Topics tagged with 'Politics'
Climate challenges in the spotlight
8 Mar 2013
International attempts to curb climate change will be put under the microscope by one of New Zealand's leading climate scientists.
Europe eyes ambitious restructure
8 Mar 2013
Five weeks after voting down the ‘backloading’ (or withholding) of allowances to raise carbon prices, the European Parliament’s industry committee is proposing two far-more ambitious structural measures.
Nations make stand on illegal timber
8 Mar 2013
European rules to combat the trade of illegal timber have come into force, but critics doubt the readiness of EU countries to carry out the legislation.
Meet the ETS winners ... and losers
1 Mar 2013
Depressed, depressed, and depressed sounds like a state of mind, and for some it could well be, but indications are that the erosion of the Emission Trading Scheme as a cost effective mechanism for reducing and abating greenhouse gas emissions is real and spreading across the planet.
Water huge issue for food producers, says Nestle chief
1 Mar 2013
The food industry has been warned by one of its biggest players that water scarcity is among the greatest threats it faces.
Question for PM: UN is serious, are you?
22 Feb 2013
Green Party MP Kennedy Graham told Parliament this week that the United Nations Security Council is starting to consider climate change a serious risk.
Obama vows to take tough line
15 Feb 2013
United States President Barack Obama wants a carbon market.
US stand puts Abbot on the spot
15 Feb 2013
The Australian Labor Party is using US President Barack Obama’s tough new line on climate change to launch an offensive against Opposition Leader Tony Abbot.
Ban slams leaders who ignore climate change
15 Feb 2013
Too many world leaders seem content to keep climate change at arm’s length and in its policy silo, says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
River experts to test the waters
8 Feb 2013
Massey University’s Innovative River Solutions group is holding a workshop next week to share academic research on fresh water quality and management of New Zealand’s rivers.
Dirty vans might be running out of road
8 Feb 2013
A coalition of three small business associations has issued a call for tougher fuel economy standards to be imposed on Europe’s fume-chugging light commercial vehicles.
FORUM: Why is it so hard to change?
1 Feb 2013
How do we get people to make the changes necessary to prevent the full impact of climate change, asks writer ANDREW MARTIN.
Market reels as European carbon plummets
25 Jan 2013
International traders are dismayed at a spectacular price crash today that left the world’s biggest carbon market in disarray.
At last, it's climate-change time for Obama
25 Jan 2013
By PETER GRIFFIN in Washington. Emboldened by a decisive defeat of his rival in November’s US election, President Barack Obama has outlined a progressive agenda for his second and final term, including rekindling efforts to combat climate change.
Market plunge gets the tongues wagging
25 Jan 2013
The major talking points this week are the massive market plunge in an already-volatile market which has been stirred up by rumour and political uncertainty, says John Davis of CF Partners in London.
China could lead world in carbon trading
18 Jan 2013
Pilot schemes to be launched in China this year could be the start of a world-class system - if the country can solve its data-gathering problems.
NZ carbon stand wrong, says Kyoto expert
14 Dec 2012
New Zealand’s political determination to maintain access to carbon at international prices is a mistake, says our most seasoned Kyoto negotiator.
What's our market worth?
14 Dec 2012
Carbon Match founder Lizzie Chambers reflects on the fallout from the COP18 meeting
Enter the new wave of extinctions
14 Dec 2012
A new report by the Auditor General says that New Zealand is losing the battle against biodiversity loss. And it’s not alone. In the latest issue of Quarterly Essay, Australia’s chief climate commissioner, Professor Tim Flannery, examines Australia’s Second Wave of Extinction.
Poor countries the big climate winners
14 Dec 2012
Poor countries have won historic recognition of the plight they face from the ravages of climate change, wringing a pledge from rich nations that they will receive funds to repair the "loss and damage" incurred.
De Boer wants carbon price of 150 euros
7 Dec 2012
Urgent action is needed to boost carbon prices to €150 a tonne - 2250 per cent higher than current levels - if the EU is to meet its decarbonisation goals by 2050, says a former United Nations climate chief.
China eyes nationwide emission trading
7 Dec 2012
China hopes to extend its pilot carbon emission trading system to across the nation in its new five- year plan starting 2016, a member of the Chinese delegation to the Doha climate talks said yesterday.
Energy savings only way left, says economist
7 Dec 2012
Energy savings are one of the “few valuable options” left for humankind to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, says the chief economist of the International Energy Agency.
NZ will end up just a slogan, Greens warn
30 Nov 2012
New Zealand is in danger of becoming little more than a marketing slogan that the world is starting to see through, Green Party climate change spokesman Kennedy Graham is warning.
Permafrost hosts massive danger, says UN
30 Nov 2012
Huge stores of carbon trapped under the northern hemisphere’s frozen expanses risk being unleashed and becoming a major factor in global warming, a new United Nations report warns.
Australian ETS links up with the world
30 Nov 2012
Legislation passed by Senate this week will enable Australia and Europe to begin linking their emissions trading systems.
Australia happy trading scheme is working
23 Nov 2012
The Australian experience since the July launch of its emissions trading scheme had proved positive, a senior diplomat has told corporate leaders meeting in Brussels.
Europe decides when a bicycle isn’t a bicycle
23 Nov 2012
European lawmakers have decided what is a bicycle … and what isn’t.
If the world burns, we burn
16 Nov 2012
A number of comments made by the public about the Government's decision to not sign up to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol appear to be made from a position of lack of understanding of the global atmosphere, including the complex processes which the atmosphere undergoes, Carbon Market Solutions says.
Maori vow to fight for ETS rights
26 Oct 2012
Maori say they will continue to fight damaging changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme even if they are passed by Parliament.
ETS protesters bring out the chainsaws
26 Oct 2012
Youth organisation Generation Zero held a mock chainsaw massacre outside Parliament yesterday to protest about changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme going through the House.
Care of our oceans lacking, say experts
26 Oct 2012
The Environmental Defence Society is calling for an overhaul of New Zealand’s marine protection provisions in the wake of a new report which is says shows serious deficiencies in the present system.
Minister bound for green Korea
19 Oct 2012
Climate Change Minister Tim Groser is bound for South Korea, a country that is pegging its future on green growth.
Traders call for intervention in Europe
19 Oct 2012
International carbon traders are calling for market intervention in Europe – including cancelling next year’s market auction of credits.
Europe’s biofuel makers threaten revolt
19 Oct 2012
Representatives of Europe’s biofuels industry have threatened to sue the European Commission if it proceeds with plans to limit crop-based biofuels because of their indirect effect on greenhouse gas emissions.
Greens praise Aussie ETS changes
12 Oct 2012
The Australian Greens have been quick to praise the passage of a package of bills linking the country’s emissions trading scheme to the price in Europe.
Brussels to monitor shipping emissions
5 Oct 2012
The European Commission will introduce an emissions monitoring system in early 2013, in a bid to curb the environmental footprint left by the shipping industry.
Which way will landowners go?
5 Oct 2012
In 2008, when the Emission Trading Scheme legislation was passed, a lot of attention was focused on those forest owners who still intended to change land use from forest to agriculture, Carbon Market Solutions says.
Market weakens on news of February vote in EU ETS
5 Oct 2012
European carbon prices started the week in a consolidation mode, before getting hit pretty hard overnight on Tuesday, Westpac says.
Government lying to us, says forester
28 Sep 2012
The Government is being accused of lying to New Zealanders over plans to encourage afforesation as a means of reducing greenhouse gas levels.
EDITORIAL: The problem called John Banks
28 Sep 2012
The Government may be weakening in its opposition to restricting the number of international carbon units allowed into New Zealand.
Think carrot ... not stick
28 Sep 2012
Carbon Match founder LIZZIE CHAMBERS says we need to think about how the carbon market can drive innovation - and artifically low carbon prices are not the answer.
Why Romney in the White House scares Europe
28 Sep 2012
European Union officials are privately alarmed at the chilling effect that a Mitt Romney win in the US presidential election could have on global climate talks, says the EurActiv agency.
Permit supply hopes firm prices
21 Sep 2012
Carbon has firmed again overnight on renewed optimism that a solution and an agreement would happen in regard to reducing permit supply, OMFinancial reports.
Put that in writing, minister, says council head
14 Sep 2012
Sustainability Council chief Simon Terry is challenging Climate Change Minister Tim Groser to deny in writing that New Zealand faces a carbon deficit.
Experts urge action to save carbon market
14 Sep 2012
A high-level panel established to take stock of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism has released its recommendations by urging nations to intervene forcefully to address the crisis in the carbon market.
Europe eyes limit on crop biofuels
14 Sep 2012
The European Union plans to impose a limit on the use of crop-based biofuels over fears they are less climate-friendly than initially thought and compete with food production, according to draft legislation.
Putin mulls over carbon trading
14 Sep 2012
Russian President Vladimir Putin could make an announcement on an internal carbon trading system by the end of the month, says the Moscow Times.
Australian units likely to sit at $15
14 Sep 2012
Australia’s carbon units are likely to trade at $A15, an international energy and environmental agency predicts.
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'.
