Topics tagged with 'Low carbon'
Exploration ban sound signal, says forum chair
26 Oct 2018
Changes to the Crown Minerals Act that will see most new oil and gas exploration banned are the type of signals businesses need, says one of the people heading a ground-breaking finance sector project.
Dealers get the word on electric vehicles
26 Oct 2018
Need help deciding whether or not to buy an electric vehicle?
Group wants climate action to save native species
25 Oct 2018
Tougher resource management rules and incentives to store carbon in native forests are among just-released recommendations to protect New Zealand’s native species from climate change.
NZ signs hydrogen agreement with Japan
24 Oct 2018
New Zealand and Japan are working together to transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels with the signing of an agreement on hydrogen, says energy minister Megan Woods.
New power group takes aim at finance system
23 Oct 2018
Key companies and government officials are joining forces to prepare New Zealand’s financial system for the low-carbon economy.
MONDAY'S MESSAGE: Quite simply, it's up to us
3 Oct 2018
By publisher ADELIA HALLETT | One of the most important scientific papers ever produced will be released on Monday, and the ramifications for New Zealand could be huge.
Why all new buildings should be carbon-neutral
20 Sep 2018
Requiring all new buildings to be carbon-neutral is the most cost-effective emissions-reduction action New Zealand can take, the Government is being told.
Beware of cherry-picking, study tells businesses
28 Aug 2018
Companies might be cherry-picking sustainability measures that make them look good, with greenhouse gas emissions one of the least-reported factors.
Parties eye early start to zero-carbon talks
23 Jul 2018
Cross-party talks on the Zero Carbon Bill could be under way within a month.
Latest ETS review kicks off next month
18 Jul 2018
Consultation on the next review of the Emissions Trading Scheme will start next month.
OPINION: If energy grew on trees
20 Jun 2018
By JONATHAN McKEOWN | It is always refreshing when structures and processes work as they were designed to. It’s an absolute triumph when it involves the public sector, an industry body and business.
Shaw invites Nats to work on Zero Carbon Act
12 Jun 2018
Climate minister James Shaw has invited the National Party to help him to draft the Zero Carbon Act.
NZ wants to see cuts in shipping emissions
9 Apr 2018
New Zealand is calling for deeper emissions cuts from the international shipping industry.
Here's why we need a carbon price cap of $100
29 Mar 2018
An immediate carbon price cap of $100 a tonne and a $25 price floor is needed if New Zealand is to be carbon-neutral by 2050, says former Environment Secretary Dr Roger Blakeley.
Z aims for A-plus in transition to new energy
28 Feb 2018
Mike Bennetts is determined his company, Z Energy, will not have a Kodak moment.
Biofuels need backing of the nation, says Scion
27 Feb 2018
New Zealand could run its heavy vehicles on locally produced low-carbon biofuels – but only if the country decides collectively to act.
Yoogo is a-go-go in Christchurch
16 Feb 2018
The Southern Hemisphere’s biggest deployment of pure-battery electric cars has been launched in Christchurch.
Why now's the time for businesses to cost carbon
13 Feb 2018
Businesses are being told to price carbon into their forecasts now – regardless of whether they currently face a carbon price.
Business chiefs call for carbon transparency
11 Dec 2017
Leading chief financial officers, chairs of pension funds and the chief executives of global accounting bodies – including one from New Zealand - are calling for transparency about carbon exposure.
C'mon Kiwis, says economist, show the world how
1 Dec 2017
New Zealand is being challenged to show the world how to decarbonise without tanking.
Rooftop gardens a game-changer for Wellington
3 Nov 2017
Wellingtonians want rooftop gardens – and the idea is being investigated by the city’s university.
Toyota urges NZ to get out of big-emitting cars
10 Oct 2017
New Zealanders are buying bigger cars, damaging the country’s chances of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, say Toyota New Zealand chief Alistair Davis.
Why we need a carbon price of $100 ... or more
5 Oct 2017
Carbon prices of $100 a tonne - and possibly as high as $225 – are being foreshadowed in a new report.
WATCHDOG WARNS: Act now or face 'great risk'
5 Oct 2017
New Zealand will be stuck with high-emitting technologies if it doesn’t move to cut emissions soon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is warning.
Emissions group to probe lack of carbon cap
10 Aug 2017
New Zealand’s lack of a carbon cap is one of the issues on the table for the Productivity Commission.
Nuclear revival looks set to falter
7 Aug 2017
Hopes of a nuclear revival to combat climate change have been dashed as another prestige project runs into trouble.
Political uncertainty the enemy of carbon markets
4 Jul 2017
Lack of political certainty is damaging the effectiveness of carbon markets, says new research.
Humans better at rapid change than we think
4 May 2017
A new study provides evidence that humans are capable of radically altering the world around us, and offers hope in the face of climate change.
Will blazing a low-carbon path pay off for California?
20 Feb 2017
President Trump has made it clear he intends to dismantle the Obama administration’s policies for reducing US greenhouse gas emissions.
Linking carbon market would be a clever move
1 Feb 2017
New Zealand could cut the cost of meeting its international emissions reductions targets by linking its carbon market to emerging markets in Asia.
Hybrid cars join emissions reporting regime
16 Dec 2016
Hybrid cars have been brought into the voluntary greenhouse gas report regime for the first time.
Anxious oil countries look at low-carbon future
13 Dec 2016
Squeezed budgets and rising energy demand will significantly heighten the demand and use of renewable and energy efficiency technologies across the Middle East, says a new white paper.
ZERO EMISSIONS: Study will show us how to do it
9 Dec 2016
An international economist is in New Zealand preparing a report on how the country can cut all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Anxious investors plead for clear climate policy
6 Dec 2016
Australian investors want clear climate policy that delivers certainty – and access to international carbon markets, says the Investor Group on Climate Change.
Trump can't stop rising use of fossil fuels
30 Nov 2016
Climate policies will keep chipping away at fossil fuels’ role as the mainstay of global energy use, despite Donald Trump’s appointment as United States president in 2017, according to a new report by The Economist Intelligence Unit.
World needs major emissions cuts by 2020, says report
17 Nov 2016
All key sectors– including commercial agriculture – must have major emissions cuts under way by 2020 if the world is to keep global warming within the Paris Agreement’s 1.5deg limit, a new report says.
Government prepares for 2030 carbon price of $152
8 Nov 2016
The Government is pricing carbon into its forward projections at up to $152 a tonne in 2030.
How companies get smart about climate change
15 Sep 2016
The Paris Agreement not only signalled social change but also sent the market a strong signal to move away from carbon-intensive investment.
Modified wood aims to save forests from the axe
15 Sep 2016
A hardwood substitute has been developed to effectively end the need to log native forests.
DIRTY DOZEN: Big firms who traded in cheap units
16 Aug 2016
Some of New Zealand’s largest carbon emitters, along with forestry companies and even iwi are among the organisations that used cheap EURs to meet their liabilities under the Emissions Trading Scheme, a new report shows.
It's not easy being green when you're poor
20 Jul 2016
The transition to a clean-energy future is upon us, as shown by the huge uptake of solar panels and by the Turnbull government’s decision to set up a A$1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund. But what about those people who are at risk of being left behind?
FULL OF BEANS: Pulses should fill the food basket
7 Jul 2016
Three years ago, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring 2016 the International Year of the Pulse.
Brexit hot air causes climate project problems
1 Jul 2016
The shock waves felt round the world at the UK’s decision in a referendum to leave the European Union will have unexpected consequences for some major projects linked to climate change.
Price floor or perish, experts tell European market
28 Jun 2016
Europe’s carbon market faces ruin without a price floor, an international think-tank says.
LanzaTech has role in global low-energy drive
13 Jun 2016
New Zealand-born LanzaTech is one of the businesses behind a new drive to get low-carbon sustainable fuels to the point where they make real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
New report sees world of expanding carbon markets
26 May 2016
Carbon markets will expand on the back of the Paris Agreement, and carbon prices will need to rise to between $50 and $66 for the world to meet the climate change agreement’s goals, a new survey says.
Oil majors tread cautiously toward renewables
24 May 2016
The big oil companies’ on-off affair with renewable energies seems to be back on track.
Forest carbon storage risky, warns thinktank
12 May 2016
Storing carbon in forests is risky and should be used to meet no more than a fifth of New Zealand’s emissions reductions, says a group of prominent scientists and other New Zealanders.
Can we save the algae biofuel industry?
10 May 2016
Algal biofuels are in trouble. This alternative fuel source could help to reduce overall carbon emissions without taking land from food production, like many crop-based biofuels do.
Greens want probe into future of Huntly
4 Mar 2016
The Green Party is calling for an independent investigation into the best options for replacing coal-burning electricity generation at Huntly with cleaner alternatives.
Tairāwhiti needs proper Govt support to heal the land – not empty announcements for political optics
Tue 24 Feb 2026
OPINION: The Government’s answer to Tairāwhiti’s severe erosion crisis – that the region apply for modest, contestable funding rounds – while rejecting the region's own land transition business case, leaves our long-term resilience hanging in the balance, writes Manu Caddie.
South Korean farmers sue utility giant KEPCO over climate damage to crops
Wed 25 Feb 2026
As harvest season approached last November, farmer Ma Yong-un walked through his apple orchard in southern South Korea with a growing sense of dread.
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.
Singapore sets first ever sustainable aviation fuel levy, as Southeast Asia’s fuel industry grows
17 Feb 2026
Flying in and out of Singapore, home to Southeast Asia’s busiest airport, will get slightly more expensive this year as the city state begins imposing a levy of between 75 cents to $32 per ticket to fund sustainable aviation fuel.
Biodiversity survey challenges coal mine proposal
Wed 25 Feb 2026
An intensive biological survey at Deep Stream and the Denniston Plateau has revealed rare and at-risk species in areas slated for coal mining, with conservationists saying mining the area could spell extinction for the recently crowned 'bug of the year' – the avatar moth.
Govt’s own modelling shows LNG leads to higher electricity prices than other solutions
19 Feb 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: According to modelling conducted by Concept Consulting for MBIE, either developing the Tariki gas storage facility or managing electricity demand would deliver lower wholesale electricity prices than the Government’s preferred solution of an LNG import terminal.
New study looks to nature markets to accelerate climate response
18 Feb 2026
The Nature Conservancy is teaming up with local groups to study the most affordable and effective ways of restoring native habitats at the top of the South Island, including ways to fund the work using international voluntary carbon markets and biodiversity credits.
US Supreme Court to hear bid by oil companies to toss climate suits
Wed 25 Feb 2026
The U.S Supreme Court has agreed to hear a bid by ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy to scuttle a lawsuit brought by officials in Boulder, Colorado that seeks to hold the oil companies liable for helping fuel climate change in a case that could affect dozens of similar lawsuits around the country.
Carbon price drops as volatility continues
17 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market is still displaying extreme volatility, with prices dropping back to below $40 yesterday, after trading as high as $46.25 last week.
3,600 times faster: China is shaking up the steel industry
Wed 25 Feb 2026
For over a century, making steel meant coal, heat, and hours of waiting. A Chinese research team now reports collapsing that process into just three to six seconds; no coal, near zero emissions, and a vortex lance already moving toward commercial production. The technology is called flash ironmaking, and in February 2026, its implications are still unfolding.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
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.
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 market rallies but auction floor still out of reach
13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market has rallied, with secondary market prices up more than 25% in the past two weeks, although current prices in the mid-$40s are still far below this year’s $71 auction floor, with the first auction of 2026 less than three weeks away.
Mercury ramps up renewable investment with $1b pipeline
Wed 25 Feb 2026
Mercury is accelerating investment in wind, geothermal and hydro assets, reinvesting $270 million — half its half-year earnings — into new and existing renewable generation.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
Fri 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.
Hipkins rejects LNG terminal, backs renewables
Tue 24 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Labour leader Chris Hipkins used his State of the Nation address to warn that worsening extreme weather and rising energy costs show climate change is no longer a distant threat.
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.
The 15 foods destroying rainforests, in one simple chart
Wed 25 Feb 2026
It’s pretty much impossible to live a life free of environmental harm. But there is one thing you could do immediately that would help the planet a heck of a lot: eat less beef.
Government invests $200m towards Genesis Energy's $400m capital raise
Mon 23 Feb 2026
The Government has confirmed it will buy up to $200 million of new Genesis Energy shares as part of a capital raise announced by the company this morning.
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.”
European Central Bank's green supervision grows teeth, but will banks avoid being bitten?
13 Feb 2026
After several years of issuing guidance and repeatedly calling on banks to take climate and environmental risk management seriously, the European Central Bank is moving from guidance and expectations to enforcement.
Greens slam move to disband Environment Ministry
Fri 20 Feb 2026
The Green Party has joined climate and health advocates in condemning the Government's decision to disestablish the Ministry for the Environment as part of a multi-ministry merger.
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
18 Feb 2026
Tech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.
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.
Media round-up
13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
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.
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.
Australian gas producer Santos wins court fight over net zero claims
18 Feb 2026
An Australian court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit against gas producer Santos that alleged the company misled the public on its plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
Wed 25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 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?
Calls for action to reduce emissions as extreme weather bites
17 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Renewable energy advocates and environmental groups are calling for more action to reduce emissions and increase resilience as severe weather wreaks havoc across the country.
Australia-US minerals deal underpinned decision to allow mining company to clear threatened indigenous forest
Mon 23 Feb 2026
The Australian government’s decision to allow the US mining giant Alcoa to continue clearing swathes of Western Australian jarrah forest despite past illegal clearing practices was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year, a new document shows.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
Tue 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?
Climate 'dream team' launches foundation targeting 100 million tonnes in emissions cuts
Wed 25 Feb 2026
The New Zealand Climate Foundation, which has the ambitious aim of cutting 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, had its official launch on Monday.
Environmental groups boycott Bluegreens forum
Tue 24 Feb 2026
National’s Bluegreens forum in Wellington doubled as a small but telling election-year rehearsal: a bid to reclaim “moderate green” territory while parts of the environmental NGO ecosystem conspicuously stayed away.
78% of NZers want bottom trawling banned as Govt pushes to catch more coral in South Pacific
17 Feb 2026
Media release | New polling shows overwhelming support from New Zealanders for a ban on bottom trawling in the South Pacific high seas, says Greenpeace.
Brazil and India agree to boost cooperation on rare earths
Tue 24 Feb 2026
Brazil and India sealed a deal Saturday on critical minerals and rare earths, enhancing cooperation on crucial resources between two major countries of the global south as they seek to diversify their trading relationships.
Antarctic sediment core reveals past ice sheet retreat during warmer climates
18 Feb 2026
A record-breaking sediment core drilled from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is giving scientists new insight into how the ice sheet responded to warmer climates in the past — and what that could mean for future sea-level rise.
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.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
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.
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.
NZ’s EV uptake decelerates
Mon 23 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand’s EV uptake is lagging behind other countries, with a huge drop in EV sales since 2023 bucking international trends, at the same time the Government contemplates abolishing its standard for clean cars entirely.
Lawyers seek answers on climate impacts of LNG import facility
13 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action has written to Climate Change and Energy Minister Simon Watts warning that the Government's plan for an LNG import terminal could be in conflict with New Zealand’s climate obligations and emissions reduction targets.
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.
New research on climate adaptation as severe weather hits
16 Feb 2026
As extreme weather batters the country yet again, researchers have published the first ever empirical study of climate adaptation justice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Study finds warming world increases days when weather is prone to fires around the globe
Fri 20 Feb 2026
The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy — ideal to spark extreme wildfires — has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.
India and UK launch offshore wind taskforce
Mon 23 Feb 2026
Constituted under Vision 2035 and the Fourth India-UK Energy Dialogue, the Taskforce is designed to provide strategic leadership and coordination for India’s nascent offshore wind ecosystem.
