Topics tagged with 'Kyoto'
Legal tangle awaits amended climate bill
23 Oct 2009
The Government might have scored an own goal in its haste to push through its climate change amendment bill.
Chauvel to energy leaders: ETS changes too generous to last
23 Oct 2009
It’s unfair to business to give large concessions and subsidies that won't last.
Australia readies for key climate debate next week
23 Oct 2009
The Australian Government’s last bid to have a carbon trading scheme in place before the Copenhagen climate talks kicked off yesterday with the reintroduction of carbon reduction legislation into parliament.
Emissions from major nations continue to rise
23 Oct 2009
Harmful greenhouse gas emissions produced by industrialised countries rose for the seventh consecutive year in 2007, the United Nations reported yesterday.
Interim steps … that’s about it from Copenhagen
23 Oct 2009
With the clock running out and deep differences unresolved, it now appears that there is little chance that international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December will produce a comprehensive and binding new treaty on global warming.
China, India forge alternative to UN treaty
23 Oct 2009
China and India’s joint plan to cut greenhouse-gas emissions provides the developing world with an alternative to the global climate treaty that wealthier nations want them to sign in Copenhagen this year, analysts said.
Maldives rallies nations under climate threat
23 Oct 2009
The Maldives will convene a summit next month of countries suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change, government officials said.
Bangkok flop leaves little hope for Copenhagen
16 Oct 2009
As the latest round of UN climate talks in Bangkok ended with little progress, negotiators are preparing for the Copenhagen summit in December on the assumption that not every detail will be agreed this year.
US ‘deeply committed,’ says energy chief
16 Oct 2009
The US is “deeply committed” to solving the problem of climate change, Energy Secretary Steven Chu says.
G8 countries could face class actions on climate change
9 Oct 2009
The US and other G8 countries could face class actions on behalf of people in the developing world if they fail to take convincing steps to cut the emissions blamed for causing climate change, a lawyer has warned.
What's to become of the Kyoto Protocol?
9 Oct 2009
Whether to tweak, bolster or bury the Kyoto Protocol - the only binding global agreement for curbing greenhouse gases - has become a red-hot issue as UN negotiators in Bangkok try to lay the groundwork for a successor treaty.
Humans undermine nature’s help in climate war
9 Oct 2009
Humankind is undermining a crucial natural ally in the battle against climate change through its activities in the world’s oceans and marine ecosystems, a UN agency warns.
Blue-Greens must be 'pink' with embarrasment, says Chauvel
2 Oct 2009
Labour’s Climate Change Issues spokesperson Charles Chauvel says ministers will privately be hoping that the doors are locked at the National Party’s Blue Greens conference in Wellington this weekend.
Airlines plan to halve emissions by 2050
23 Sep 2009
The world’s airlines have unveiled plans to halve emissions by 2050, to fend off calls for new taxes on flying and criticism that they are failing to act quickly enough in the fight against climate change.
World is listening to us, says Groser
18 Sep 2009
Other countries are coming around to New Zealand’s position on forestry and agriculture in climate-change mitigation, says the Associate Minister for Climate Change, Tim Groser.
Climate leaders set to give up on Copenhagen
18 Sep 2009
Top US energy and climate leaders have begun to openly plan for international global warming talks to trickle into 2010.
India, China could join the big league of traders
18 Sep 2009
India and China may join the league of carbon trading hot spots in a few years, along with Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, that should soon make the grade, says a major international trader.
Climate goal needs dramatic rise in renewables
11 Sep 2009
The share of renewable energy will have to rise "dramatically" if the world is to have a chance of limiting global warming to a maximum 2C temperature rise, says an expert.
Planting season lost, but foresters cling to hopes
4 Sep 2009
The forestry industry is cautiously optimistic about the future of the emissions trading scheme – despite the fact that political delays mean that this year’s seed-planting season has been missed.
UN chief calls for action from polar ice rim
4 Sep 2009
Standing on rapidly melting polar ice, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to the world for urgent measures to be taken to combat climate change to protect the planet for future generations.
Report lists 34 ways to shape our carbon future
31 Aug 2009
The Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee has made 34 recommendations about New Zealand’s response to climate change and the shape of the emissions trading scheme.
Farmers: Report is a loaded gun at our heads
31 Aug 2009
Farmers are reacting angrily to news that a parliamentary select committee thinks that agriculture should be part of the emissions trading scheme.
World airlines stung by European CO2 limits
28 Aug 2009
Thousands of airlines are set to face problems in flying into the European Union from 2012 unless they join the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the European Commission has said.
African leaders want $67b-a-year in climate aid
28 Aug 2009
African leaders meeting in Libya next week will consider a plan to ask industrialised nations to pay developing countries $67 billion a year as part of a common negotiating position for December’s climate talks in Copenhagen.
Climate experts to brief young ambassadors
28 Aug 2009
Government and academic experts will share their expertise on climate change at the first of three NZ workshops preparing a group of young Kiwis for the international stage.
Cap-and-ban could kill carbon market, warns broker
14 Aug 2009
An artificial cap on carbon prices and a ban on international sales of New Zealand credits will effectively kill the development of the carbon market, says trader Nigel Brunel.
Copenhagen is 10-times bigger than Kyoto for business
14 Aug 2009
By Alex Koyfman. - What few understand today is that climate change is actually one of the most significant drivers of the economy that we're likely to see in our lifetimes.
How green Denmark got ahead of the pack
14 Aug 2009
In December, all eyes will be on Copenhagen as world leaders gather to negotiate a new international climate change agreement. But how green are the Danes themselves.
Emissions pledges fall short of what’s needed
14 Aug 2009
A climate deal due in December will be a flop unless industrialised nations sharply increase promised cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for 2020, says the chair of a key United Nations group.
Bonn talks making headway, says UN official
14 Aug 2009
Governments are making headway in negotiations aimed at reaching an ambitious and effective global greenhouse gas reduction treaty, the top United Nations climate change official said in Bonn.
ANALYSIS: Now it comes down to the ETS deal for agriculture
10 Aug 2009
The Government has pretty cunningly positioned itself in its first emissions reduction target offering.
BUSINESS LEADERS: Target will have to rise later
10 Aug 2009
The Government’s opening offer to reduce New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent to 20 per cent by 2020 will need to be improved during coming international negotiations, says the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.
OXFAM: Target shows NZ does not care
10 Aug 2009
The announcement today of the Government's proposed emissions reduction target is tantamount to telling millions of vulnerable people around the world that New Zealand does not care enough about their fate to make the cuts that are needed, says Oxfam.
Companies must take care with carbon-neutral claims
7 Aug 2009
Companies wanting to market themselves as carbon-neutral are being warned not to rely on the emissions trading scheme for their green credentials.
Hands off price and trade ties, foresters tell Government
7 Aug 2009
Government interference in the price of carbon or the international trade in NZUs would drive investors from the forestry sector and kneecap any prospect of new forestry planting, the industry says.
We can do it in Copenhagen, says China
7 Aug 2009
China’s envoy to global negotiations on climate change has expressed optimism that a new agreement to reduce greenhouse gases will be reached this year, and says that his nation’s efforts to curb carbon pollution already had produced results that he called “second to none.”
FORUM: Chris Bryant, UK Foreign Affairs under-secretary
7 Aug 2009
Britain’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Chris Bryant, says that climate change talks in Copenhagen could be as important as any peace treaty in avoiding global suffering:
Carbon potential huge, says multi-million dollar seller
31 Jul 2009
The man behind a multi-million dollar sale of New Zealand forestry credits to Europe says that carbon is potentially a major export and could make up to 80 per cent of forestry company revenue.
Fletcher urgently wants ETS answers
31 Jul 2009
Fletcher Building wants the Government to urgently determine the carbon credit allocation for large businesses so that it can plan for any potential costs arising from an emissions trading scheme.
US, China upbeat on Copenhagen treaty
31 Jul 2009
The United States’ chief spokesman on climate change has voiced optimism at reaching a new global treaty this year, saying that top polluters China and the US were both serious about taking action.
UN chief to visit Arctic ice rim to see for himself
31 Jul 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will head to the Arctic polar ice rim next month as part of his efforts to push for action ahead of a major climate change conference to be held in December in Copenhagen.
India says no to legally binding emissions
31 Jul 2009
India will not succumb to any international pressure on committing to a legally binding agreement on cutting greenhouse emissions but will deal with climate change issues according to its own plans, a state minister says.
Forum: Cool heads still needed on global warming
31 Jul 2009
We're less wealthy than Australia is, so should be setting a lower emissions reduction target, says Business Rountable executive director Roger Kerr.
Business backs 20% emissions cut target
31 Jul 2009
The New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development has advised the Government to set a unilateral target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020.
No new tree planting under this Parliament, say Kyoto forest owners
31 Jul 2009
Climate Change Minister Nick Smith is "badly misreading commercial and economic realities" if he thinks the Government's planned changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme will lead to the private sector resuming tree planting, the Kyoto Forestry Association says.
ETS in place by December, says Smith
31 Jul 2009
The Government aims to have an amended emissions trading scheme in place by December.
Minister’s political games on climate are off target, say Greens
31 Jul 2009
The Green Party has accused the Government of playing politics with the most significant threat ever to our economy and our environment while ignoring the obvious practical solutions.
Coal pushes NZ's emissions up
24 Jul 2009
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions have risen again, with coal the biggest culprit.
Forum: Excluding agriculture from ETS neither principled nor smart
24 Jul 2009
New Zealand asking to exempt agriculture from the scheme to replace the Kyoto Treaty, is as credible as Saudi Arabia asking for the exemption of oil.
Government misreading public mood for free ride for agriculture?
24 Jul 2009
There appears to be little public tolerance for a freer ride for agriculture under New Zealand's ETS, despite a Ministerial claim to the contrary.
‘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.
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.
Planting mānuka might bring birds, bats and insects back to farms
Mon 23 Mar 2026
Media release | New research published today in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology shows that Mānuka forests planted to support honey production provide positive nature-related impacts.
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.
US cannot meet Iran war-induced LNG shortfall: industry leaders
Fri 27 Mar 2026
Business leaders are warning that the United States lacks the infrastructure to alleviate a global LNG shortage caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has kept a fifth of the world's energy supplies from leaving the Gulf.
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.
NSW to ban new coalmines in major shake-up for $23bn industry
Mon 23 Mar 2026
A major shake-up is on the way for one Australian state’s single biggest export, which powers homes here and abroad.
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.
WWF boss joins Opportunity Party with centrist climate pitch
Thu 26 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Opportunity Party has unveiled its first slate of candidates ahead of November's election, including World Wildlife Fund Aotearoa chief executive Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, as the party positions itself as a 'centrist environmental force' ahead of the election.
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.
Gisborne $29.7m recovery funding bid awaits Government decision
Fri 27 Mar 2026
By Zita Campbell, Local Democracy Reporter | Gisborne leaders are awaiting the Government’s response to a $29.7 million funding bid for a joint agency/iwi-led recovery plan after January’s severe weather event.
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.
LNG sold as insurance, but modelling points to a bigger role
19 Mar 2026
New Zealand’s gas market is heading for a sharp contraction whether the country sticks with domestic supply alone or introduces liquefied natural gas imports.
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.”
Gaps in adaptation taxonomies hinder climate finance in Asia: report
5 Mar 2026
Without clearer criteria and metrics in adaptation taxonomies, Asia risks widening its climate financing gap, warns a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Top scientist speaks out against Trump regime’s attack on premier research centre
Mon 23 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | Kevin Trenberth, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, now based in New Zealand, has told the Trump administration he is “appalled” at its attempt to break up the international research centre he has been associated with for nearly 50 years.
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
Wed 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.
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.
Activists occupy controversial gold drilling site
Wed 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.
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
Wed 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?
Govt’s relief package risks entrenching fossil fuel dependence, critics warn
Wed 25 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s $373 million fuel relief package is facing criticism for propping up petrol use rather than reducing demand, as prices surge and some experts predict fuel shortages due to conflict in the Middle East.
Media round-up
20 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: 'Every tonne matters': The climate scientist who wants to give you hope; Minister says managed retreat is an option; and climate change is here – is New Zealand ready?
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.
Solar is Southeast Asia’s cheapest buffer against future shocks
Thu 26 Mar 2026
Southeast Asian countries’ planned expansion of gas power could increase the cost of generating electricity to $109 billion by 2030 based on future price projections — more than double the cost of generating the same amount of electricity with solar.
World-leading plasma torch takes aim at NZ's most potent greenhouse gases
Tue 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.
Govt's $50m EV charging boost to double network
Mon 23 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | More than 2,500 new EV chargers are set to be rolled out across New Zealand, more than doubling the public network – but still leaving the total at less than half the Government's 10,000 target.
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.
