Topics tagged with 'Politics'
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.
States sue to stop Trump cancellation of $7 billion solar grant program
21 Oct 2025
Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration over its cancellation of a $7 billion grant program aimed at expanding solar energy in low-income communities, according to court papers.
UK Prime Minister will attend Brazil climate summit
21 Oct 2025
Keir Starmer will travel to the Amazon rainforest for the COP30 United Nations climate summit next month, Downing Street has confirmed, after weeks of speculation that he would not.
‘Pathetic': experts slam govt’s approach to adaptation
20 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has signalled it will step back from full property buyouts if assets are hit by climate disasters, a move adaptation experts say will condemn hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders to a “dismal” future.
Govt pours millions into Canterbury flood defences
20 Oct 2025
By Jonathan Leask, Local Democracy Reporter | Canterbury’s flood defences are set for a major boost, with $21.5 million in Government co-funding to fast-track nine priority river protection projects.
Electricity Authority proposes doubling solar export limits to 10 kW
20 Oct 2025
The Electricity Authority is proposing a default 10kW export limit for small-scale generation, saying new inverter standards and voltage settings allow homes and businesses to feed more power into local networks without compromising safety.
New methane research barn boosts farmer options
20 Oct 2025
Media release | The Government has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has said at the opening of a new state-of-the-art methane research facility in the Waikato.
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.
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.
Councils need funding tools to address climate challenges – LGNZ
17 Oct 2025
Media release | Local Government New Zealand is welcoming the Government’s new National Adaptation Framework, while cautioning that councils will struggle to meet its new expectations without additional funding tools.
Govt unveils National Adaptation Framework
16 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Minister of Climate Change Simon Watts has revealed the first actions under New Zealand’s National Adaptation Framework, which sets out the Government's approach to the rising risks from natural hazards such as floods and storms.
Where’s Watts? Climate Minister no-show at climate conference
16 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Opposition parties have slammed the Climate Change Minister’s failure to front up to a major international conference in Christchurch, saying it shows that climate adaptation is a low priority for the National Party.
‘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.
Who pays – and who makes them pay – for climate adaptation?
15 Oct 2025
By David Hall | COMMENT: How do you make a person, or organisation, invest in climate adaptation?
NZ’s biggest ever climate meeting kicks off
14 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The world's largest climate adaptation conference kicked off in Christchurch yesterday, with nearly 2000 attendees expected, making it potentially the biggest international climate meeting Aotearoa New Zealand will ever host.
Govt releases updated emissions projections
13 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Ministry for the Environment has released updated emissions projections to 2050, which show significant differences to the Climate Change Commission's recent projections for the same period.
LNG and purchasing power
13 Oct 2025
Cabinet’s electricity reforms put two tools on the table to shore up energy security – leveraging the Crown’s purchasing power and advancing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import option, both aimed at tackling the dry-year shortfall when hydro lakes run low and prices spike.
US threatens visa restrictions, sanctions against UN members that back IMO emissions plan
13 Oct 2025
The United States threatened to use visa restrictions and sanctions to retaliate against nations that vote in favour of a plan put forward by a United Nations agency to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from ocean shipping.
SPECIAL BULLETIN: Govt weakens methane target
12 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has ignored the Climate Change Commission’s advice to strengthen methane targets and has instead weakened them significantly.
Policy churn ‘bewildering and costly’: Commissioner urges cross-party fix for environmental management
9 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton warns that fragmented, stop–start policy and constant law reform are stalling progress on climate, freshwater and biodiversity.
US Energy Department to slash nearly $24 billion in green project funding
9 Oct 2025
The US Energy Department is slashing nearly $24 billion of funding for climate projects, as the Trump administration moves to further unwind Biden-era climate policies during the government shutdown.
New decision-making process for erosion-prone Tairāwhiti
8 Oct 2025
‘Deliberative democracy’ and collaborative decision-making are behind big changes that Gisborne District Council has endorsed to transform Tairāwhiti/Gisborne’s erosion-prone land in the face of worsening climate change.
UK Conservatives promise to ditch carbon pricing
8 Oct 2025
The UK’s opposition Conservative party (currently third in the polls) has pledged to cut energy prices by scrapping carbon pricing and wind subsidies.
Groups sue E.P.A. over cancelled $7 billion for solar energy
8 Oct 2025
The lawsuit accused the Environmental Protection Agency of illegally revoking the money without congressional approval.
Emerging biodiversity and carbon markets part of Gisborne plan for land-use change
6 Oct 2025
Gisborne District Council has endorsed a plan to shift up to 100,000 hectares of the region’s most erosion-prone land into permanent vegetation cover and is calling on the Government to make urgent changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme to aid the transition.
Solar farm gets fast-track treatment
6 Oct 2025
Lodestone Energy’s proposed 220 MW solar farm at Haldon Station in the Mackenzie Basin has become the first solar project to be referred to an expert panel under the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024.
UC wins top international award for civics education
6 Oct 2025
Media release | A University of Canterbury research group has received international recognition at the highest level of political science.
UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised over plan to scrap climate change act
6 Oct 2025
Campaigners said it will put the Tories on the side of "conspiracy theorists and far right extremists".
Will govt’s light touch approach lead to higher carbon prices?
3 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Carbon market watchers are hoping the government’s plan for the electricity sector will eventually lead to higher carbon prices, with the secondary market still trading sideways for the longest time in its history.
Still no clarity on Govt SNA policy for Coast councils
3 Oct 2025
By Lois Williams, Local Democracy Reporter | West Coast councils worried they will have to spend millions creating new SNAs will have to wait till late next year to find out if they must still do the job.
Media round-up
3 Oct 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Leaving the Paris Agreement won’t fix NZ’s farming frustrations, what Pacific Island leaders told the UN General Assembly about climate, and Hawke's Bay Regional Council faces class action legal challenge over flooding.
Environment Minister abusing role to put freshwater at risk – Greens
3 Oct 2025
Media release – Green Party | Documents obtained under the Official Information Act have revealed the Minister for the Environment is pressuring local councils to allow ‘water take’ consents for a group of farmers that includes her party colleague, in a catchment already showing signs of serious decline.
Countering the Trump administration’s attack on climate science
3 Oct 2025
The Trump Administration is attempting to remove the legal basis for U.S. action on greenhouse gas emissions by attacking the climate science that underpins it.
NZ quiet on climate target at UN meeting
2 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand didn't mention its recently minted – but widely criticised – climate target for 2035 at a major multilateral climate meeting in New York last week, at an event which was ostensibly billed as a platform for leaders to present their new targets.
‘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.
With federal support for wind and solar waning, states are trying to push policy through on their own
2 Oct 2025
A new report from the think tank Clean Tomorrow tracks how states are expanding – or restricting – where renewable energy projects can be built.
Electricity to remain in ETS
1 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has rejected Frontier Economics' recommendation that electricity should be removed from the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Climate credibility gap widening for Aussie firms
1 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Australian public companies’ climate change commitments are in retreat, reflecting difficulty in achieving stated targets and increased fossil use, but not because of any pressure to make less effort, according to a study of major companies’ ESG reporting.
Study warns climate leadership falling short in NZ
1 Oct 2025
Media release - Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland | Research suggests New Zealand’s climate leadership is falling short, with current adaptation efforts focused on property and cost-cutting rather than protecting communities.
China calls EU hypocritical over criticism of climate goal
1 Oct 2025
The EU climate chief's criticism of China's new climate pledges shows "double standards and selective blindness," China's foreign ministry said on Friday, accusing the bloc of being slow to act on its own climate targets.
Kaikōura sets vision for non-carbon transport future
30 Sep 2025
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter | A new strategy is set to ‘‘transform’’ Kaikōura’s trails network.
Low-cost clean energy now trumps politics, says architect of Paris Accord
30 Sep 2025
As Climate Week delegates turn to COP, Christiana Figueres says the debate over green investment is being negated by the fall in cost.
US Energy Department adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list
30 Sep 2025
The Energy Department has added “climate change,” “green” and “decarbonisation” to its growing “list of words to avoid” at its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
AgriZeroNZ puts another $6m towards ‘holy grail’ methane vaccine
29 Sep 2025
By Liz Kivi | AgriZeroNZ is investing a further USD $3.5 million (about NZ$5.9 million) in ArkeaBio to develop a methane vaccine for livestock.
Govt opens all of NZ for new oil and gas exploration
26 Sep 2025
By Liz Kivi | Fossil fuel companies can once again apply for new prospecting and exploration permits beyond onshore Taranaki for the first time since the previous government’s 2018 ban, in a move welcomed by the sector but slammed by environmental groups.
‘Beyond embarrassing’ – Peters’ Paris remarks draw fire for talking down Pacific climate diplomacy
26 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Foreign Minister and NZ first leader Winston Peters says he wants to revisit the Paris Agreement with Pacific leaders because some may be unaware of how it’s structured.
Media round-up
26 Sep 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Winston Peters drops a "truth bomb" about big emitters at UN function; why fixing our ‘broken’ electricity market is such a formidable challenge; and should New Zealand follow Australia’s lead on responding to its climate risk assessment?
Familiar tensions emerge at the Pacific Islands Forum
26 Sep 2025
With China-Taiwan rivalry, China-Western competition, and big carbon emitters at odds with the islands on climate policy, there is plenty of tension to go around.
Alarm over new West Coast hazard zones
24 Sep 2025
By Lois Williams, Local Democracy Reporter | Council and iwi leaders agonising over the West Coast ‘One Plan’ have tackled what planners describe as its most complicated and emotive chapter -- the one on Natural Hazards.
More shoreline adaptation plans confirmed for Tāmaki Makaurau
24 Sep 2025
Auckland Council has now confirmed 18 of a total of 20 shoreline adaptation plans, which look at how council-owned assets and land can be managed in response to coastal hazards and a changing climate over the next 100 years.
Media round-up
Fri 14 Nov 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Simon Watts acknowledges he may face ‘challenging’ conversations with Pacific nations at COP30, New Zealand's climbdown on its methane emissions target is "embarrassing", and corporates are the real winners of the gutting of the Zero Carbon Act this week.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
Fri 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.
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.
NZ’s shameful new role as ‘international climate pariah’
Thu 13 Nov 2025
OPINION: New Zealand has ratcheted up its climate backsliding in the past month – losing any shred of climate credibility we once had and showing the world we’re giving up on a net zero future, writes Kayla Kingdon-Bebb.
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.
ETS price spike fears drove NDC decoupling
Thu 13 Nov 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Fears about the economic and fiscal costs of failure to buy enough offshore carbon credits to meet New Zealand’s Nationally Determined Contribution drove last week’s key climate change policy decision.
Australia's green energy push, Pacific ties face setback from COP31 impasse
Fri 14 Nov 2025
Australia risks undermining efforts to establish itself as a leader in the green energy transition and letting down its vulnerable Pacific island neighbours if its bid to host next year's biggest climate summit fails, diplomats and analysts say.
Carbon price’s dead cat bounce
Wed 12 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | The carbon price rebounded briefly in what looked like a ‘dead cat bounce’ last week, following the Government’s announcement it was unlinking the Emissions Trading Scheme from international climate targets.
Act-NZ First split over future of the energy sector
Fri 14 Nov 2025
Act leader David Seymour has set out an energy policy platform that diverges sharply from coalition partner NZ First, arguing New Zealand must accept coal-fired backup generation, consider nuclear power, remove political interference from the electricity sector and sell down the government’s majority stakes in the gentailers.
'Little to be hopeful about' – NZ scientists caution ahead of COP30
31 Oct 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Record heat, worsening climate impacts and global backsliding on emission reduction commitments have left some New Zealand climate experts with little optimism as COP30 approaches.
$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.
COP30: Brazil tries to find a home for tricky issues
Fri 14 Nov 2025
Brazil is trying to craft a compromise package on several contentious issues and has dismissed the idea of a roadmap away from fossil fuels.
NZ backs international government push for high-integrity carbon markets
Thu 13 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand has joined a coalition of governments aiming to strengthen corporate demand for voluntary carbon credits.
Clean energy could become a huge political winner
Wed 12 Nov 2025
Rising power bills quietly shaped this year’s races – and gave Democrats a new attack line on climate.
DOC trims costs and winds down jobs for nature
Mon 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.
Coastal roads in the climate spotlight
Fri 14 Nov 2025
By Sue Teodoro, Local Democracy Reporter | Vulnerable coastal roads across New Zealand, including in Masterton district, are coming under the spotlight as the Government works on a plan to address the cost of climate-related damage.
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.
Does NZ's 2035 NDC meet Paris Agreement obligations?
7 Nov 2025
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: New Zealand’s 2035 Paris Agreement Target needs strengthening, with multiple reasons the 51 to 55% emissions reduction target does not meet our obligations under the accord.
Govt gas expansion 'climate vandalism' – Greens
7 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Green Party has labelled the Government’s move to broaden the scope of its $200 million fossil gas investment fund as vandalism, accusing Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of breaking trust with New Zealanders.
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.”
Oxfam urges NZ to renew climate funding as Pacific projects face closure
Wed 12 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the Government to urgently renew New Zealand’s climate finance commitments, warning that vital projects supporting Pacific communities’ resilience are running out of funding.
Building resilient cities in a time of climate change
Thu 13 Nov 2025
Media release: Otago University | Local and international experts are meeting in Wellington this month to share their knowledge on creating healthier, more resilient cities in the face of the challenges posed by climate change.
TotalEnergies loses in Paris court, marking a turning point for fossil fuel truth-in-advertising
5 Nov 2025
TotalEnergies was found to have misled consumers about its role in the energy transition.
Lake Onslow battery project set for revival?
29 Oct 2025
A newly formed private consortium has emerged with plans to finance and build the massive Lake Onslow pumped-hydro project, despite the coalition government’s decision to abandon the scheme.
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.
Media round-up
31 Oct 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: A controversial seabed mining project could lead to sediment flows knocking over rigs and damaging wind turbines; weather-related insurance claims climb; and is the government playing Russian Roulette with our future over methane targets?
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.
Z Energy settles greenwashing case over ‘quitting petrol’ claims
4 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Z Energy has settled a landmark greenwashing case over claims it misled the public about moving away from petrol – a result Lawyers for Climate Action NZ says delivers long-overdue accountability.
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.
Supermarket fast-track a ‘cynical ploy’, risks climate and environmental protections
5 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s “express lane for supermarkets” announcement has been met with fierce backlash, with critics calling the Fast-track Approvals Amendment Bill a Trojan horse that strips environmental protections, sidelines communities, and hands sweeping powers to ministers at the expense of democracy.
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
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.
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.
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.
Protesters and UN security clash at climate summit in Brazil
Thu 13 Nov 2025
Activist groups and United Nations security clashed in chaotic scenes late Tuesday after protesters appeared to force their way into the COP30 climate conference venue, in the most serious act of unrest seen in years inside one of the annual gatherings.
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.
Scotland's first wind farm 'supercharged' after upgrade
Tue 11 Nov 2025
Scotland's first commercial wind farm will be able to deliver five times more clean power than before after being upgraded.
New national dataset to unlock blue carbon potential in NZ’s coastal wetlands
Wed 12 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Ministry for the Environment and the Nature Conservancy have collaborated on a dataset to inform a framework to potentially include coastal wetlands into compliance and voluntary carbon credit schemes.
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.
AgriZero backs first nitrous oxide solution with $1.2m investment
6 Nov 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | A Kiwi ag-tech start-up developing a device for cows to wear to drastically cut nitrous oxide emissions has secured $1.2 million in government-industry funding.
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.
EV and hybrid sales soar in Australia as internal combustion cars fall below 70% market share for first time
Thu 13 Nov 2025
Data from peak motoring body shows battery-electric vehicles accounted for 9.7% of new cars sold in September quarter, the highest proportion on record.
EU’s new climate target lines up multibillion dollar boost for carbon markets
Mon 10 Nov 2025
Analysts estimate the EU will buy at least 50 billion euros worth of carbon credits in the 2030s to help meet its emissions-cutting goals.
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.
We have more renewable energy than ever before. Why are we switching it off?
Tue 11 Nov 2025
Experts say until more storage is installed to soak up the waves of renewable energy flooding the grid, much of that power will occasionally have to be curtailed.
