Topics tagged with 'Politics'
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.
Electric milk tanker receives government grant
24 Feb 2022
Media Release - The country’s first electric milk tank tanker, a solar-panelled bus, electric off-road farm vehicles and new high powered EV charging stations are among projects to receive co-funding from the Government’s new-look Low Emission Transport Fund (LETF), the Minister of Energy and Resources Dr Megan Woods announced today.
Award-winning businessman calls on government to subsidise commuter e-bikes
22 Feb 2022
AN award-winning designer of carbon fibre e-bikes says the government should look at offering a rebate on the country’s most environmentally friendly form of electric transport in the same way its subsidising EVs.
Irish opposition demands scrapping of carbon tax increase to fight cost of living crisis
22 Feb 2022
Opposition party Sinn Féin will this week table a motion to scrap the increase in carbon tax scheduled for this spring in response to Ireland’s cost of living crisis.
Court ruling on social cost of carbon upends Biden’s climate plans
22 Feb 2022
A recent court ruling that bars the Biden administration from accounting for the real-world costs of climate change has created temporary chaos at federal agencies, upending everything from planned oil and gas lease sales to infrastructure spending.
Judge bars Biden from using "social cost of carbon" metric
15 Feb 2022
A Trump-appointed judge dealt another blow to Biden's climate agenda on Friday, barring the administration from using a metric that estimates the societal cost of carbon emissions.
Greenpeace International boss appointed as Germany's climate envoy
9 Feb 2022
Jennifer Morgan, who heads the environmental group Greenpeace International, is to become Germany's new climate envoy.
‘We need politicians and experts’: how Chile is putting the climate crisis first
8 Feb 2022
Hidden behind the Andes in a quiet corner of South America, a formidable generation of former student leaders are putting together one of the world’s most exciting progressive movements.
Road User Charge Act could be amended to take climate change into account
4 Feb 2022
The government is considering amending the Road User Charge Act to allow it to charge motorists for externalities – including climate change.
Hitting Biden’s greenhouse goals could save billions in health-related costs
4 Feb 2022
Slimming down America’s dependence on fossil fuels is crucial for a multitude of reasons. The one we hear about most often is slowing the toll of catastrophic climate change. But climate change policy has the potential to do a lot more than slash greenhouse gases—if done right, these policies can help build equitable and resilient communities, protect biodiversity, and improve human health.
Feds hit back at climate change minister’s pricing comments
3 Feb 2022
Federated Farmers have responded angrily to climate change minister James Shaw’s comments on agricultural emission pricing, saying his approach risks “killing off the sector.”
Leading environmental NGOs call for doubling of Aotearoa's wetlands
3 Feb 2022
Eleven of New Zealand's leading environmental NGOs are calling on the government to double the extent of natural wetlands in Aotearoa by 2050.
Climate action takes centre stage in first Indian budget since COP26
3 Feb 2022
The first Union Budget since India joined the bandwagon of economies committed to becoming net carbon zero, focused on energy transition and climate action. However, it fell short of making significant budgetary allocation to key sectors of energy efficiency, sustainability and clean tech.
Agriculture will join ETS if He Waka Eke Noa fails to deliver: Shaw
2 Feb 2022
Climate change minister James Shaw has reminded the farming sector that if it fails to come up with a plan that results in significant cuts to greenhouse gas emissions agriculture will come under the ETS from 2025.
Light rail plan “catastrophically wrong”: Genter
31 Jan 2022
Green MP and former associate minister of transport Julie Anne Genter described the government's light rail plan for Auckland as “catastrophically wrong” in a tweet, shortly after the proposal was announced last Friday.
Light rail to take up to 12,000 cars off the road
28 Jan 2022
THE government claims its transport plan for Auckland announced this morning – which includes light rail – will remove up to 13 car lanes: equivalent to taking 12,000 cars off the roads.
New democratic mechanisms needed to combat climate change: David Hall
28 Jan 2022
Dr David Hall, the author A Careful Revolution: Towards a Low-Emissions Future (BWB Texts), says if believers in democracy fail to come up with new political mechanisms to tackle climate change authoritarians and despots will fill the void.
Environment minister responds to criticism of RMA amendment delay
23 Dec 2021
Environment minister David Parker's office has provided Carbon News with a response to questions raised in yesterday's story about the delay in the introduction of an amendment to the Resource Management Act allowing councils to decline applications on climate change grounds.
Government delays one of its “most significant” climate change policy changes
22 Dec 2021
Cabinet agreed on Monday to delay an amendment to the Resource Management Act that was trumpeted by climate change minister James Shaw as “one of the most significant policy changes to address climate change this term” when it was passed in June last year.
What losing Build Back Better means for climate change
21 Dec 2021
With billions of dollars for clean energy, the Build Back Better legislation has the potential to substantially and rapidly cut heat-trapping emissions in the U.S. But Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., rejected the bill on Sunday, and that means Build Back Better is effectively dead at a time when scientists say the world can't afford to wait on climate change.
Are Australia’s climate wars ending?
21 Dec 2021
With big business backing Labor’s climate policy and net zero gaining bipartisan support, the climate battle is transitioning into a new phase.
Activists demand Indonesian climate leadership during G20 presidency
20 Dec 2021
Indonesia should use its year-long Group of 20 presidency to lead member countries in the delivery of their climate commitments, youth activists have said.
ETS revenue should be returned to the people: NZ Initiative
17 Dec 2021
The government is missing a chance to make the ETS progressive by not returning its revenues to ordinary New Zealanders in the form of a dividend, NZ Initiative economist Matt Burgess says.
$4.5 billion in projected ETS revenue committed to new climate emergency fund
16 Dec 2021
The government is committing the $4.5 billion it expects to earn from Emission Trading Scheme auctions over the next four years to a new Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
The politics of climate change and ESG are about to get ugly
14 Dec 2021
2022 will bring another election in the United States, a blessing bestowed upon Americans every 24 months. We’ll hear about the economy, jobs, immigration, wages, vaccines, health care, housing, guns, abortions and — wait for it — climate change and ESG.
Unanimous support for sending Auckland climate tax proposal to consultation
9 Dec 2021
Auckland city councillors have voted unanimously to have the proposed Climate Action Targeted Rate go out for consultation as part of the annual budget process due to begin in late February.
Germany’s new climate minister aims for green economic miracle
9 Dec 2021
Once again, a German minister is planning to revolutionize his country’s economy in the face of crisis.
Bluegreens co-chair Scott Simpson returns to climate change role
7 Dec 2021
Scott Simpson, the co-chair of the National Party’s Bluegreen advisory group, is back as the party's climate change spokesperson following the reshuffle by new leader Christopher Luxon.
Law changed to avoid public carrying the cost of oil and gas field clean-ups
6 Dec 2021
The Crown Minerals Act has been amended to avoid the public being left with the bill for the decommissioning of oil and gas fields.
Government incentives for green bonds may be necessary: Reserve Bank
3 Dec 2021
The Reserve Bank has suggested incentives such as tax breaks may be necessary to grow New Zealand’s green bond market at the pace required to combat climate change.
Giant crowdfunded note to PM on climate emergency anniversary
3 Dec 2021
Media Release - On the one-year anniversary of Jacinda Ardern’s Climate Emergency declaration, Greenpeace has positioned a cheeky, four storey high, crowdfunded "climate emergency to-do list" on a wall near Parliament in Wellington.
Auckland leading the charge for city carbon taxes
2 Dec 2021
If Auckland Council adopts a proposal by mayor Phil Goff for a "Climate Action Targeted Rate" it will become one of the first cities in the world with a carbon tax.
Luxon's climate change credentials
1 Dec 2021
The new leader of the National Party, Christopher Luxon, touted his climate change credentials in his maiden speech.
James Shaw's response to Newsweek article
30 Nov 2021
Climate change minister James Shaw has responded to a Newsweek ranking that placed New Zealand 16th on a list of the 20 least ambitious countries in tackling the climate crises.
Tightening NZU supply one of the strongest options for cutting emissions: Cabinet paper
29 Nov 2021
“A clearly-signalled and well-paced tightening” of the supply of NZUs is one of the strongest options available for cutting New Zealand’s emissions, according to a recently released Cabinet paper.
Government told to reform ETS to incentivise natives over pines
24 Nov 2021
A coalition of environmental groups and high-profile environmentalists is calling on the government to reform the Emissions Trading Scheme to prioritise the planting of native forests.
Forest & Bird takes aim at government’s climate policies
22 Nov 2021
Forest & Bird has launched a billboard campaign taking aim at the government’s track record on climate change and the environment.
FMA sets a high bar for initial enforcement of climate related disclosures
19 Nov 2021
The Financial Market Authority says only acts of serious misconduct by climate reporting entities (CREs) are likely to result in enforcement in the initial stages of implementing the Climate Related Disclosures Bill.
Cabinet watered-down James Shaw’s proposal for revised NDC
8 Nov 2021
A leaked Cabinet paper has revealed climate change minister James Shaw failed to convince Cabinet to include agriculture in New Zealand’s net zero commitments, and that Treasury and MBIE both opposed more ambitious climate targets.
Yet another consultation: tyres and batteries
5 Nov 2021
Critics of the government’s climate change policies tend to focus on the lack of results when it comes to emission reductions. But if success was measured in consultation documents the government would be doing somewhat better.
Current carbon market a problem: Mark Carney
4 Nov 2021
The current voluntary carbon offset market is "part of the problem", former governor of the Bank of England and UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney said today at the UN Cop 26 climate summit.
More than $100bn in public investments to be climate friendly
29 Oct 2021
The government has announced a new “responsible investment framework” that will see the more than $100bn managed by Crown Financial Institutions required to be aligned with the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Australia pledges net zero emissions by 2050
27 Oct 2021
Leading global coal and gas supplier Australia has pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
New Zealand might not announce its NDC until after COP26: Shaw
26 Oct 2021
Climate change minister James Shaw told an online forum last week that he wasn’t sure whether he would be announcing a renewed Nationally Determined Contribution before or even at next month’s COP26 Conference in Glasgow.
Aotearoa first country to pass climate reporting law
22 Oct 2021
AOTEAROA has become the first country in the world to pass a law requiring companies to disclose climate-related risks and opportunities.
Strong business support for mandatory climate change risk reporting
21 Oct 2021
Eighty-six per cent of businesses that made submissions on the Climate Related Disclosures Bill supported mandatory disclosure, climate change minister James Shaw told a briefing on a governance and risk management consultation document released yesterday.
Climate aid boost the wrong move at the wrong time: National
19 Oct 2021
Media Release - The Government’s decision to commit $1.3 billion over four years to support poorer countries to deal with climate change is the wrong one, given New Zealand is still struggling with lockdowns which have no end in sight, National’s Climate Change Spokesperson Stuart Smith says.
Government commits $1.3 billion to climate change aid
18 Oct 2021
The government has this morning announced a four-fold increase in the support it provides to countries most vulnerable to climate change.
From a throwaway society to a circular economy
18 Oct 2021
New Zealanders are world leaders when it comes to dumping waste in landfills – in 2018 we chucked out the equivalent of 730kg per person – and all that waste ends up contributing about 4% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
"Udder bullshit", leave it to the ETS, way to go: lobby groups respond to ERP
14 Oct 2021
Yesterday’s release of a discussion document on the government’s Emissions Reduction Plan has resulted in a flood of press releases. The verdicts range from “udder bullshit” and leave to the ETS to you’re on the right track but you’re not going fast enough.
Farm-level emissions cuts possible, but almost everything stands in the way
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Progress to slash farming emissions is being blocked by limited farmer confidence in mitigation tools, inconsistent engagement, misinformation and a lack of clear policy signals, according to a new report.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
Air NZ inks deal for its first internationally verified carbon credits
9 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Air New Zealand has committed to buying 8000 tonnes of carbon removals by 2030, in partnership with local native forest investment platform My Native Forest.
‘Cali Fund’ aiming to raise billions for nature receives first donation – of just $1,000
16 Dec 2025
A major biodiversity fund – which could, in theory, generate billions of dollars annually for conservation – received its first donation of just $1,000 in November.
Govt launches strategy backing wood-based heat sector
23 Oct 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Forestry biomass could replace as much as 40% of fossil fuel-generated process heat by 2050, but access to supply, regulatory settings and business cases for converting to wood-based heat sources are required, the Government says in a series of documents released yesterday.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
19 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s controversial changes to New Zealand’s legal framework for climate policy have thrown a spanner in the works for a long-running Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into climate change.
Seven quiet wins for climate and nature in 2025
19 Dec 2025
This year's environmental backdrop is familiar: emissions are rising and nature is continuing to decline. But there have nevertheless been bright spots in 2025.
Govt unveils plans for carbon storage regulations – and ETS rewards
18 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government has released plans to regulate carbon capture and storage in natural geological formations, which include Emissions Trading Scheme incentives, with the aim of introducing related legislation in 2026.
Global coal demand hit record high this year but is set to decline by 2030
18 Dec 2025
Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
RMA’s successors hinge on two untested bets
17 Dec 2025
Two ideas sit at the heart of the Government’s replacement for the Resource Management Act: regulatory relief and spatial planning.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
DOC trims costs and winds down jobs for nature
10 Nov 2025
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is entering a new phase of tighter budgets and structural change as it winds down the pandemic-era Jobs for Nature programme and reshapes its operations to absorb long-term cost pressures.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
Hydrogen emissions are ‘supercharging’ the warming impact of methane
19 Dec 2025
The warming impact of hydrogen has been “overlooked” in projections of climate change, according to authors of the latest “global hydrogen budget”.
RMA to speed up fossil fuel consents
18 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | An energy lobby group has welcomed a last-minute amendment to the RMA that puts fossil fuels on the same footing as renewables, however a sustainable energy expert says the move “beggars belief.”
Westpac NZ announces partnership to form Blue Economy hub in Nelson
17 Dec 2025
Media release | Westpac NZ has announced a new three-year partnership with the Nelson Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to help accelerate the development of a sustainable marine economy – also known as the blue economy.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
12 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says New Zealand restarting fossil fuel exploration and subsidies is an obvious breach of international law, exposing the country to international and domestic litigation.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
15 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams The Government has pushed through legislation under urgency to almost halve New Zealand’s 2050 methane target – a move Opposition parties say disregards scientific advice, breaks the country’s hard-won political consensus on climate action, and shifts the burden of higher warming and higher future costs onto the next generation.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
15 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Despite ‘intransigent’ states blocking multilateralism and a disappointing official outcome, Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu says he left the COP30 climate summit feeling more positive than after previous UN climate conferences.
Hiringa eyes green methanol plant near Whanganui
29 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Green hydrogen pioneer Hiringa Energy is deep in planning to develop an “eight-to-nine figure” methanol plant near Whanganui, using a combination of biomass and hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
Insurers welcome govt decision to keep NHC levy unchanged
21 Nov 2025
Media release |The Insurance Council of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s decision to leave the Natural Hazards Commission levy unchanged, amid ongoing concerns around the cost-of-living.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
Three Greenpeace activists removed by police from Fonterra
17 Dec 2025
Media release | Three Greenpeace activists were removed by police from Fonterra’s downtown Auckland offices, following a protest on Monday at the Shareholders’ Fund meeting over the corporation’s role in the contamination of rural communities’ drinking water.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
11 Dec 2025
Media release | Ten of the world’s largest oil and gas companies would create significantly more shareholder value by ending exploration and sharply curtailing upstream development, according to new analysis released today by ACCR.
Wetlands and biodiversity at risk as mining rules loosen: Greenpeace
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greenpeace says Government changes to national direction instruments under the RMA paves the way for mining in wetlands and biodiversity hotspots and will expose some of Aotearoa’s most fragile ecosystems to irreversible damage.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
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.
Offshore windfarms enhance function of coastal waters and diversity of aquatic life
19 Dec 2025
Media release | A study conducted by researchers from Murdoch University in Australia and Dalian Ocean University in China has found that offshore windfarms can improve marine ecosystems and diversify aquatic food chains.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
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.
Could tidal energy one day power NZ?
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests Aotearoa holds some of the world’s strongest tidal-stream energy potential – enough to generate up to 93% of today’s electricity use – but one expert cautions that extracting energy at such a scale could have significant impacts and remains highly uncertain.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
Solar households to get little-noticed tax break
23 Sep 2025
A provision in the government’s latest tax bill would exempt households from paying tax on income they earn by selling excess electricity back to the grid.
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.
The surprisingly convincing case against cars
19 Dec 2025
Life After Cars dares to imagine how different, and enriching, a car-free world could be.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
14 Nov 2025
Media release: Kaicycle | Since 2015, Kaicycle has grown from a humble pilot project growing kai and collecting compost on bicycles into the thriving urban farm and composting hub that Wellingtonians know and love.
Heatwaves, downpours and droughts – Auckland on track for more extreme weather
1 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show Auckland will face more heatwaves, heavier downpours, worsening droughts and growing coastal threats as climate extremes intensify, according to a new report from Earth Sciences New Zealand.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | This year New Zealand had its hottest spring since records began, with widespread heat, rainfall extremes and destructive wind driven by sudden stratospheric warming.
Media round-up
12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
