Topics tagged with 'Politics'
Badly designed biodiversity credit system could impact national grid
2 Nov 2023
Transpower - the state-owned operator of the national grid - has warned that a badly designed biodiversity credit system could pose risks for the country’s power lines.
Greater Wellington’s emissions down by 5%
1 Nov 2023
Greater Wellington regional council has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 5% but failed to meet some of its climate change targets in part due to severe weather events caused by global warming.
Battle lines drawn over future of fossil fuel exploration
20 Oct 2023
On one side, the oil and gas industry maintains - counter-intuitively - that to continue to electrify transport we need new gas and oil wells. On the other, Greenpeace and the wider environmental movement say that starting oil and gas exploration in a climate crisis is a crime against life on Earth.
MBIE proposes energy and emissions reporting scheme
18 Oct 2023
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is proposing that stationary energy users with annual emissions of 2000 tonnes of CO2 or more be required to report on their energy use.
What will new government mean for climate policy?
16 Oct 2023
The National Party has won the election, with a coalition with the ACT Party giving it just enough seats for a slim majority, which it may look to New Zealand First to increase.
Former IPCC lead author calls for a “Go Slow” campaign
13 Oct 2023
By Jeremy Rose | Former IPCC lead author and internationally recognised transport emissions expert, emeritus professor Ralph Sims, is calling on Waka Kotahi to start a “Go Slow” campaign.
NZ still has a long way to go to meet emission reduction targets: "This ship can sink"
10 Oct 2023
By Robert McLachlan | COMMENT: The 2016 Paris Agreement contains a built-in feedback mechanism to help ensure that its goals are met: the Global Stocktake. Every five years all pledges and progress are assessed and compared to the targets on warming, adaptation, and financing.
Recloaking Papatūānuku: proposal for massive planting of native forests
9 Oct 2023
By Jeremy Rose | By one measure New Zealand has emitted more CO2 per capita since the beginning of the industrial revolution than any other country.
New marine reserves good first step: environmentalists
6 Oct 2023
The government’s announcement yesterday of six new marine reserves in the south-east of the South Island has been universally welcomed. But environmentalists say more needs to be done and to meet the country’s obligations around marine protection, and Māori are calling for a law change.
Little appetite for European-style climate interventions
5 Oct 2023
By Jeremy Rose | Outdoor heaters are banned in France and many German cities where critics argue that using fossil fuels to literally heat the planet is unacceptable.
The bumpy road to transport carbon neutrality
3 Oct 2023
By Jeremy Rose | The road to climate hell is a brand spanking new, asphalt paved motorway.
Guides to the ‘climate election’
2 Oct 2023
This might not be the ‘climate election’ many were calling for, but plenty of advocates are trying to steer voters towards thinking about the climate when they decide which boxes to tick on polling day.
Kaipara District Council cancels climate policy
2 Oct 2023
Kaipara District Council has canned key climate work, with the decision to stop development of a climate change policy and cancel its emissions accounting contract.
Differing visions for Climate Change Commission
27 Sep 2023
By Jeremy Rose | The Act Party wants it abolished, NZ First is calling for its head’s head, and Labour, the Greens and TOP want it given more powers.
Climate trumped by other election concerns in latest poll
21 Sep 2023
Multiple organisations have called for October’s general election to be a 'climate election', however climate is no longer one of the top five concerns for New Zealanders.
Shining a light on the parties’ solar policies
20 Sep 2023
By Jeremy Rose | Labour and the Greens are both promising subsidies for rooftop solar, despite experts - including the Climate Change Commission chair - saying regulatory barriers and grid limitations are the main reasons households and businesses aren't taking advantage of the renewable energy going to waste on their roofs.
ETS cap likely to flatline under ACT policy
14 Sep 2023
By Jeremy Rose | If Act’s policy of linking New Zealand’s carbon emission’s cap to the reductions of our five largest trading partners is adopted by the incoming government it would in theory see next year’s cap going up not down.
2023 Budget spending counter to climate goals - report
11 Sep 2023
The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research says NZ’s 2023 Budget spend is sabotaging climate goals, with unfavourable climate effects for 80% of new government spending.
NZ must improve how it puts together plans for emissions reductions: Environment Commissioner
8 Sep 2023
Make it coherent and have the Prime Minister take the lead: Those are two pieces of advice the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment wants the incoming government to take to heart when formulating plans to cut emissions.
Placing climate change denial on the Parliamentary record
8 Sep 2023
Surprise, surprise: climate change minister James Shaw doesn’t agree with Nobel laureate John Clauser that the climate crisis isn’t real.
Mixed reactions to Nats EV charger proposal
7 Sep 2023
An energy expert is warning that the National Party’s plan to roll out a 10,000 strong network of public EV charges will be hindered by the current network structures and high fixed price of electricity.
Forestry owners call for law change gets lukewarm response
5 Sep 2023
If there’s one political party you’d expect to rally to a call from the Forestry Owners Association for a law change to stop councils charging higher rates for foresters than farmers, it’s New Zealand First.
Climate issues and the 2023 Election: Is Aotearoa heading in a sustainable direction?
30 Aug 2023
By Ralph Chapman | COMMENT: In the glare of now daily global climate disasters, climate change is taking a higher profile as an election issue in Aotearoa.
Govt cuts more than $200 million from climate funds to “tighten belts”
29 Aug 2023
The government is slashing funding to climate emissions reduction programmes as part of “belt tightening” measures, with more than $235 million in cuts to projects planned to reduce emissions.
Green Party announces climate adaptation fund
28 Aug 2023
The Green Party has announced a $750 million fund for councils to put in place nature-based solutions, aiming to cut emissions and protect communities from climate change impacts.
RMA comes to an end - but for how long?
22 Aug 2023
Thirty years of the Resource Management Act has come to and with the passage of two reform bills, but how long they will last and what they could be replaced with will depend on the outcome of the election.
Greens slam govt’s transport plan as prioritising roads over climate
18 Aug 2023
The Green Party has slammed the government’s $20 billion transport plan, announced yesterday, saying the decision to prioritise new roads shows the Labour Party is not serious about climate change.
National suggests a different path for RMA reform
17 Aug 2023
A senior National MP has suggested that if the Government had sent the resource management law reform bills back to select committee, it may have been possible to get cross-party agreement with tweaks.
Green Party announces new policy to slash energy bills and carbon emissions
14 Aug 2023
The Green Party has announced a new policy it says will save households up to $1,200 on energy bills every year and slash carbon emissions.
Māori forestry lobby welcomes Nat’s commitment to leave ETS unchanged
7 Aug 2023
Māori forestry group Te Taumata has welcomed a National Party statement that they would not make major changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme if voted into government at the upcoming election.
Climate change requires true leadership, not party-political point-scoring
7 Aug 2023
The very laissez-faire approach with which most people greeted the news that July was the world’s hottest month on record, and possibly the hottest in 120,000 years, should concern us as much as the fact itself.
India’s parliament clears contentious bill that seeks to amend forest act
4 Aug 2023
Hundreds of legal and environmental experts have flagged potentially damaging clauses in the bill that might endanger as much as 25% of India’s forest cover.
Energy Council releases wish list for the next govt
31 Jul 2023
The BusinessNZ Energy Council says the next government should set long-term energy goals and stick to them - without reactive kneejerk policy changes.
Labour votes down bill to stop new mines on conservation land
27 Jul 2023
The Government has voted down a Green Party’s members’ bill to stop new mining on conservation land.
RMA reform bill makes progress in Parliament
24 Jul 2023
Resource management law reform bills completed their second readings in Parliament last week with Labour on track to pass them with Green Party support and National and Act adamant they will repeal them before Christmas if elected to government.
Govt funding to reduce climate emissions from commercial buildings
11 Jul 2023
The government is fronting up $40 million to help commercial building tenants and owners improve the climate and energy efficiency of their buildings.
Major energy policy papers delayed
10 Jul 2023
Clashes between different streams of advice and political imperatives have been blamed for the delay in the release of four important energy policy papers last week.
Next stage of RMA reform met with virtual silence
3 Jul 2023
The release of the select committee report on the resource management reform bills last week was noticeable for the near silence that greeted it.
China and New Zealand strengthen forestry cooperation
29 Jun 2023
Media release - A bilateral meeting between New Zealand and China will pave the way for further cooperation in forestry, climate change and trade, Forestry Minister Peeni Henare said.
UN to unmask fossil fuel lobbyists at climate talks
19 Jun 2023
Oil, gas and coal representatives will have to disclose their industry ties at future climate meetings, the UN says.
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.
UN Chief: world needs to wake up to impending climate disaster
16 Jun 2023
The U.N. secretary-general said that the world is racing toward a climate disaster but refuses to wake up, as he took aim at the fossil fuel industry for being at the epicenter of the climate crisis.
What the EU’s new border tax could mean for carbon markets
16 Jun 2023
The European Union’s new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism should incentivize more countries to put a price on carbon, but not the U.S.
Coalition of 30 environmental groups launches 10-point climate action plan
15 Jun 2023
Media release | A coalition of over 30 organisations from across Aotearoa has come together to launch a 10 point plan called “Climate Shift”, which calls for urgent climate action from parties across the political spectrum in the lead-up to the election.
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.
Govt invests in biomass research and bioenergy plant for Tairāwhiti
12 Jun 2023
The government is investing in a bioenergy plant, as well as research into biomass and better forestry practices, with the aim of making the forestry industry more sustainable.
Fuel bills get differing responses
12 Jun 2023
Two fuels sector bills made progress in Parliament last week.
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.
New report: regional plans could transform freshwater quality
9 Jun 2023
Media release | A report laying out weaknesses in planning that have seen the deterioration of our high-country lakes should be compulsory reading for all regional councils as they develop their new regional plans according to academics.
Call for moratorium on new mines on conservation land after Labour fails to fulfil its promise
8 Jun 2023
Media release | The Government has failed to support a Bill which would have ended new mines on conservation land. Forest & Bird says that is a broken promise which will threaten native species and allow further extraction of coal in the middle of a climate emergency.
Governments must vote in favour of moratorium on deep sea mining
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Media release - Greenpeace | The 30th session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has ended with Greenpeace saying governments are continuing to fall short in protecting the deep sea.
Does NZ need a national incentive scheme for wetlands?
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | An expert is calling for a national incentive programme to restore New Zealand’s wetlands and wants to stop schemes to drain these vital carbon-sequestering ecosystems.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
Airlines risk legal challenges by advertising jet fuel as “sustainable”, NGO warns
18 Jul 2025
Amid suspected fraud in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a new report says the airline industry should stop calling all alternatives to kerosene “sustainable”.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
Tue 29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Sustainability claims questioned as renewable diesel surges
14 May 2025
Critics are sceptical about industry claims of renewable diesel life-cycle greenhouse gas emission cuts and warn renewable diesel carbon releases will surge if sourcing is scaled up, triggering tropical deforestation as producers convert forests to energy crops, such as oil palm and soy.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
At least 30 killed and several missing as heavy rains and floods lash northern China
Wed 30 Jul 2025
Thousands of people were evacuated as the region, including the capital Beijing, braced for more rainfall overnight.
Bearish sentiment lingers for carbon market
11 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The compliance carbon market could be set for a gradual upward trajectory, however unsold volume from the quarterly Emissions Trading Scheme auctions continues to act as ‘a price ceiling,’ according to an expert.
Multi-day protest continues at coal mine
Wed 30 Jul 2025
Bathurst Resources has been forced to truck coal from its Stockton mine as climate activists occupy coal buckets at the mine for a third day.
Forestry can be a big plus for sheep and beef farmers – but there are caveats
22 Jul 2025
By Keith Woodford | OPINION: These are good times for sheep and beef farmers with record product prices for meat, which is precisely why now is the time for sheep and beef farmers to be looking again at farm forestry.
Common low-grade clay strengthens low-carbon concrete
5 Jun 2025
Media release | Engineers at RMIT University have converted low-grade clay into a high-performance cement supplement, opening a potential new market in sustainable construction materials.
Cuts to climate finance put exports in jeopardy: Lawyers
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has halved international climate finance, a move aid organisations describe as “devastating,” and which lawyers say could put our Paris Agreement commitments and export market access at risk.
NZ voluntary carbon market’s sad state
14 Jul 2025
By John O’Brien | OPINION: A combination of scandals, challenging economic times, and cheaper offshore carbon credits, mean that the domestic voluntary carbon market in New Zealand remains absolutely tiny.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
Tue 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.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
A third of ‘slum residents’ in global south are exposed to disastrous flood risks
Wed 30 Jul 2025
One in three people in informal settlements in the global south live in floodplains and are at risk of a “disastrous flood”.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
Wilding pines threaten Molesworth Station
Mon 28 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Without increased support, the unchecked spread of wilding pines will continue to creep across Marlborough’s high country – putting iconic landscapes and one of New Zealand’s top five biodiversity hotspots at serious risk, according to an expert.
EV sales fall, but it’s complicated
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Imports of fully electric vehicles fell over 50% in value during the 12 months to June 2025, compared with the year ended June 2024, according to Stats NZ.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
SBTi releases Net Zero Standard for banks, investors
24 Jul 2025
The Science Based Targets initiative announced the release of its finalised Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, aimed at enabling banks and investors to set net zero-aligned targets for their lending, investing, insurance and capital markets activities.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Media release - Earth Sciences New Zealand | A world-first study of marine life, including sea creatures found in New Zealand's dark, cold, pressurised ocean depths, has revealed that deep-sea life is surprisingly more connected than previously thought.
‘Ideological sludge’: How NZ is quiet quitting climate action
17 Jul 2025
New Zealand once stood out as a world leader on climate change. In June it became the first country in the world to abandon a commitment to phase out oil, gas and coal.
Methanex closure comes early this year
14 May 2025
The almost-now-annual closure of Methanex has come earlier this year, giving more confidence that the electricity system will get through the winter without a fuel shortfall.
Taranaki mayors want hydrogen kick-start from Wellington
Mon 28 Jul 2025
By Craig Ashworth, Local Democracy Reporter Taranaki mayors want central government to partner up with their councils to kick-start a hydrogen industry. This despite ongoing questions about the gas’s effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions.
Climate catastrophes are creating a ‘new market reality’ for insurance carriers
23 Jul 2025
Raging wildfires and severe storms contributed to record-high global insurance losses — totalling an estimated US$84 billion — for the first six months of the year.
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.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
All aboard for passenger rail in the golden triangle
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Media release – The Future Is Rail | New Zealand’s national passenger rail advocacy group, The Future is Rail, has announced its strong support for the Green Party’s proposal to establish a new passenger rail service connecting Auckland and Tauranga.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand is making progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but more work is needed – urgently – to set up for future reductions, according to the latest report from the Climate Change Commission.
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.
Toxic algae are turning South Australia’s coral reefs into underwater graveyards
Tue 29 Jul 2025
Since March, a harmful algal bloom, fueled by a marine heat wave, has been choking South Australia’s coastline.
NZ govt’s fossil fuel plans could break international law
24 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government could be breaching international law with its plans to subsidise and expand fossil fuel extraction, following a ruling overnight from the world’s highest court.
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
11 Jul 2025
In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, the UK city of Exeter recently played host to the second international conference on “tipping points”.
‘Total infiltration’: How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet.
Media round-up
Fri 25 Jul 2025
In our round-up of the climate coverage in local media: Dairy conversions surge; Gore is hit with a drinking water crisis; meanwhile farming lobby groups Groundswell and Federated Farmers are up in arms about a plan to classify environmental impacts in the agriculture and forestry sector.
Activists sue US development bank over $4.6bn loan to massive Mozambique gas project
18 Jul 2025
Environmental groups claim loan is ‘unlawful’ in legal filing.
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.
China's carbon emissions may have peaked thanks to renewables push
Mon 28 Jul 2025
Climate experts say China's carbon emissions may have peaked, which could affect global climate targets, the fight against global warming – and the Australian coal industry.
Ocean heatwaves may signal climate tipping point
Fri 25 Jul 2025
A recent study that tapped into satellite data has revealed that 2023 marked an unprecedented year for marine heatwaves, with record-breaking levels of duration, reach and intensity across the world's oceans.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Can robot taxis solve NZ's transport woes?
23 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Ministry of Transport has tested the idea of driverless taxis as a futuristic fix. But while new modelling explores how "robotaxis" could ease congestion and reduce car ownership, critics say it misses a crucial point – the country’s worsening transport emissions.
United Nations carbon market rules agreed but concerns remain
25 Nov 2024
New carbon market rules agreed at the fractious UN climate summit will be a relief to New Zealand and Singapore, who were leading the negotiations, but concerns about greenwashing and disadvantaging nature-based solutions remain.
Waste Levy risks becoming ‘slush fund’ under proposed changes – Commissioner
5 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Proposed changes to New Zealand's waste legislation risk undermining public trust in the waste levy scheme, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
