Topics tagged with 'NZ ETS'
Washington revises carbon trading plan
2 Jun 2016
Washington state has published a revised plan for an emissions trading scheme, targeting a 1.7 per cent annual reduction in emissions from industrial and electric power installations.
CLIMATE CO-OP: Welcome to Coalition of the Willing
1 Jun 2016
The announcement yesterday of a formal working relationship between the Labour and Green parties is a potential turning-point in New Zealand’s battle to adapt to climate change.
YES! We have ideas ... lots of them
1 Jun 2016
The organisers of yesterday’s Yes We Can! seminar on how to transition the New Zealand energy system to a low-carbon future have got a good problem – too many ideas.
OFF TARGET: Carbon over-shoot could cost billions
30 May 2016
Officials warned the Government that New Zealand was at risk of over-shooting its 2030 emissions reduction target by 150 million tonnes – due largely to subsidies to emitters and a stockpile of privately held carbon units.
More work still needed on ETS, say foresters
30 May 2016
Phasing out the one-for-two carbon subsidy is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to get the Emissions Trading Scheme working - including bringing agriculture in - says the Wood Council.
BUDGET BOOST: Carbon crashes through $15 barrier
27 May 2016
Carbon has hit the magic $15 mark this morning on the back of the Government’s Budget announcement on the Emissions Trading Scheme.
What they said ...
27 May 2016
Budget – what they said on the removal of the one-for-two carbon subsidy:
BUDGET 2016: One-for-two goes but price cap stays
26 May 2016
The one-for-two subsidy to emitters will be phased out from January, but the $25 price cap and the allocation of free credits to trade-exposed heavy emitters are staying, the Government has just announced in the Budget.
ELECTION 2016: Climate politics off to a chilly start
23 May 2016
One week into Australia's extended federal election campaign, climate has not featured prominently.
I agree this is serious, Bennett tells scientists
20 May 2016
A group of scientists and other prominent New Zealanders has had a reply to a letter accusing the Government of an “indefensible” lack of leadership on climate change.
ETS ANSWERS: Three ways to make it work
17 May 2016
Bringing agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme, setting an emissions cap, and building cross-party support to cut emissions and lift carbon prices should all be part of the ETS review, says one of its architects.
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.
How a global carbon price will bring emissions down
11 May 2016
International carbon trading and a single global carbon price will drive deeper emissions cuts than those promised by countries under the Paris Agreement, a new report says.
Record numbers of NZUs on the move
10 May 2016
More NZUs have moved through the Emissions Unit Registry in the past two months than at any time in the history of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Australia delays ETS report till after election
10 May 2016
The release of the results of a review into whether Australia should have an emissions trading scheme is being delayed until after that country’s general election in July, prompting suggestions of political interference.
Wary forest investors watch climbing carbon price
6 May 2016
Gun-shy forest investors are watching with interest as carbon creeps up to the magic $15 mark, but they’ll need at least another $3 a tonne to make up for the political risk of investing in carbon forestry, the industry says.
CREDITS CRUNCH: We'll need millions of international units
5 May 2016
New Zealand is likely to need up to 220 million international credits to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target because even a domestic carbon price of $300 a tonne is unlikely to drive enough domestic emissions cuts, the Government says.
Make ETS like a market, says our biggest emitter
3 May 2016
New Zealand’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases says that carbon trading needs to be automated and standardised.
Busy Bennett draws up climate to-do list
3 May 2016
Higher carbon prices, scrapping the one-for-two, and a detailed plan to decarbonise the New Zealand economy are on Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett’s to-do list.
Government might not carry over units
3 May 2016
The Government might not carry any carbon units over after 2020.
Run carbon prices like the dollar, says academic
2 May 2016
Carbon prices should be managed like the Reserve Bank manages the value of the New Zealand dollar, a submission on the Emissions Trading Scheme is recommending.
Morganites want moratorium on free credits
2 May 2016
A think-tank which has strongly criticised New Zealand’s use of hot-air credits is now calling for a one-year moratorium on the allocation of free credits to trade-exposed heavy emitters.
Officials eye pile of ETS submissions
2 May 2016
Government officials are today working their way through a large stack of submissions on the technical aspects of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
We've got 10,000 stories ... and a special deal for you
29 Apr 2016
Today we publish our 10,000th story – and to celebrate, we’re offering a one-day-only special on subscriptions.
CLIMATE CRISIS: Why English must act on costs
29 Apr 2016
Finance Minister Bill English must investigate the fiscal implications of climate change, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Watchdog wants answers to solar questions
29 Apr 2016
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is investigating whether the uptake of solar panels really will cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gases.
Fewer car parks, greener cities, says commissioner
29 Apr 2016
Getting rid of requirements for minimum numbers of car parks with apartment developments could be one practical step toward greening New Zealand’s cities, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Deadline nears for Stage 2 of ETS review
29 Apr 2016
Submissions on the second stage of the Emissions Trading Scheme review close tomorrow.
MEMO MINISTER: How to do it the Morgan Way
29 Apr 2016
The Morgan Foundation is keeping up the pressure on the Government over the use of hot-air carbon credits.
WINDFALL MILLIONS: Govt quiet on future of free credits
28 Apr 2016
The Government is being cagey over whether it will cancel millions of dollars worth of carbon units heavy emitters might be sitting on after using international carbon credits of dubious quality to meet their emissions liabilities.
We need an emissions cap, says business council
28 Apr 2016
New Zealand needs a cap on emissions and to include all sectors in the Emissions Trading Scheme, says the Sustainable Business Council.
Labor’s climate policy puts it back in the game
28 Apr 2016
The Australian Labor Party has announced the climate policy it will take to the federal election, including a return to carbon pricing under an emissions trading scheme.
Policy sounds good to us, say investors
28 Apr 2016
The Australian Labor Party’s new climate change policy has many of the elements investors are looking for, including market-based carbon pricing, says the Investor Group on Climate Change.
What we must change to get emissions under control
26 Apr 2016
A cross-party forum on climate change, efficient agriculture, and using revenue from auctioned carbon credits to stimulate innovation are some of the measures necessary for New Zealand to get to net-zero emissions, according to a paper to be released later today.
Bennett stays on course for higher carbon price
26 Apr 2016
Climate Change Minister Paula has again said that carbon prices need to be higher.
PARIS PACT: New Zealand's world, according to Bennett
26 Apr 2016
On Saturday in New York, Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett signed the Paris Agreement on climate change on behalf of New Zealand.
Decision day looms on future of 1:2 provision
21 Apr 2016
The future of the one-for-two (holding industrial emitters responsible for just half their greenhouse gas emissions) should be known by the end of next month.
ETS ADVICE: Supply more important than price
21 Apr 2016
Any carbon market controls in New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme should be based on supply, not price, says an international business organisation promoting markets to reduce climate change.
Dodgy units aside, we could make money from ETS credits
20 Apr 2016
Accusations that almost all the international units brought into the Emissions Trading Scheme are fraudulent are an exaggeration, says an expert who believes that the scheme could generate a nice international export in carbon credits.
Business backs stronger line on climate
20 Apr 2016
Business leaders say they hope this week’s signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change by New Zealand signals a stronger line on climate change action – with New Zealand reaching net-zero emissions not long after 2050.
Z Energy's biodiesel plant strikes gold
20 Apr 2016
Z Energy’s $26 million dollar biodiesel plant has earned it gold membership of the Bioenergy Association.
Here's a six-point plan for getting Australia on track
19 Apr 2016
The past two years have been the hottest on record globally, yet Australian climate policy is frozen in the past.
NZ international credits dealing is fraud, says report
18 Apr 2016
New Zealand’s determination to use carried-over international carbon credits to meet its 2020 emissions reduction target make it party to an international fraud, a new report says.
Why carbon price is key to forestry worth billions
15 Apr 2016
Carbon prices will need to hit $35 a tonne by 2017 or forest owners will quit the Emissions Trading Scheme, leaving New Zealand unable to meet its emissions reductions targets, an expert is warning.
Top table invites us to chew over carbon market
14 Apr 2016
New Zealand is to join a select group of countries talking about developing a global carbon market.
Major bank sees 2020 Asia-Pacific carbon market
8 Apr 2016
An Asia-Pacific regional carbon market could emerge after 2020, a new report suggests.
Don't do what NZ did, warns ADB
8 Apr 2016
The dramatic undermining of New Zealand’s carbon prices by cheap foreign offsets is being used as a lesson in what not to do when setting up an emissions trading scheme.
CARBON CLIMBS: Price up 23% in four months
7 Apr 2016
Carbon prices continue their long climb out of the doldrums, rising 23 per cent this year alone.
The case for a carbon tax on airline flight tickets
6 Apr 2016
After years of delay, the international aviation industry is inching its way toward bringing its greenhouse emissions under some form of regulation.
RMA’s successors hinge on two untested bets
Today 11:15am
Two ideas sit at the heart of the Government’s replacement for the Resource Management Act: regulatory relief and spatial planning.
Three Greenpeace activists removed by police from Fonterra
Today 11:15am
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’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
Tue 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.
Minister not concerned about potential economic impacts of ruling out offshore mitigation
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Climate Change Minister Simon Watts isn’t worried that ruling out using offshore mitigation is effectively reneging from the Paris Agreement with potential to damage New Zealand’s economy and access to export markets.
France updates its 2050 carbon neutrality roadmap
Today 11:15am
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, France released a revamped climate plan promising to phase out oil and gas and sharply increase electricity use.
Is Govt rushing through changes to climate framework to avoid litigation?
Thu 11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says the Government’s motivation for proposed changes to the country’s climate framework law are unclear: “The only reason I can think of is one grounded in potential litigation risk.”
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.
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.
$235 billion worth of NZ buildings exposed to flooding
30 Oct 2025
More than 750,000 New Zealanders live in locations exposed to one-in-100-year floods, according to a nationwide study which shows escalating flood risk.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
Thu 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
Thu 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.
Battery subsidy scheme set for 'urgent' overhaul as costs run out of control
Tue 16 Dec 2025
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced big changes to the government's battery subsidy scheme amid claims most of its $2.3 billion budget has been spent in just six months.
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.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
Mon 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.
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.
Are rainforests now a cause of, rather than the answer to, climate change?
Mon 15 Dec 2025
A new study finds that Africa’s forests, responsible for one-fifth of global carbon removal, are beginning to generate carbon as the result of human activity.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
Thu 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.
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
Today 11:15am
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.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
Fri 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.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
Mon 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.
Tribunal warns govt geothermal strategy risks Treaty breach
2 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government's geothermal development strategy risks breaching the Treaty of Waitangi, according to a report from the Waitangi Tribunal released last week.
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.
Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impacts of fossil fuels
Fri 12 Dec 2025
Victims of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a legal claim against oil and gas company Shell in the UK courts, seeking compensation for what they say is the company's role in making the storm more severe.
NZ fails to back ‘roadmap’ to phase out fossil fuels at COP
24 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | Eighty-six countries including Australia, the UK, Germany, and Ireland backed a proposal at COP30 for national plans on how to quit oil, gas and coal – but New Zealand wasn’t one of them.
Media round-up
Fri 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'.
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.
The deep ocean is fixing carbon in ways no one expected
Tue 16 Dec 2025
A new study reveals that unexpected microbes are quietly fixing carbon in the dark depths of the ocean.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
Tue 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
Fri 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.
Climate change policy moving to new mega-ministry
Today 11:15am
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government’s primary adviser on climate change policy, the Ministry for the Environment, is to be folded into a new mega-agency that will also cover urban, transport, local government and housing.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
Tue 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.
Shipping movements disrupted as climate change protesters block coal ships
2 Dec 2025
NSW police have arrested 141 people who attempted to block the shipping channel in Newcastle Harbour during Rising Tide protests, which began on Thursday.
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 could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
Tue 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.
More than $2m up for grabs for low-emissions farming innovation
10 Dec 2025
The Ag Emissions Centre and AgriZeroNZ yesterday opened their 2026 innovation investment round.
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.
EU waters down plans to end new petrol and diesel car sales by 2035
Today 11:15am
The European Commission has watered down its plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035.
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.
Australian market operator slashes wind farm predictions amid falling costs for solar and batteries
Thu 11 Dec 2025
The body that runs Australia's biggest power market has scaled back its plans for high-voltage power lines and wind farms to meet the country's green energy targets.
