Topics tagged with 'Politics'
US carbon border fee gains traction, but hurdles remain
5 May 2022
Sen. Joe Manchin’s bipartisan energy gang is trying to breathe life into a carbon border adjustment, but it is still struggling with the same political problems that have dogged past efforts to slap tariffs on carbon-intensive goods.
Is it time to put Te Pati Maori in charge of climate change?
4 May 2022
The Financial Times has created a climate change game that lets players see how they would do if they were put in charge of climate change policy: Te Pati Maori co-leader Debbie Ngawera-Packer had a go and she aced it.
In Switzerland, parliamentarians have requested training on global warming
3 May 2022
SEVERAL IPCC experts spoke for three hours at the Swiss Federal Palace yesterday. An event prompted by a hunger-striking dad.
‘Money time’ for EU carbon market reform in the European Parliament
3 May 2022
The lawmaker overseeing the adoption of a key package of EU climate legislation in the European Parliament has urged colleagues to stop fighting over the proposed reform, saying Europe must rise to the occasion in the current geopolitical context.
Pacific community pleads for Australian climate action amid regional tension
2 May 2022
Former Pacific island leaders have called on Australia to take “credible and urgent actions on climate change” and criticised a lack of consultation with the region after Solomon Islands’ shock decision to sign a security pact with China.
U.S. scraps incandescent bulbs, cuts 222 megatonnes of emissions over 30 years
28 Apr 2022
The Biden administration is scrapping old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs, speeding an ongoing trend toward more efficient lighting that officials say will save households, schools, and businesses billions of dollars a year.
Climate change fuelling rise of Spanish far right
28 Apr 2022
In this small town, and dozens like it across Spain’s vast, hot southern region of Andalusia, climate change is helping sweep the far right toward government.
Government releases draft climate change adaptation plan
27 Apr 2022
A half metre rise in sea levels would result in 36,000 buildings, 350 square kilometres of land and an extra 48,900 people in Aotearoa being exposed to flooding during extreme events – those startling figures give a glimpse of the challenges the just released draft National Adaptation Plan is attempting to deal with.
Macron’s win is good news for climate
27 Apr 2022
The French president had to redouble his commitments to fighting climate change as he courted the left-wing vote, but his efforts could be thwarted if he fails to win a parliamentary majority in June.
Aussie climate change war erupts as MP declares net zero ‘dead’
27 Apr 2022
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison is facing divisions over climate change with Queensland senator Matt Canavan declaring net zero by 2050 is “dead”.
African economies risk suffocation by 'shock' carbon tax
22 Apr 2022
The climate is surely one area where the European Union and African Union should be in step with one another. Curbing global warming and agreeing how to produce clean power would help keep more of the world habitable and prosperous.
Singapore and NZ agree to tackle “existential threat” of climate change
20 Apr 2022
New Zealand and Singapore have agreed to collaborate on a raft of initiatives aimed at tackling the "existential threat" of climate change.
Climate wars enter Aussie election campaign
20 Apr 2022
If you thought Australia's infamous "climate wars" were staying out of the election campaign, think again.
Macron uses climate change to attack Le Pen
19 Apr 2022
In a bid to woo left-wing voters for the final round of the French presidential election, Emmanuel Macron on Saturday slammed his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen as a “climate skeptic” and trumpeted his own plans to build a green economy.
Climate change looms large in US treaty talks in the Pacific
13 Apr 2022
At least one Pacific nation wants funding to help with climate change resiliency as the U.S. renegotiates three critical security treaties ahead of a looming deadline next year.
Meet a climate scientist who just risked arrest to save the planet
13 Apr 2022
On a typical day, Peter Kalmus goes to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles, where he studies biological systems and climate change
Covid stalls NZ's GHG emissions
12 Apr 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has achieved what politicians have failed to do for decades: stall the growth in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
This is Australia's climate change election
12 Apr 2022
It is not just the Pacific region angered by Prime Minister Morrison’s unchanged coal-loving stance. Next month, he will have to answer to the Australian electorate on this critical issue.
$1.5 billion urgently needed for flood protection: local government group
7 Apr 2022
Te Uru Kahika - Regional and Unitary Councils Aotearoa’s Chief Executive Officers Group is calling on the government to commit $1.5 billion over the next decade for flood protection.
EU Commission lays out plan to become climate neutral by 2030
7 Apr 2022
The European Commission unveiled plans to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions by 60% before the end of the decade, saying the remainder will be compensated with carbon removals
New Zealand’s 150 million tonne carbon headache
6 Apr 2022
How to best reduce New Zealand’s stockpile of more than 150 million carbon credits is one of the conundrums being worked through by the Climate Change Commission as it prepares its recommendations to government on future unit limits and price controls.
Chile's new constitution likely to enshrine rights of nature
5 Apr 2022
Chile’s constitutional convention, underway in Santiago since July 4, 2021, is the first time a country has re-written its foundational document in the wake of the Paris Agreement and comes as the world reckons with three interconnected environmental crises: climate change, biodiversity loss and toxic pollution
ACT takes aim at National's climate policies
4 Apr 2022
The ACT Party is using National's recruitment of the NZ Initiative's former senior economist and leading proponent of the "leave it to the ETS" school of thought, Matt Burgess, to criticise the opposition party's climate policies.
Government to set up advisory group on decarbonising aviation
1 Apr 2022
The New Zealand government is set to follow the UK’s example and set up a public – private advisory body focussed on decarbonising aviation.
Aotearoa and Fiji commit to combatting climate change
30 Mar 2022
Fiji prime minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama and New Zealand minister of foreign affairs Nanaia Mahuta yesterday signed a document pledging their countries to combatting climate change.
Canada lays out C$9.1 billion roadmap to meet 2030 climate targets
30 Mar 2022
Canada released its first real roadmap to meeting 2030 climate targets on Tuesday, laying out detailed plans and C$9.1 billion in new spending to cut planet-warming carbon emissions after years failing to meet its goals.
Windfarm upgrade on path to fast-tracked consent process
29 Mar 2022
Environment minister David Parker has accepted NZ Windfarms' application to refer the Te Rere Hau wind farm repowering project to an expert consenting panel for consideration under the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Act (FTCA).
Germany’s new government had big plans on climate, then Russia invaded Ukraine
28 Mar 2022
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has made Germany’s reliance on Russian oil and gas untenable, and led the center-left government of Chancellor Olav Scholz to accelerate the transition to clean energy.
White House office seeks public opinion on crypto-climate implications
28 Mar 2022
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), an Executive Office of the President of the United States, commenced a study to identify the scope for offsetting energy use and climate changes related to digital assets.
Minister responds to PCE hydrogen letter
25 Mar 2022
Minister for the environment Megan Woods has thanked the parliamentary commissioner for the environment, Simon Upton, for his letter highlighting concerns about the development of a green hydrogen industry but says the government sees real potential for the gas in New Zealand's energy mix.
Taihoa on hydrogen plans: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
24 Mar 2022
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, has warned the government that the opportunity costs of developing a green hydrogen industry are likely to outweigh the benefits.
Appeal Court allows White House to calculate social cost of carbon
24 Mar 2022
The Biden administration’s climate plans have one less constraint after a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stayed a Louisiana District Court’s order preventing agencies from considering the social cost of carbon.
Putin’s climate envoy Anatoly Chubais quits
24 Mar 2022
Anatoly Chubais, the architect of Russia's market reforms in the 1990s and President Vladimir Putin's climate envoy, has quit his post, becoming the highest-ranking official to stand down following the invasion of Ukraine.
No carless days on horizon
23 Mar 2022
Minister of energy Megan Woods has ruled out an International Energy Agency (IEA) proposal for car free Sundays.
Proposed SEC climate rules sparks fight over indirect emissions
23 Mar 2022
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission broke new ground yesterday when it unveiled a 510-page rulebook that, if finalized, would force companies to provide investors with more information to help them better account for the economic realities of a warming world.
South Korea commits to slashing emissions
23 Mar 2022
South Korea has passed the Carbon Neutrality Act which commits the country to cutting emissions to 40% of those in 2018 by 2030.
The U.S. may force companies to disclose climate risks
21 Mar 2022
How much do companies contribute to climate change and how are they impacted by it? Those questions are at the heart of a major announcement expected today from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
UN report to lay out options to halt climate crisis
21 Mar 2022
Nearly 200 nations gather today to confront a question that will outlive Russia's invasion of Ukraine: how do we stop carbon pollution overheating the planet and threatening life as we know it?
Discounting our grandchildren’s wellbeing
18 Mar 2022
New Zealand’s current approach to evaluating the long-term environmental impacts of investments is sacrificing the wellbeing of our grandchildren for the benefit of those alive today, a select committee heard this week.
Public consultation opens on climate-related disclosures
17 Mar 2022
The External Reporting Board (XRB) yesterday released part-two of the climate-related disclosure standards for public consultation.
French election campaign ignores ‘humanity’s greatest challenge’
17 Mar 2022
It’s a key preoccupation of the French and the greatest challenge to our planet – and yet the subject of climate change has all but vanished from France’s presidential campaign, sidelined by the war in Ukraine, a lack of media exposure, and candidates’ own reluctance to broach the subject.
Is the government sacrificing planetary gain to ease pump pain?
15 Mar 2022
If there’s a positive side to the skyrocketing price of fuel it’s that it will speed up the transition to a decarbonised transport sector, right? One of the country’s leading experts isn’t convinced petrol at $3 a litre was ever going to make much difference.
Back to the future: bottle drives on the horizon
14 Mar 2022
The government has announced plans for the reintroduction of a refundable deposit on drink containers – something not seen since the 1980s.
Morrison government blasted for 'bungling' eastern Australian flood disaster
14 Mar 2022
High-ranking former Australian emergency services chiefs have attacked the Morrison government for "bungling" the flood disaster still affecting communities along the nation's east coast.
NZ Green Investment Finance confident it’s not funding muscle cars
9 Mar 2022
The chief executive of the NZ Green Investment Finance told the Finance and Infrastructure Committee, this morning, that the green bank had sufficient safeguards in place to ensure it didn’t end up funding muscle cars instead of EVs.
Time will tell whether lawyers had a knockout blow in climate case
8 Mar 2022
If there’s a cliché that defines how New Zealand likes to see itself on the world stage, it’s “punching above our weight”. A group of lawyers spent much of last week arguing that when it comes to climate change not only do we not punch above our weight we’ve cooked the books to relegate ourselves to the featherweight division.
Berlin to unleash €200 billion for climate protection until 2026
8 Mar 2022
The German government will funnel an extra €200 billion into climate protection, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in a move widely considered a bid to pacify their Green coalition partners over increased military spending.
Tariffs on 290 environmentally beneficial goods flushed down the loo
4 Mar 2022
A 5% tariff on composting toilets is one of more than 290 tariffs on environmentally beneficial goods flushed down the loo in the recently announced free trade agreement between the UK and New Zealand – but will it really make any difference?
Govt proposes excluding permanent exotic forests from ETS
3 Mar 2022
The government has released a discussion document that proposes removing exotic forests – such as pinus radiata – from being registered under the permanent post-1989 category of New Zealand’s Emission Trading Scheme
Police action against protesters delays climate court case
2 Mar 2022
The Climate Change Commission was set to begin its defence in the judicial hearing brought by Lawyers for Climate Action NZ this morning but the case was adjourned till this afternoon - presumably as a result of police attempts to clear the Covid-deniers currently occupying parliament grounds.
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?
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.
Carbon prices slide as market awaits ETS decision
Today 11:45am
By Liz Kivi | Volatility has returned to the secondary carbon market, with prices sliding again after plateauing in recent weeks, as the market waits for government decisions on Emissions Trading Scheme settings.
The US is sitting out the most consequential climate summit in a decade. It may offer a victory to China
Today 11:45am
The Trump administration fired the last of the US climate negotiators earlier this month, helping cement America’s withdrawal from international climate diplomacy. It may also have handed a huge victory to China.
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.
Coal use drove recent emissions increase
Today 11:45am
Increased use of coal for electricity generation was a large driver for an increase in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in the last quarter.
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?
What does 'drier' really mean in 'green' homes?
Today 11:45am
Media release - Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland | Researchers say green-rating systems could improve clarity and effectiveness by explicitly defining ‘drier’ and using two measures of humidity.
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.
Bill to restart oil and gas exploration clears final hurdle
Today 11:45am
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government’s Crown Minerals Amendment Bill is set to become law after passing its third reading in parliament last night, with critics calling it humiliating for the climate minister and an embarrassment to New Zealand's international reputation.
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.
Warmer than usual weather ahead, wetter in north and east, as La Niña signals strengthen
Today 11:45am
Media release – Earth Sciences New Zealand | Seasonal Outlook Climate August to October 2025 suggests warm, damp weather, with La Niña’s possible return.
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.
Last minute change to oil and gas legislation over cleanup costs
Thu 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.
A modest geothermal strategy
Thu 31 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has unveiled a far more modest geothermal energy strategy than its primary backer, Resources Minister Shane Jones, had sought.
European Central Bank to consider 'climate factor' when lending to banks
Thu 31 Jul 2025
The European Central Bank will add climate change considerations to its lending operations from late 2026, raising pressure on banks to channel financing towards greener sectors as the euro zone seeks to reduce its carbon footprint.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fund for low emissions transport winds up
Thu 31 Jul 2025
New Zealand’s Low Emission Transport Fund has officially wrapped up, ending a nine-year programme that put hundreds of millions of dollars towards accelerating the country’s shift to cleaner transport.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
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.
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.
Tilting at windmills? Trump’s claims about turbines fact-checked
Thu 31 Jul 2025
The US president has taken a swipe at wind power as the blades visible from his Turnberry golf course turn.
Ocean heatwaves may signal climate tipping point
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.
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.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
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.
