Topics tagged with 'NZ ETS'
Govt launches consultation on biodiversity credits
7 Jul 2023
The government has launched consultation on a national biodiversity credit system, which it says could address “the gap” between exotic and native forests under the emissions trading scheme.
Carbon price crashes, “split market” developing
7 Jul 2023
The carbon price dropped to a two-year low this week, and insiders say a split market is developing, with lower prices for forestry-derived NZUs.
Foresters launch campaign to stop their carbon credits losing value
6 Jul 2023
The climate change minister says a new campaign entitled “Halt the NZU Grab” is spreading misleading information.
Forestry investment at risk, along with climate targets
4 Jul 2023
By Liz Kivi | Foresters may lose their businesses if the carbon price stays low, with contractors already losing their jobs.
NZU spot price drops further
29 Jun 2023
The price of NZUs on the secondary market is in freefall following the government’s consultation announcement on ETS settings and restrictions on permanent forestry.
Polluters aiming to meet ETS obligations at auction: report
29 Jun 2023
Nearly half the bidders in June’s declined carbon auction were polluters aiming to meet ETS obligations, and their bids would have been successful if the auction had cleared.
Forestry Institute's open letter warns NZ may fail to meet climate commitments
23 Jun 2023
The New Zealand Forestry Institute has penned an open letter to MPs and the media outlining “deep concerns” about the future of forests and forest investment, with climate commitments at stake.
Carbon credits: how do you know if you’re buying quality?
23 Jun 2023
By Ann Smith | COMMENT: It doesn’t matter whether carbon credits originate in New Zealand or from overseas, they can be credible or they can be questionable. So how do you tell the difference between high quality carbon credits and those of questionable origin?
Best by the rest...
23 Jun 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: major risks to NZ’s climate plan; experts argue that the ETS shouldn't be our only weapon against the climate crisis; and the Forever Project’s quarterly magazine looks at future farms.
Carbon price plummets: what does ETS review mean for future prices?
22 Jun 2023
By Liz Kivi | The carbon price on the secondary market has slumped to its lowest point since 2021 in the wake of the government’s ETS announcement, after rallying briefly following last week’s failed Emissions Trading Scheme auction.
ETS forestry review critical to achieving emissions goals
20 Jun 2023
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: The government’s review of the Emissions Trading Scheme is critical and long overdue, with the potential to drive much deeper gross emission cuts and set up forestry as the long-term carbon sink New Zealand needs for net-negative emissions. But if done badly, the review risks trading off these separate but important goals and achieving neither.
ETS review options will take too long to implement: expert
20 Jun 2023
Proposed changes to the ETS will take too long to come into effect and do not go far enough to solve the core issues, according to an expert.
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...
16 Jun 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Antarctic tipping points: the irreversible changes to come if we fail to keep warming below 2℃, climate change minister says NZ must pick a team; and warming seas threaten Māori food sources.
ETS auction fails to clear
14 Jun 2023
Today’s ETS auction has been declined because the clearing price did not meet the minimum price settings. As a result, there are no winning bids.
The Transatlantic carbon-pricing clash
14 Jun 2023
Economists have long argued that regulation alone cannot bring about the reduction in global greenhouse-gas emissions that is needed to curb climate change; a carbon price is also essential.
National vows to keep agricultural emissions out of the ETS, restrict forestry planting
13 Jun 2023
By Liz Kivi | The NZ Institute of Forestry says the National Party’s newly unveiled climate and agricultural policy will hinder the country’s climate goals.
Best by the rest...
9 Jun 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: Climate scientist James Renwick says, on a finite planet, never-ending growth of anything is unsustainable; National says He Waka Eke Noa is “dead”; and Taranaki council wants seabed mining banned.
What if all auctions fail this year? Does the Registry oversupply problem disappear?
8 Jun 2023
By Nigel Brunel | COMMENT: All 2023's ETS carbon auctions failing is one of many scenarios for NZU prices in the next 12 months. But it could go a long way to solving the registry oversupply if it happens.
High court action requesting a delay on ETS consultation fails
7 Jun 2023
There was a move in the high court to delay the release of the ETS consultation. The court ruled against the request.
Battle lines harden over how to slash CO2
7 Jun 2023
Banish fossil fuels, capture their emissions, pull CO2 from thin air -- diplomats in Bonn for UN-led climate talks agree there's too much planet-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but remain at loggerheads on the best way to reduce it.
Offshore unit procrastination could cost NZ billions
6 Jun 2023
New Zealand must buy around 80mt offshore carbon units to meet its Paris NDC commitment in 2030.
Which deserves a carbon credit – nature or technology?
6 Jun 2023
The United Nations has drafted a document that will define a new global carbon market for years to come, which seems to favor nature-based solutions over technological or engineered carbon removals.
Price collapse causes 20% loss for carbon fund
29 May 2023
Carbon prices collapsed at the end of 2022, causing more than 20% loss to Salt Management’s carbon fund in the 12 months to March.
Govt, NZ Steel to take action towards a low emissions economy
22 May 2023
The government will invest up to $140 million to subsidise one of the country’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, making it New Zealand’s biggest decarbonisation plan to date.
NZ ETS consultation launched
22 May 2023
The NZ government announced a four week consultation on proposals to update “unit limits and price control settings for the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)”.
Offsetting and carbon neutral claims in the dock
19 May 2023
By Ann Smith | COMMENT: Over the past few months, The Guardian has published five or more articles questioning the integrity of carbon offset projects that have been certified by well-known international organisations that issue carbon credits.
Seeing REDD
15 May 2023
By Ann Smith | COMMENT: A REDD+ carbon offset project in Southland was the subject of negative press last week. However the project’s aim of preserving indigenous forest is critically important in the fight against climate change.
Government in the dock over ETS decisions
10 May 2023
Lawyers for Climate Action New Zealand (LCANZI) has filed high court proceedings challenging Cabinet’s rejection of the Climate Change Commission’s advice on the emissions trading scheme settings.
Meat lobby report slams forestry role in ETS
5 May 2023
A report commissioned by New Zealand Beef + Lamb has unsurprisingly found that the full inclusion of forestry offsetting in the ETS is out of step with other cap and trade systems internationally and is hindering New Zealand’s efforts to decarbonise.
Market indifferent to commission’s advice
3 May 2023
By Jeremy Rose | Last Wednesday, journalists covering the release of the Climate Change Commission’s draft advice on the second emissions plan had to surrender their cellphones during a seven-and-a-half hour lock-up, and were under a strict embargo to coincide with the closing of the secondary carbon market.
Carbon auction clearing price well below confidential reserve
1 May 2023
The last carbon auction clearing price was 30% lower than the spot price at the failed March 15 auction.
Commission’s advice harks back to disregarded warnings from 30 years ago
28 Apr 2023
By Prof Ralph Chapman | It is both encouraging and depressing to see the arguments made about forest sequestration by the Climate Change Commission in its draft advice released this week.
ETS driving afforestation not emission reductions: Climate Change Commission
27 Apr 2023
The Climate Change Commission is calling for an overhaul of the ETS that separates incentives for gross emission reductions from those applying to forestry.
Europe's ETS sets tougher target
27 Apr 2023
EU countries have given the green light to the biggest overhaul to date of the bloc’s carbon market, raising costs for polluting industries and increasing its emissions reduction target from 43% to 62% by 2030.
Forestry issue lobbying intensifies
26 Apr 2023
As the deadline for the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use in Tairāwhiti to report draws closer, lobbying over the issue has become more intense, especially with a new minister at the helm.
Barn-fed animals will have far lower emissions than NZ produced meat: Rod Carr
26 Apr 2023
Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr says Europe's barn-fed livestock will increasingly have a far lower carbon footprint than meat produced in New Zealand.
Who's going to pay for the Government’s climate sweeteners now?
21 Apr 2023
The government has announced the latest round of its decarbonisation of industry fund, despite the very real possibility that the revenues from the Emissions Trading Scheme that pay for it could be non-existent this year.
Best by the rest...
21 Apr 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate reporting in local media: how the Environment Minister failed to stop a major polluter getting ahead of a climate law change; why the Climate Change Commission’s advice could increase costs for Kiwis; and crowdsourcing for Papatūānuku - Te Tairāwhiti style.
Tiny decrease in gross emissions, net emissions up slightly
14 Apr 2023
New Zealand’s net emissions increased slightly in 2021 - by 3% - while gross emissions were down a tiny 0.7% on the previous year, a slight reduction in gross emissions for the second consecutive year.
Climate Change Commission doubles-down on ETS advice
13 Apr 2023
The Climate Change Commission has doubled-down in its latest advice to government on the need to increase the trigger price for the emission trading scheme’s cost containment reserve.
NZ might face $24 billion pricetag for offshore carbon credits to 2030: Treasury
11 Apr 2023
New Zealand might be facing a $24 billion bill to meet its international obligations for carbon emission reductions to 2030, according to a new report.
Best by the rest...
6 Apr 2023
In our weekly round-up of the best climate coverage in local media: The finance minister seeks advice on the ETS as carbon prices plummet; National’s climate policy is under scrutiny; and kaitiakitanga as climate action.
Govt's proposed changes will dish out millions more free carbon credits
5 Apr 2023
By Liz Kivi | Proposed changes to the Climate Change Response Act would give millions more free carbon credits to big polluters and contradict Aotearoa’s emissions reduction goals, according to an expert.
Commission consults on reduction targets, budgets, and international transport emissions
3 Apr 2023
The Climate Change Commission is calling for evidence to support its work on Aotearoa New Zealand’s emissions reduction targets and emissions budgets.
Minister warns Canadians may pay more in carbon tax than they receive in rebate
3 Apr 2023
Canada’s environment and climate change minister acknowledged that the average household may eventually pay more for the carbon price than it gets back in rebate payments, but says the Liberal government has other programs to help Canadians lower their energy costs overall.
Price of NZUs at 18-month low
29 Mar 2023
The price of NZUs has dropped to an 18-month low after a short-lived jump following the failed carbon auction on March 15.
EU plans early carbon market auctions from July
29 Mar 2023
The European Union plans to conduct early carbon market auctions, starting from July, to raise extra funds to help countries quit Russian gas and cut emissions, the European Commission said on Monday evening.
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.
Bill to ban new coal mines fails at first reading
Fri 24 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A bid to outlaw new coal mines was defeated at its first hurdle in Parliament this week, after a heated debate pitting climate imperatives against energy security and affordability.
Look out for these 8 big ag greenwashing terms at COP30
Tue 28 Oct 2025
Food and farming companies will claim agriculture is the solution to the climate crisis at the Brazil summit — even though food drives a third of global warming.
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.
Celebrities slam mining plans
Tue 28 Oct 2025
Actor Sam Neill has slammed plans for a gold mine in Otago, while Denniston Rose author Jenny Pattrick is backing a petition that would stop a coalmine on the West Coast.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
Thu 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.
‘Plain old dull’: NZU market continues to limp sideways
Fri 24 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The NZU market has been “plain old dull” in recent months, with activity driven mainly by credit opportunities or a specific need to raise cash, according to Lizzie Chambers of trading platform Carbon Match.
EU leaders set conditions for new climate goal
Tue 28 Oct 2025
The EU is trying to pass a new target to cut net greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040 to put the bloc on track for net-zero emissions by 2050.
Broker predicts all this year’s carbon auctions will fail
10 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Marex New Zealand is forecasting that the government will sell no ‘pollution permits’ at the NZU auctions this year, with a significant gap continuing between secondary market prices and this year’s $68 auction floor price.
Genesis doubles down on Huntly as renewables ramp up
Fri 24 Oct 2025
Genesis Energy is doubling down on Huntly’s role as New Zealand’s energy backstop while accelerating one of the country’s largest pipelines of new renewable generation.
The merchants of doubt are back
3 Sep 2025
OPINION: If you don’t follow climate policy closely, you might not know that the Trump administration is launching an effort to overturn one of the most fundamental pillars of American climate policy.
Milestone for NZ Steel electrification
10 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | NZ Steel has passed an installation milestone for its new electric arc furnace, which will reduce emissions from the Glenbrook steel mill site by as much as one megatonne (1Mt) a year.
Carbon Finance Program upscales efforts to close climate investment gap in climate vulnerable nations
22 Oct 2025
Media release | The Climate Vulnerable Forum and its V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) will work with the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) to upscale the Carbon Finance Program in reach and impact, supporting more climate-vulnerable countries to host high-integrity carbon projects that yield tangible climate, nature, and sustainable development benefits.
All carrot, no stick for farmers on methane
17 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: The abandonment of methane emissions pricing and the adoption of a weaker target is effectively the last nail in the coffin of the historic cross-parliamentary consensus embedded in the Zero Carbon Act 2019.
From nuisance to crisis: New report on pest wasps In Aotearoa
24 Sep 2025
Media release: Moths and Butterflies NZ Trust | Just published is the Final Report of the Pest Wasps Survey carried out by the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (MBNZT) offering a comprehensive look at New Zealanders’ awareness, experiences, and attitudes toward wasps and the growing ecological, health, and social issues associated with them.
Philippines storm victims to seek damages from Shell in “unprecedented” climate claim
Tue 28 Oct 2025
The case is the first civil claim to directly link an oil firm’s climate impact to deaths and personal injury in the Global South, its backers say.
NZ marine heatwaves could double in intensity under high-emissions pathway
16 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show marine heatwaves will grow more intense around the North Island and more frequent around the South Island as the climate warms – raising risks for fisheries, aquaculture, coastal ecosystems and tourism.
UN report: Five charts showing how global deforestation is declining
Tue 28 Oct 2025
The amount of forest lost around the world has reduced by millions of hectares each year in recent decades, but countries are still off track to meet “important” deforestation targets.
Oil firm TotalEnergies made misleading green statements, court rules
Tue 28 Oct 2025
A French oil company engaged in “misleading commercial practices” about the scope of its environmental commitments, a court has ruled.
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.”
Super Fund smashes decarbonisation goals
Thu 23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The New Zealand Superannuation Fund continues to blow through its self-imposed targets for decarbonising its investment portfolio, increasing its exposure to fast-growing green technology opportunities in the process, according to its 2025 climate statement.
No major banks have yet committed to stop funding new oil, gas and coal, research finds
Fri 24 Oct 2025
‘The objectives of the Paris agreement are slipping further out of reach,’ say researchers.
Is greenhushing the new greenwashing? Or something else entirely
Fri 24 Oct 2025
Companies used to be accused of faking sustainability via greenwashing. Now some are hiding actual climate progress.
Coal imports up 650%
12 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams and Liz Kivi | Coal imports are up 650% as generators stockpile the most polluting fossil fuel ahead of next winter.
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.
On Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, residents fume as insurers hike rates and invest in fossil fuel projects
22 Oct 2025
Locals face a perfect storm — they can’t afford insurance and climate change threatens their livelihood.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 24 Oct 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The Government planned to gut New Zealand's world-leading climate disclosure law - even as it bragged about it on the world stage; a new Indigenous climate adaptation network launches; and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts admits that the new methane target might breach the global 1.5C goal.
Nelson commuters urged to ditch car once a week
22 Oct 2025
By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporter | Nelson has a bold carbon emission reduction target and residents are being encouraged to leave the car at home one day a week to help meet it.
US, Australia to invest $2 billion in critical minerals, advance Alcoa gallium project
Thu 23 Oct 2025
The United States and Australia extended financial support to several Australian companies as part of a wide-ranging critical minerals agreement aimed at countering China's hold over the industry.
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.
Climate impacts hit NZ with increasing wild weather
Thu 23 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand is facing a triple whammy of climate impacts today, with severe winds and rainfall predicted for much of the country while some areas are still dealing with wildfires ignited earlier in the week.
‘Weird and sad’ – Tuvalu Climate Minister condemns NZ halving methane target
15 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Dr Maina Talia, Tuvalu’s Minister for Home Affairs, Climate Change, and Environment, says he’s surprised at New Zealand’s decision to weaken its target for reducing methane emissions – and is planning to take up the issue with his counterpart Climate Minister Simon Watts this week.
Lobby group launches ‘blueprint’ for ocean management reform
18 Sep 2025
The Environmental Defence Society yesterday released its plan to tackle widespread ecological decline in our oceans.
Climate reporting rollback raises risk of 'flying blind', experts warn
Tue 28 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Government plans to drastically narrow mandatory climate disclosures may reduce compliance costs in the short term – but critics say it will leave New Zealand with major blind spots in tracking climate risk.
Judge dismisses suit by young climate activists against Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies
17 Oct 2025
Plaintiffs had ‘overwhelming evidence’ of climate crisis but a court injunction would be ‘unworkable’, ruling says.
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.
Difficult trade-offs ahead for climate adaptation
17 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | While climate impacts are already here, bringing the urgent need to accelerate effective adaptation now, the Government's newly minted adaptation framework still leaves important questions unanswered about who will pay.
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.
Climate scientists and republican lawyers are taking aim at Big Tech’s emissions
17 Oct 2025
Technology companies have long been one of the biggest investors in clean energy, but new accounting rules could upend that.
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.
NZ abstains from vote on global shipping carbon tax
22 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government says it held back from endorsing the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework over fears the plan could raise costs for exporters and importers.
Fix it, don't ditch it: University of Auckland hosts first Repair Cafe
9 Oct 2025
Media release - Auckland University | The University's first-ever Repair Cafe is bringing students and staff together to give broken items a new lease on life, while promoting a culture of repair and reuse.
Council buys dairy farm to help clean up Lake Rotorua
21 Oct 2025
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has bought a 266-hectare dairy farm in the Lake Rotorua catchment and plans to retire it from production to reduce nitrogen entering the lake.
Adaptation plan at odds with public sentiment: survey
21 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s position on climate adaptation buyouts shows a disconnect with public opinion, according to survey findings from insurer Suncorp NZ.
‘Damp squib’ – Govt energy plan slammed for locking in fossil fuels
2 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Critics across business, climate groups and the opposition say the Government’s electricity reforms duck structural change, double down on LNG and gas, and offer little relief for soaring power prices – warning of an “expensive white elephant", deeper energy poverty and a missed chance to scale renewables.
