Topics tagged with 'Politics'
Scotland comes up with ‘world leading’ climate bill
9 Dec 2008
A newly published Scottish bill to help to tackle climate change could be a "world leader", environmental groups have claimed.
Nader: Why we need a global carbon tax
5 Dec 2008
If President Barack Obama wants to stop the descent toward dangerous global climate change, and avoid the trade anarchy that current approaches to this problem will invite, he should take Al Gore's proposal for a carbon tax and make it global, says veteran American consumer advocate Ralph Nader.
Religious leaders united in call for climate curbs
2 Dec 2008
Leaders of the world's major religions have called for "rapid and large emission cuts in the rich world".
Anxious EMA wants to meet ministers on ETS review
28 Nov 2008
The Employers and Manufacturers' Association is seeking urgent meetings with government ministers to express concern that a review of the emissions trading scheme might include questioning whether human-induced climate change is real.
Govt mum on position for Poznan
28 Nov 2008
Government ministers and officials are tight-lipped the position New Zealand will take at next week’s Poznan talks preparing for next year’s Copenhagen conference on the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.
FORUM: How the world will look in 2025
28 Nov 2008
A report by the Atlantic Council, an American non-partisan think tank The international system - as constructed following the Second World War - will be almost unrecognizable by 2025 owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalising economy, an historic transfer of relative wealth and economic power from West to East, and the growing influence of nonstate actors.
Forest owners to confront new minister with facts
25 Nov 2008
Forest owners expect to meet the new Minister for Climate Change Issues Nick Smith later this week to tell him what National and Act’s agreement to review and potentially scrap the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is costing the industry.
FORUM: more wind means more power
25 Nov 2008
Wind Energy Association chief executive Fraser Clark finds positive news in a report on the relationship between wind and water.
British climate change bill shows how it can be done
25 Nov 2008
New Zealand lawmakers might be unable to agree on how to tackle climate change, but an extraordinary show of cross-party unity by their British counterparts is about to make that country the first in the world to have legally binding emissions reductions targets.
Hold on to your carbon credits, experts advise
21 Nov 2008
New Zealanders shouldn’t buy or sell carbon credits until the Government’s plans for the emissions trading scheme are clear, says a prominent law firm.
NZ businesses told: Get used to it, carbon rules
21 Nov 2008
New Zealand business will have to account for its carbon – regardless of whether it is through an emissions trading scheme or a carbon tax, says PricewaterhouseCooper partner and sustainability specialist Julia Hoare.
Obama vows ‘new chapter’ in US climate change policy
21 Nov 2008
President-elect Barack Obama has sent an explicit message to international negotiators of a new global warming treaty that, under his administration, the US will move to greatly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century.
British MPs pass landmark climate change bill
21 Nov 2008
MPs have given final approval to a bill committing Britain to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 - the first country to have such a legally binding framework on climate change.
Business council not surprised by ETS review
21 Nov 2008
Business leaders not surprised by emissions trading review, but concerned about suspending the act, says the Business Council for Sustainable Development.
ETS delay deal scuppers forestry project worth millions
18 Nov 2008
A $125 million forestry project has been scrapped and scores of forestry jobs lost as a result of a deal between the Act and the new National government to review the emissions trading scheme.
Nats' ETS position changes from promise to preference
18 Nov 2008
The National Party has changed its pre-election promise to have an emissions trading scheme up and running by January 1, 2010 to a “preference”.
Electricity watchdog might be made independent
18 Nov 2008
The incoming National government is considering following the recommendation of the International Energy Agency and placing the Electricity Commission beyond the bounds of politics.
China outlines plans for domestic carbon trading
18 Nov 2008
Chinese officials claim their government will establish a nationwide carbon trading scheme.
National reneges on climate change commitments
18 Nov 2008
The Environmental Defence Society has expressed “profound dismay and disappointment” at National’s confidence and supply agreement with ACT.
Greenpeace questions ‘missing’ portfolio
18 Nov 2008
The National Party’s press release detailing Cabinet posts makes no mention of the environment and climate change portfolios, nor the MP who’s rumoured to be heading them.
ETS uncertainty worries geothermal developers
14 Nov 2008
Uncertainty over the future of the emissions trading scheme and the thermal generation moratorium is casting doubt over the development of new geothermal projects in the Bay of Plenty.
Time to be climate-positive, NZ businesses told
14 Nov 2008
New Zealand businesses should be embracing a climate-positive future instead of seeing climate change legislation as something from which they need protecting.
FORUM: O'Reilly on leadership group
14 Nov 2008
Your November 11 article O’Reilly questions future of leadership forum could be interpreted as criticism of the individuals on the Leadership Forum on Climate Change.
UN sees need for global body to tackle biodiversity
14 Nov 2008
The possibility of establishing a United Nations-supported scientific intergovernmental body to address biodiversity loss and protect ecosystems is being discussed at a global conference in Malaysia.
Time for another look at carbon tax, say farmers
11 Nov 2008
Federated Farmers wants the carbon tax revisited.
ANALYSIS: Clark could follow in Blair's footsteps
11 Nov 2008
The US presidential victory of Democrat Barack Obama boosts the chances of former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark winning a role with the United Nations.
UK wants carbon assessment standard to go world-wide
7 Nov 2008
The UK Government wants its recently released carbon footprint assessment standard to be adopted internationally.
Concrete makers fear dose of the 'coal syndrome'
7 Nov 2008
The Cement and Concrete Association is sustaining its charm offensive for fear of catching the "coal syndrome" - in which a product becomes so politically negative that it's shipped out of the country to be used elsewhere.
Obama 1: Dark days ahead for fossil fuels
7 Nov 2008
The election of Barack Obama as US President signals a tectonic shift in the nation’s attitudes to future energy sources and to the environment.
New EU states team up against parts of climate plan
7 Nov 2008
Seven eastern members of the European Union have upheld a joint stand against parts of the bloc's climate package which they fear could harm their economies.
Canadian firms taking climate change seriously, says report
7 Nov 2008
Canada's biggest companies are making climate change a higher priority, partly through more widespread disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report.
UK carbon standards move puts exporters under pressure
4 Nov 2008
A new British standard for measuring carbon content across the life-cycle of products and services has major implications for New Zealand exporters operating in the UK market.
Steel manufacturer calls for global carbon regime
4 Nov 2008
Glenbrook steel mill owner Bluescope is calling for a global carbon scheme.
Ecology group slams Key's call for more growth
4 Nov 2008
The Pacific Institute of Resource Management - the Wellington-based ecological group backed by wealthy British environmentalist Teddy Goldsmith - says a call by National Party leader John Key for increased growth is like giving a drunk more drink.
Science, agriculture and New Zealand's future - Anderton
4 Nov 2008
Federated Farmers is to be congratulated for its contribution to the debate about the economy's future direction, Agriculture Minister and Progressive Leader Jim Anderton said today.
Expert praises China's will to tackle climate change
4 Nov 2008
China's newly released white paper on climate change demonstrates that China has a strong "political will" to tackle global warming, says a German climate policy professor.
Labour and National fail environmental test, say green groups
4 Nov 2008
New Zealand’s two biggest political parties have failed the environment test, put to them by two major New Zealand environmental groups.
Crown Minerals eyes rich gas hydrates deposits
31 Oct 2008
Crown Minerals believes that New Zealand could become a globally significant exploiter of gas hydrates - potentially a rich source of alternate energy.
Exporters fear impact of European emissions decisions
31 Oct 2008
New Zealand exporters say increased costs from recent emissions legislation decisions in Europe will be passed on to customers, but Air New Zealand isn’t talking about the potential impact on the cost of air freight and air travel.
NZ magnets might play part in Big Bang showcase experiment
31 Oct 2008
New Zealand magnetic technology is likely to be used in the CERN Large Hadron Collider - the device seeking to replicate what happened in the seconds following the creation of the planet.
Australian ETS not enough, says leading scientist
31 Oct 2008
Prominent scientist and 2007 Australian of the Year, Professor Tim Flannery, says that the Australian Emissions Trading Scheme is nowhere near sufficient.
World business leaders back UN climate change deal
31 Oct 2008
The United Nations' drive to clinch a new global framework to curb climate change at its Copenhagen summit next year has been endorsed by global business leaders.
Goldman Sachs in pact with carbon-market firm Blue Source
31 Oct 2008
Goldman Sachs Group has signed a strategic alliance with Blue Source, a developer of projects to help companies to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Brits reluctant investors in climate change, says report
31 Oct 2008
British investors are still failing to grasp the significant opportunity offered by climate change, according to a report from wealth management specialist Holden & Partners.
FORUM: The flawed economics of nuclear power
31 Oct 2008
By Lester R. Brown, president, Earth Policy Institute, California. Over the past few years the nuclear industry has used concerns about climate change to argue for a nuclear revival. Although industry representatives may have convinced some political leaders that this is a good idea, there is little evidence of private capital investing in nuclear plants in competitive electricity markets.
ETS will put us out of business, says horticulture chief
28 Oct 2008
The horticulture sector’s official body says that the ETS legislation was enacted in dangerous haste and will put many of its members out of business.
Officials working on plan if Bluff smelter is sold
28 Oct 2008
Officials from a swathe of government agencies are quietly drawing up a contingency plan for the Bluff aluminum smelter at Tiwai Point.
Miliband bows to pressure on UK aviation and shipping emissions
28 Oct 2008
The UK government is to announce today that it will include rapidly growing aviation and shipping emissions in Britain's commitment to curb its carbon footprint by 80 per cent by 2050.
Angry airlines condemn EU emissions decision
28 Oct 2008
European Union governments have given formal approval to a potentially costly system of capping greenhouse gases from any airline flying into or out of the trade bloc.
Contact puts $75 million price tag on carbon commitment
24 Oct 2008
Contact Energy expects its carbon liability to cost it at least $75 million a year.
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'.
