boost global power demand
Tue 10 Feb 2026
A new IEA report published on Friday, Electricity 2026, says electricity demand will increase by an average of 3.6 per cent each year over the remainder of the decade, driven by rising consumption from industry, electric vehicles, air conditioning, and data centres.
Minister’s letters: Mildly positive or just virtue signalling?
Thu 5 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market was buoyed slightly yesterday, after letters between the Government and the Climate Change Commission were proactively released.
Govt backs LNG imports
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government will rush to put in place contracts for the construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility by mid-year, claiming it will smooth electricity price volatility and underpin investment in renewable energy projects.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: By deciding to underwrite the private construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, the Government has made a rational choice in favour of energy security and affordability.
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.
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.
Govt looks to Commission for ways to shore up carbon price
4 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government has asked the Climate Change Commission to look at lower auction volumes and an increase in the auction floor price as options to revive the Emissions Trading Scheme, as carbon prices remain weak.
Ministers celebrate fast-track milestone amid criticism
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government is marking the first anniversary of its fast-track approvals regime, saying it is helping “build New Zealand’s future”, despite continued criticism from environmental groups, opposition parties, and industry voices following several controversial project decisions.
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.
$8.9m research project to map future ocean change around Aotearoa
Tue 10 Feb 2026
The major research project aims to better understand how warming oceans are driving extreme weather events around New Zealand, from heavy rainfall to tropical cyclones.
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.
'Damning' report challenges forestry’s role in Tairāwhiti as sector rejects conclusions
4 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New independent analysis commissioned by Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti challenges long-standing claims that industrial forestry underpins the Tairāwhiti economy.
US-driven gas turbine crunch may speed global clean power uptake
Mon 9 Feb 2026
A rush by U.S. utilities and tech giants to snap up as many gas turbines as possible to boost local power output is causing a global shortage of gas-power equipment and may spur other power systems to fast-track cleaner alternatives.
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.”
US is canceling almost $30 billion in Biden-era energy loans
27 Jan 2026
The Trump administration said it’s canceling almost $30 billion of financing from the Energy Department’s green bank after reviewing transactions approved under former President Biden.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
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.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
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”.
Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
4 Feb 2026
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
Greenpeace set to take UK Government to court over deep-sea mining licences
Thu 5 Feb 2026
Environmental NGO Greenpeace has kick-started a legal challenge against the UK Government’s decision to approve the transfer of two seabed exploration licences to a newly-formed mining company with US links.
Govt unveils plans for carbon storage regulations – and ETS rewards
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.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
Mon 9 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand and the United States' negotiations over critical minerals have raised questions for the Waitangi Tribunal’s long-running inquiry into climate change.
Court rejects challenge to Minister and Commission over climate targets
28 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Supreme Court has rejected Lawyers for Climate Action’s bid to challenge the Climate Change Commission and former Climate Minister James Shaw over climate targets, ending a long-running case which had been working its way through the courts since 2021.
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.
A turning point for our ocean: why the High Seas Treaty matters for the Pacific
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Media release: UNDP | The global ratification of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty marks a decisive moment in international cooperation and ocean governance. Referred to as the High Seas Treaty, the agreement establishes a legally binding framework to protect marine biodiversity in areas of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction.
Out of Paris, but will the US formally quit the UN climate regime?
30 Jan 2026
The Trump administration has decided to withdraw the US from the broader UN climate convention, raising questions about the legality of the move and what it means in practice.
Commentators slam Govt inaction in aftermath of climate change-fuelled storms
30 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | Climate action - or inaction - is shaping up to be an election issue, with multiple commentators drawing a line between the Coalition Government’s backsliding on climate targets and the deadly extreme weather events of the past week.
Major health risks linked to plastics emissions set to soar by 2040
28 Jan 2026
The adverse health consequences stemming from the global plastics system are projected to more than double by 2040, driven by greenhouse gases, air pollutants and toxic chemicals released throughout its lifecycle.
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.
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.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
Mon 9 Feb 2026
Media release | A new Antarctic science partnership with a leading UAE university will grow New Zealand’s advanced engineering and modelling capability, supporting high-value jobs, encouraging economic growth, and enabling smarter climate risk management, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says.
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.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
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.
Heavy EV charger hub opens at Lower Hutt landfill
4 Feb 2026
By Justin Wong, Local Democracy Reporter |In a nationwide first, heavy electric vehicles can now recharge at Lower Hutt’s Silverstream Landfill.
UN risks 'imminent financial collapse', secretary general warns
3 Feb 2026
The United Nations is at risk of "imminent financial collapse" due to member states not paying their fees, the body's head has warned.
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.
Argentina fires ravage pristine Patagonia forests, fueling criticism of Milei’s austerity
4 Feb 2026
The wildfires, among the worst to hit the drought-stricken Patagonia region in decades, have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (174 square miles) of Argentina’s forests in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
World's first 20 MW offshore wind turbine powers grid in China
Tue 10 Feb 2026
The world's most powerful offshore wind turbine has begun feeding electricity into the grid off the coast of southeast China, marking a major technological leap in the country's wind power industry.
