Topics tagged with 'Politics'
Al Gore invokes spirit of Churchill in climate war
10 Jul 2009
Al Gore invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill yesterday when he urged political leaders to follow the example of Britain’s wartime leader in the battle against climate change.
Accountants the winners as carbon economy grows
10 Jul 2009
As a carbon-trading economy gathers steam in the United States, the accounting industry is expected to profit handsomely.
NZ climate deniers wed US counterpart
7 Jul 2009
New Zealand’s premier climate change denier site has linked up with its United States counterpart.
G8 leaders could set emissions goal of 80%
7 Jul 2009
Leaders of the G8 nations meeting in Italy this week are to set a target to cut greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050, the BBC understands.
Millions face climate-related hunger, says Oxfam
7 Jul 2009
Shifting seasons are destroying harvests and causing widespread hunger – but this is just one of the multiple climate change impacts taking their toll on the world’s poorest people – says a new report launched from Oxfam.
Split targets on agenda of Nats-Labour ETS talks
3 Jul 2009
Splitting New Zealand’s domestic emissions reduction target is on the table in talks between Labour and National for an emissions trading scheme deal.
Democrats gear up for Senate climate bill battle
3 Jul 2009
US Senate Democratic leaders are preparing for what is expected to be a tough fight over climate change legislation, even tougher than it was in the House of Representives.
Canada hits rock-bottom on emissions scorecard
3 Jul 2009
Canada has fallen to last place in the latest G8 Climate Scorecard by the World Wildlife Fund and insurance giant Allianz.
EPA allows California to regulate car gases
3 Jul 2009
The US Environmental Protection Agency has granted California's request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks as the Obama administration implements measures to increase fuel efficiency and reduce the impact on global warming linked to these gases.
Farmers deserve reward, not tax, says scientist
30 Jun 2009
Farmers should be compensated for their work in tending the eco system instead of being taxed for climate change, says Professor Robert Watson, chief scientific adviser for Britain’s department of environment, food, and rural affairs.
Obama hails climate bill … but has some changes
30 Jun 2009
United States President Obama has praised the House of Representatives for taking an "extraordinary first step" by passing a climate change bill.
Bill positive, says China, but more action needed
30 Jun 2009
China’s chief climate change official says the United States climate change bill is a key step forward but much more action will be needed to reach an agreement during talks on global warming at the end of the year.
Aussie Liberals go soft on climate bill stance
30 Jun 2009
Australia's beleaguered carbon-emissions trading scheme has won a lift by the opposition Liberal Party withdrawing its threat to block enabling legislation passing through parliament.
UK wants billions in climate fund for poor countries
30 Jun 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has tried to break the deadlock over climate change by proposing the creation of a £60 billion international fund to help poorer countries adapt to the situation.
Parties stay quiet on ETS cooperation deal
26 Jun 2009
The Government and the Labour Party are refusing to comment on progress for an emissions trading scheme deal.
Australia delays vote on carbon trading
26 Jun 2009
The Australian government failed to get its carbon trading scheme through the Senate yesterday after the opposition Coalition and crossbench senators criticised the scheme’s economic and environmental analysis as being inadequate.
Government inaction worries foresters
26 Jun 2009
Foresters are anxious about the Government’s refusal to comment on its plans to develop market access for forestry credits.
Europe keen to show us how to insulate
26 Jun 2009
The European Commission is keen to acquaint New Zealanders with its new portal designed to share information on building insulation and other methods of reducing energy demands in buildings of any size.
US climate bill proponents agree to concessions
26 Jun 2009
An agreement on a string of demands sought by United States farmers and lawmakers from rural areas erased a major obstacle facing a massive climate bill that would limit pollution linked to global warming and redirect the nation toward greater use of clean energy.
Myths … and the making of a climate bill
26 Jun 2009
No bill is perfect …certainly not one that contains a thousand pages and seeks to overhaul the way a nation uses energy, says the respected US science watchdog, the Pew Centre.
Scotland sets emissions cut target at 42%
26 Jun 2009
Scotland’s Climate Change Minister Stewart Stevenson has lodged an amendment to the Climate Change Bill that will set the interim target for greenhouse gas emissions at 42 per cent.
ETS review body on hold for key report
23 Jun 2009
The emissions trading scheme review committee will not be meeting to discuss ETS issues this week.
Top UK scientist here to see NZ toes the line
23 Jun 2009
The appearance at a public seminar in New Zealand of a top British government scientist this week underlines the importance that the British authorities are placing on whipping New Zealand into line on emissions trading.
Australian opposition stalls vote on emissions laws
23 Jun 2009
A vote on the Australian government's emissions trading scheme appears certain to be delayed until August, but the Senate was locked in procedural wrangling for much of yesterday about how to achieve the delay.
In the House ...
23 Jun 2009
On Thursday, the Government asked – and answered – questions about the emissions trading scheme.
Dunne: ETS report might be July or August ... or later
19 Jun 2009
The emissions trading scheme review committee might not release its report until as late as August.
Filibustering may delay carbon trading vote
19 Jun 2009
The Opposition is likely to seek to prolong debate on the Australian Government's carbon emissions trading scheme in a bid to delay a vote in the Senate.
Australia unveils new renewable energy targets
19 Jun 2009
The Australian Government has introduced laws aimed at driving renewable energy investment and curbing greenhouse emissions.
Big emitters deny overstating carbon scheme cost
19 Jun 2009
Big emitters Woodside Petroleum and Rio Tinto have denied claims by an environmental group they overstated costs of proposed Australian climate change legislation to the public and the government.
Brussels tries to charm NZ into action on ETS
19 Jun 2009
A European Union charm offensive exerted on Australia over the past month is partly dedicated to ensuring that the Rudd government passes its delayed emissions trading scheme legislation in sympathy with Europe’s own policies.
US House may vote on climate bill next week
19 Jun 2009
Legislation to drastically reduce carbon dioxide pollution blamed for global warming could be voted on by the US House of Representatives as early as next week.
UN launches high-level climate and energy group
19 Jun 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has launched a new group consisting of business leaders and experts who will advise him on energy and climate change challenges, particularly in identifying key issues in the run-up to the major United Nations conference in Copenhagen in December.
Study into impact of sugar policies on energy and food issues
19 Jun 2009
Research into how sugar policies in Europe, the United States Brazil impact on world food and energy issues will be undertaken by experts from Nottingham Trent University and the University of Salford.
Lawyers question claims by big Aussie miners
16 Jun 2009
An Australian legal group has called for a probe into claims by big miners - some with New Zealand connections - that a carbon trading scheme would cost thousands of jobs and millions of dollars.
US debates climate change role of farms and forests
16 Jun 2009
A dispute is heating up in the United States over the role of farms and forests in climate legislation.
Where are our carbon credits, asks tribal group
12 Jun 2009
Emissions trading has been a long time coming for Ngâti Porou Whanui Forests.
New bill will ignite local biofuel debate
12 Jun 2009
A new private member’s bill will spark an interesting debate about whether New Zealand-produced biofuel is disadvantaged compared with imported biofuel, says Gull’s New Zealand manager Dave Bodger.
Aust firms not ready for carbon scheme, says survey
12 Jun 2009
Australian businesses are mostly not prepared for the federal government's planned domestic carbon trading scheme, due to start in mid-2011, a new survey shows.
Canada to establish carbon trading market
12 Jun 2009
The Canadian federal government has announced plans to establish a national carbon trading market in which all companies and individuals could participate.
Swedish PM calls for carbon taxes in Europe
12 Jun 2009
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has called for European nations to tax carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases.
New climate pact ‘unlikely’ in Copenhagen
12 Jun 2009
The UN's top climate official has voiced doubt about the prospects for completing a new pact on global warming in Copenhagen by its much-touted December deadline.
US trading plans excite NZ forest owners
9 Jun 2009
Moves to include international forestry offsets in America’s plans for a clean-energy economy will be a boon for New Zealand forest owners.
US connection boosts NZ Carbon Exchange
9 Jun 2009
A link to United States-based Cantor Fitzgerald is putting the New Zealand Carbon Exchange on a strong footing.
No need to rush climate laws, says Aust Opposition
9 Jun 2009
Claims by the US that its likely failure to finalise climate change legislation before December will not jeopardise the crucial Copenhagen talks have been seized on by the federal Opposition as evidence that Australia does not need to rush its laws through by the end of the year.
Kiwi organisations unite to tackle climate change
5 Jun 2009
To encourage appropriate action in response to climate change in the lead-up to the crucial UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this December, organisations nationwide are uniting through the New Zealand Climate Action Partnership, they say in a media
Govt delays setting emissions target again, says Greenpeace
2 Jun 2009
With only five months to go until the crucial UN climate talks in Copenhagen, the New Zealand Government has announced another delay in setting an emissions reduction target, says Greenpeace.
Climate change crisis 'catastrophic', says new report
2 Jun 2009
The first comprehensive report into the human cost of climate change warns the world is in the throes of a "silent crisis" that is killing 300,000 people a year.
Climate crisis like nuclear threat, say Nobel laureates
2 Jun 2009
Twenty Nobel prizewinners, including US energy secretary Steven Chu, have compared the threat of climate change to that posed to civilisation by nuclear weapons.
Turnbull tips Australian carbon trading by January
2 Jun 2009
Australian Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says the country could have an emissions trading scheme as early as January despite members of the Coalition still being opposed to the idea.
Climate change outburst embarrasses Act
29 May 2009
The Act Party is distancing itself from a statement made in its name yesterday in which National Party MPs were told they would “introduce an emissions trading scheme at their peril."
Carbon markets risk penalising Indigenous stewardship, researchers warn
Thu 5 Mar 2026
Carbon markets designed to reward environmental restoration may be unintentionally disadvantaging Indigenous communities who have long protected intact ecosystems, according to new research.
Grasslands and wetlands are being gobbled up by agriculture, mostly livestock
4 Mar 2026
A new study takes a first-of-its kind look at how farming converts non-forested areas and major carbon sinks into cropland and pasture.
Auckland Airport switches on giant heat pump system to cut gas use
Fri 6 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | While Auckland Airport’s switch from gas to heat pumps is welcome, the emissions savings are dwarfed by ongoing aircraft emissions, which are set to rise, according to a sustainable transport expert.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
3 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Half of nations meet UN deadline for nature-loss reporting
4 Mar 2026
Half of nations have met a UN deadline to report on how they are tackling nature loss within their borders, Carbon Brief analysis shows. This includes 11 of the 17 “megadiverse nations”, countries that account for 70% of Earth’s biodiversity.
Govt’s own modelling shows LNG leads to higher electricity prices than other solutions
19 Feb 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: According to modelling conducted by Concept Consulting for MBIE, either developing the Tariki gas storage facility or managing electricity demand would deliver lower wholesale electricity prices than the Government’s preferred solution of an LNG import terminal.
Kenya’s latest carbon credit crackdown reveals questionable practices
Today 11:30am
Some players use sophisticated tactics to inflate the value of credits that may not represent genuine, permanent emissions reductions.
What does China’s 15th ‘five-year plan’ mean for climate change?
Tue 10 Mar 2026
China’s leadership has published a draft of its 15th five-year plan setting the strategic direction for the nation out to 2030, including support for clean energy and energy security.
Bidders no-show at carbon auction – again
3 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | As predicted, today’s carbon auction yet again failed to attract any bidders, with NZUs currently trading hands on the secondary market at a 35% discount on this year’s auction floor price.
3,600 times faster: China is shaking up the steel industry
25 Feb 2026
For over a century, making steel meant coal, heat, and hours of waiting. A Chinese research team now reports collapsing that process into just three to six seconds; no coal, near zero emissions, and a vortex lance already moving toward commercial production. The technology is called flash ironmaking, and in February 2026, its implications are still unfolding.
Hormuz crisis critical to New Zealand
Tue 10 Mar 2026
By Nathan Surendran | COMMENT: Why the Hormuz crisis is a symptom, not the disease – and what it means for New Zealand.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Unusual scarcity drives early 2026 NZU rally
Thu 5 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The New Zealand carbon price has recovered since its late 2025 collapse, although the rally is driven by scarcity rather than confidence in market settings.
Upton on LNG: don’t make electricity consumers subsidise industrial gas
Today 11:30am
By Pattrick Smellie | Industrial gas users will be subsidised by electricity consumers unless they are also charged for access to the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, says.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Climate Commission called to Waitangi inquiry over alleged breaches
Tue 10 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Climate Change Commission is being called to front up to the Waitangi Tribunal and give evidence over alleged legal breaches of its obligations to Māori.
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.
From forest to flatpack, IKEA faces timber traceability test
Today 11:30am
As the EU’s Deforestation Regulation nears implementation this year, furniture giant IKEA may need stronger traceability systems to prove its timber isn’t linked to post-2020 deforestation.
If the government is set on an LNG terminal, gas users, not electricity users, should pay
Today 11:30am
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: It's increasingly clear that the government's narrative of LNG as ‘dry year electricity insurance’ really doesn't stack up.
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.”
Gaps in adaptation taxonomies hinder climate finance in Asia: report
Thu 5 Mar 2026
Without clearer criteria and metrics in adaptation taxonomies, Asia risks widening its climate financing gap, warns a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Russia gets export boost from Iran war as price of oil to India surges
Tue 10 Mar 2026
The war in Iran has fuelled a significant bump in demand for Russian oil and gas, the Kremlin said on Friday, boosting exports which have been battered by sanctions linked to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Five trees can’t offset a car: Lawyers accuse Mazda of greenwashing
Mon 9 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action NZ is taking Mazda to the Advertising Standards Authority over its claims that a tree-planting programme will offset vehicle emissions.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
Media round-up
13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
4 Feb 2026
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
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.
EDS puts environmental lawmaking under the spotlight
26 Feb 2026
Media Release |The Environmental Defence Society has launched the first in a series of investigative pieces into how environmental laws are being made in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Climate 'dream team' launches foundation targeting 100 million tonnes in emissions cuts
25 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The New Zealand Climate Foundation, which has the ambitious aim of cutting 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, had its official launch on Monday.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
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.
Tiny, lost and constipated: what a baby turtle told Australian scientists about warming seas
Fri 6 Mar 2026
The arrival of loggerheads in New South Wales shows these ‘sentinels of climate change’ are being forced into unknown territory.
The world’s largest climate finance deal was built to flounder: why funding fails to reach the front‑line
Fri 6 Mar 2026
Adopted in December 2015, the Paris Agreement commits countries to keeping global temperature rise below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Media round-up
20 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: 'Every tonne matters': The climate scientist who wants to give you hope; Minister says managed retreat is an option; and climate change is here – is New Zealand ready?
Brazil and India agree to boost cooperation on rare earths
24 Feb 2026
Brazil and India sealed a deal Saturday on critical minerals and rare earths, enhancing cooperation on crucial resources between two major countries of the global south as they seek to diversify their trading relationships.
Rule changes could reshape corporate emissions strategies
Fri 6 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand organisations may need to rethink how they manage and report electricity-related emissions as proposed global accounting changes take shape, according to a new report.
Native plant shows promise for tackling `forever chemicals’
Today 11:30am
Media release: University of Auckland | One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s taonga plants, harakeke, shows promise as a treatment for removing “forever chemicals” from drinking water.
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.
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
18 Feb 2026
Tech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.
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.
NZ EV owners sticking with electric – survey
Today 11:30am
Nearly all New Zealand EV owners say they would buy another electric vehicle, according to new research from Consumer NZ.
Summit aims to revive stalled UN talks on phasing out fossil fuels
Today 11:30am
Colombia and the Netherlands have set out three priorities for a conference on phasing out fossil fuels they will co-host in Colombia in April.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
Global coastal sea-level risks may be underestimated, say scientists
Thu 5 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Coastal communities across the Pacific and Southeast Asia could be facing greater sea-level rise risks than previously estimated, researchers say.
Study finds warming world increases days when weather is prone to fires around the globe
20 Feb 2026
The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy — ideal to spark extreme wildfires — has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.
Western Australian communities want mandatory payments from new renewable developments
Fri 6 Mar 2026
The West Australian government wants to make new wind and solar farms pay into community funds, but host towns say more work needs to be done to make sure the payments actually happen.
