Topics tagged with 'Politics'
Dutch court orders state to slash greenhouse emissions
29 Jun 2015
A Dutch court has ordered the state to slash greenhouse gas emissions nationwide by at least 25 per cent by 2020, in a case that could serve as a blueprint for activists around the world.
What the Pope said about the trouble we're in
22 Jun 2015
In a document remarkable for its sweep and its depth, Pope Francis last week unveiled his long-awaited encyclical on the environment, in essence calling on humanity to address a climate and environmental crisis that calls for urgent global action.
Next time you're in the shower, check what else is in there with you
22 Jun 2015
Next time you are in the shower using a refreshing exfoliating shower gel, take a moment to check what the scrubbing agents are made of.
Lobby group wants think tank to set emissions target
8 Jun 2015
An environmental lobby group is calling for a cross-sector working group on New Zealand’s post-2020 emissions reduction target.
World leaders urged to kick killer coal habit
8 Jun 2015
Leaders of G7 countries at the summit in Germany are being called on to show leadership by pledging to end all coal burning for electricity generation in the industrialised world.
Our businesses don't get it, says new Greens leader
2 Jun 2015
Too many New Zealand companies just don’t get sustainable business, says the new Green Party co-leader.
Shell can’t afford to wait until 2050 to adapt its business to climate change
2 Jun 2015
Shell’s recent AGM was tumultuous. Shareholders voted overwhelmingly for the company to report on whether its activities were compatible with promised government action on climate change.
Budget holds hint of carbon credit auctions
25 May 2015
The Government is developing the architecture to auction carbon credits.
The world is waking up to the $5.3 trillion cost of fossil fuels
25 May 2015
Prospects for global energy markets have been reshaped by two recent pieces of news, one of which helps to explain the other.
You must find a way, academics tell farmers
18 May 2015
Farmers must find ways of farming more sustainably while maintaining production, warns the Foundation for Arable Research.
Will the presidential candidates have a substantive debate on climate change?
18 May 2015
Republican New Jersey governor and presidential hopeful Chris Christie briefly made news last week when he said that global warming is real and that “human activity contributes to it.”
Why falling oil prices should not undermine investment in green energy
18 May 2015
When the price of crude oil dropped from US$110 a barrel in mid-2014 to below US$50 by January 2015, there were fears that it would destroy the “green revolution”.
No green shoots for sustainability in this Budget
18 May 2015
Last week’s Australian Budget is very disappointing in the broad area of environmental protection.
We've got the chance to turn green into gold
11 May 2015
New Zealand could turn “green into gold” by capitalising on emerging clean technologies and showing leadership on climate change.
It's simple, says action group, coal's day is done
4 May 2015
Just five solar-power installation companies could create as many jobs as the Rotowaru coal mine, a new analysis says.
Europe sets timetable to slash plastic bag use
4 May 2015
Single-use plastic bags could soon become a thing of the past in European supermarkets.
So, where's the carbon auction money going?
28 Apr 2015
The results of the Australian Government’s first reverse auction (https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-todays-direct-action-reverse-auction-work-40152) of carbon-cutting projects have been released. Where is the money going?
Inquiry takes aim at green charities that get political
20 Apr 2015
The almost 600 environmental groups that hold tax-deductibility status in Australia are being scrutinised by a Federal Government inquiry, with reports that more than 100 of them face being struck off the list.
Water Man of India makes rivers flow again
13 Apr 2015
Revival of traditional rainwater harvesting has transformed the driest state in India, and could be used to combat the effects of climate change across the world.
NZ hangs back as countries commit to carbon cuts
7 Apr 2015
Russia did it. The United States did it. All the countries in the European Union have done it, as have Mexico, Norway, Switzerland and Latvia. Even oil-and-mineral-exporting Gabon, population 1.3 million, did it.
Rich nations urged to cut temperature rise targets
7 Apr 2015
The official target of limiting global warming to a 2C rise has been described by a senior scientist as “utterly inadequate” to protect the people most at risk from climate change.
China ramps up the rhetoric on climate change
30 Mar 2015
By KEIRAN COOKE.- Zheng Guogang, head of the China Meteorological Administration, says future variations in climate are likely to reduce crop yields and damage the environment.
Powerful wind blows through US energy sector
23 Mar 2015
By KIERAN COOKE.- The wind turbines are turning across America, and a major report by the US Department of Energy says the wind energy sector now supplies 4.5 per cent of the nation’s electricity.
Why is pumping CO2 underground stuck in second gear?
16 Mar 2015
There are many uncertainties with respect to global climate change, but there is one thing about which I have no doubts: we will not solve climate change by running out of fossil fuels.
Anthropocene began with species exchange between Old and New Worlds
16 Mar 2015
Time is divided by geologists according to marked shifts in the Earth’s state. Human activity has clearly altered the land surface, oceans and atmosphere, and re-ordered life on Earth. This suggests that the planet has entered a new human-dominated geological epoch, called the Anthropocene.
World needs early warning of climate-linked disasters
16 Mar 2015
A senior French political leader has told an international conference on how to reduce the risk from natural disasters that 70 per cent of them are now linked to climate change, twice as many as 20 years ago.
Whatever happened to the great European fracking boom?
16 Mar 2015
The European shale gas boom has not materialised in the way that some were predicting.
Sellers few and far between
10 Mar 2015
NZUs traded up to $6.20 on $70k yesterday as some emitters started to step into the market and mop up small sellers. OMFinancial reports:
Biobattery breakthrough boosts waste-to-energy revolution
9 Mar 2015
Competition to make biofuels out of waste products that would otherwise have to be dumped is creating a fast-growing, worldwide industry.
Let's cut emissions, not worry about how
2 Mar 2015
Australia had an emissions trading scheme with a fixed price; it was one good way to encourage carbon cuts throughout the economy.
Business leaders cast wary eye over latest EU plans
2 Mar 2015
International business leaders say that the success of new climate and energy plans for Europe hang on how effectively they are implemented.
ETS nothing but 'words, fishhooks and traps,' says Palmer
23 Feb 2015
New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme legislation is so full of “words, fishhooks and traps” that giving sound legal advice on it to businesses is almost impossible, says one of our leading legal minds.
New Zealand’s defective law on climate change, by Sir Geoffrey Palmer
23 Feb 2015
Distinguished law fellow Sir Geoffrey Palmer, QC, has been at or near the heart of our attempts to tackled climate change for nearly three decades.
Help our green businesses, pleads academic
23 Feb 2015
New Zealand businesses want the Government to step up to protect the country’s 100% Pure brand.
Jobs v environment: the debate Queensland can end
23 Feb 2015
Queensland has a new Labor minority government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, after the shock defeat of the Liberal National Party.
Shell chief calls for climate action, but what are the motives?
23 Feb 2015
Shell chief Ben van Beurden is pointing the way for oil companies to demand greater certainty over future climate policy.
Climate impacts on European farmers’ yields per field
23 Feb 2015
Farmers in Europe have already begun to feel the pinch of climate change as yields of wheat since 1989 have fallen by 2.5 per cent and barley by 3.8 per cent on average across the whole continent.
Energy Union targets renewables subsidies, boosts idle coal plants
23 Feb 2015
The European Commission’s overhaul of the EU electricity market will target national public support for renewables, while encouraging governments to pay energy companies in other member states for idle power stations.
Politicians sign cross-party climate change pact
16 Feb 2015
British politicians have signed a ground-breaking agreement on climate change.
Energy-efficiency rules fail US academic's test
16 Feb 2015
Energy efficiency rules in California have failed to cut energy consumption, suggesting that direct action is less effective than carbon pricing in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a visiting economist says.
Geoengineering might work in a rational world … but we don’t live in one
16 Feb 2015
The publication of a hefty two-volume report on geoengineering by the US National Research Council represents a marked shift in the global debate over how to respond to global warming.
Yes, we can live well and avoid climate disaster, says report
9 Feb 2015
The world can enjoy higher standards of living and more travel, while drastically cutting emissions to avoid dangerous climate change – but only with sweeping changes to our infrastructure, the natural world and agriculture, a new analysis has found.
Gas will replace oil in the UK – with or without fracking
9 Feb 2015
MPs in the UK recently needed more time voted against a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, but Lancashire, the local county council under most pressure, agreed it
Can Americans save the environment and expand oil drilling?
9 Feb 2015
In a few months, we will mark the five-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Trading will be back, say Australian businesses
2 Feb 2015
Most Australian businesses believe the country will return to an emissions trading scheme or a carbon tax by 2020.
Carbon pricing the challenge for the future
2 Feb 2015
The concept of carbon pricing as a tool to combat climate change is broadly accepted by the international community. But at what price, and under what conditions?
Welcome to 2015 where fracking changes everything
2 Feb 2015
Forget, for the moment, whether you think fracking is an energy godsend or an endtimes disaster. Just consider how it’s everywhere.
Fracking and local jobs … a false promise
2 Feb 2015
In a surprise decision that led to consternation in the oil and gas industry and elation among fracking opponents, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in December banned fracking in the state.
Yes minister, but ...
2 Feb 2015
In a piece published in the Guardian recently, Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt was purported to have once again rejected claims that a price on carbon would benefit emissions reduction targets.
Sustainability experts take to the stage
2 Feb 2015
Waikato University experts on sustainability will come together later this month.
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
Fri 1 Aug 2025
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
Fri 1 Aug 2025
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
Fri 1 Aug 2025
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?
Fri 1 Aug 2025
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
Fri 1 Aug 2025
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
Fri 1 Aug 2025
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.
