Topics tagged with 'Politics'
Flower growers face threat from EU emissions scheme
12 Aug 2008
Kenya’s horticulture industry is facing a new market access threat as the European Parliament prepares to vote on a new law that would see aviation included in the continental emissions trading scheme.
New UN report suggests how to boost cities’ resiliency to climate change
8 Aug 2008
With eight of the world’s 10 most populous cities situated near rivers or seas and already being exposed to such hazards as flooding, earthquakes and typhoons, a United Nations-backed report just released offers suggestions on how to enhance resiliency to threats emanating from climate change
UK Carbon Reduction Commitment – a lesson for New Zealand firms
8 Aug 2008
New Zealand organisations wishing to participate in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme – if the relevant legislation is passed into law – are being urged to act quickly if they want to operate in a carbon restrained market-place.
Forester warns farmers of get-rich-quick carbon hucksters
5 Aug 2008
A forester is warning landowners to beware of “hucksters” pushing get-rich-quick schemes based on carbon trading.
Time getting tight for Government's ETS bill
5 Aug 2008
The Government is going down to the wire on its emissions trading scheme.
Biofuels player pulls $100m plug on New Zealand plant
1 Aug 2008
A British biofuels company is pulling its $100-million investment out of New Zealand, blaming the Government’s Biofuels Bill.
Silicon-fuelled power stations one solution, says NZ scientist
1 Aug 2008
A Waikato University scientist has reached for his periodic table - which shows that carbon and silicon are in the same family - and has outlined what is being applauded as the most cogent argument to date for a silicon economy, powered by silicon fuel.
Words in the House over ETS support talks
1 Aug 2008
So how are the support talks going to get votes to pass the emissions trading bill?
China enters pact with UK carbon trading player
1 Aug 2008
British carbon exchange specialist Climate Exchange has confirmed that it has signed an agreement with the Chinese authorities to start an emissions trading scheme in the country.
Australians strongly back carbon trade scheme, poll shows
1 Aug 2008
Australians overwhelmingly back government plans to introduce one of the world's biggest carbon trading schemes, a poll found this week.
Firms found to be ill-prepared for cap-and-trade scheme
1 Aug 2008
Many UK firms remain unprepared for the introduction of a cap-and-trade scheme, and have little experience of the IT systems and trading processes that will be required to comply with the new legislation.
Former UN man joins IDEAcarbon
1 Aug 2008
A former under secretary general for economic and social affairs at the United Nations in New York, Nitin Desai, has joined IDEAcrbon as an advisor to its board of directors.
New members for GIAB announced
29 Jul 2008
Twelve new members representing some of New Zealand's leading businesses and research organisations have been appointed to the government's Growth and Innovation Advisory Board
We'll fight for our forest rights, owners warn ETS policy-makers
25 Jul 2008
Kyoto Forest Owners say they will wage war if either major political party reneges on promises over carbon credits worth millions of dollars.
ANALYSIS: Heavy emitters and National scoring major own goal
25 Jul 2008
The little-covered press release issued by the Kyoto Forestry Association this week, seeking major-party assurances its members will still get hundreds of millions of dollars worth of carbon credits, speaks of the unspeakable position anti-emissions trading campaigners have got themselves and others into.
Minister stays mum on support for Biofuels bill
25 Jul 2008
The Government says that its Biofuel bill has the backing of industry, but is not saying whether it has the backing of Parliament.
California joins major North American effort to curb greenhouse gases
25 Jul 2008
California, six other Western states and four Canadian provinces will launch a market-based carbon trading system in a major North American effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, according to a draft proposal released yesterday.
Kyoto foresters seek assurances on Labour and National's carbon credit promises
25 Jul 2008
The Kyoto Forestry Association (KFA) is seeking assurances from the Labour and National parties that their 2007 promises to post-1989 forest owners, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, can continue to be relied upon.
Canadian PM under pressure as major province signs up with US emissions group
22 Jul 2008
The Canadian government faces new pressure to adopt a more aggressive climate-change plan after its largest province threw its considerable political weight behind a North American initiative to tackle global warming.
BBC TV about to air climate change the thriller
22 Jul 2008
Climate change joins mainstream television this week with the screening in Britain of the environmental thriller Burn Up.
Tell us how to cope with ETS, Business Council urges Government
18 Jul 2008
The Government would win more political support for emissions trading scheme if it told New Zealanders how it will help them to cope with the costs of the scheme, says the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.
National Party hopeful targets Indonesian coal used at Huntly
18 Jul 2008
The importing of “safe” coal from Indonesia as a substitute for our own plentiful – but more politically sensitive - variety is a National Party plank that will resonate between now and the general election.
Maori Party sticks to polluters-should-pay stance on ETS fuel plans
18 Jul 2008
The Maori Party is unlikely to push for an Australian-style buffer against the effects of increased fuel prices under New Zealand’s proposed emissions trading scheme.
Long-haul airlines to get carbon relief from Europe
18 Jul 2008
Airlines flying long-haul to Europe will get extra allocations of carbon credits under the European emissions trading scheme, says the European Commission to New Zealand.
US power giant will spend $10b to slash gas emissions
18 Jul 2008
The United States’ largest electricity and gas utility, Exelon, has released a $10 billion plan to eliminate or offset its carbon dioxide emissions, positioning itself ahead of expected federal climate change legislation.
Consider Aussie ETS before passing bill, say Nats
18 Jul 2008
New Zealand needs to give careful consideration to the design of the Australian emissions trading scheme before passing the current bill, says National Party Climate Change spokesman Nick Smith.
Parker, Swan meet tomorrow to talk emissions trading
16 Jul 2008
Australia’s proposed emissions trading scheme will be top of the agenda for a meeting between New Zealand Climate Change Minister David Parker and Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan tomorrow.
REACTION: Green Paper gives cold comfort to those wanting to delay emissions trading
16 Jul 2008
The Green Paper outlining the Australian Government’s thinking on emissions trading shows it is well aligned with New Zealand’s plans, says the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development
REACTION: NZ emission scheme should pick up some Aussie ideas, say forest owners
16 Jul 2008
Forest owners have welcomed the release by the Australian Government of its preferred policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
World won't buy ETS dream, top economist tells Aussies
15 Jul 2008
Australians are being told by one of the world’s leading economists that the world will never support an emissions trading regime.
ANALYSIS: Australian Green Paper: Will faces here go green or red?
15 Jul 2008
ANALYSIS: The Green Paper on Australia’s emissions trading scheme, being published tomorrow, could have policy and political repercussions in New Zealand.
Bush administration slams door on climate change
15 Jul 2008
Arguing that it's the wrong tool for the job, the Bush Administration has said that it will not use the nation's leading clean air law to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Poll shows most of us want action on climate change
11 Jul 2008
Another poll has confirmed that most New Zealanders believe that climate change is human-induced and want to take action.
NZIER-funded polling shows coalition deal may have to deliver ETS policy
11 Jul 2008
Emissions trading is an issue of great concern to Maori and Green party voters - and the major parties might need them to form a coalition after this year's election.
ANALYSIS: The NZIER and friends' poll slip is showing
11 Jul 2008
A close-call election result is probably not what the NZIER and its major emitter study funders would have most liked in the results of their June TNS Conversa poll.
Roundtable: NZIER survey confirms ETS proposals lack support
11 Jul 2008
“The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research survey confirms what the Business Roundtable has been saying: that the government has failed to make a robust case to the public that further action against climate change is in New Zealand’s interests, and that without public support any action is likely to be politically unsustainable”, Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable said.
Paper giant might fold and flee if NZ emissions scheme 'hostile'
8 Jul 2008
International paper giant Norske Skog might quit New Zealand if it is confronted by what it regards as a hostile emissions regime, sources say.
Forest owners urge NZ to follow Garnaut carbon storage action
8 Jul 2008
Australia’s emissions trading scheme is likely to recognise carbon stored in wood products – something New Zealand’s own forest industry would like to see on the table for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.
Garnaut review releases draft report
8 Jul 2008
Australians are facing risks of damaging climate change. Without strong and early action by Australia and all major economies we are likely to face severe and costly impacts on Australia’s prosperity and enjoyment of life, according to the Garnaut Climate Change Review’s Draft Report, released on Friday.
Did the ETS really cause big business to leak?: the Dutch evidence
8 Jul 2008
Everywhere emissions trading is being considered, heavy emitters are saying they will relocate to countries without a price on carbon.
India shapes up as second-biggest emitter, says report
8 Jul 2008
India, with a rising demand for crude oil and coal, is likely to overtake the US as the second-largest emitter of carbon from energy use by 2050 after China, a new study says.
Wind-generated electricity blows past 2007 figures
4 Jul 2008
The contribution of wind energy to New Zealand’s electricity supply has increased significantly, figures released yesterday by the Ministry of Economic Development show.
ANALYSIS: The Labour-National negotiation that should be under way
4 Jul 2008
National and Labour are not far apart on the adjustments needed to make the emissions trading bill acceptable to both and restore multi-party support for the measure.
No horse trading on other issues in Govt - NZ First ETS negotiations
4 Jul 2008
Winston Peters has revealed his negotiating position over the emissions trading bill does not involve any other issue.
What’s it all about, mate, ask bewildered Aussies
4 Jul 2008
Australia takes a big step into the brave new world of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions with the release today of Professor Ross Garnaut’s draft report for the Rudd government on carbon trading.
Get on with it, unions tell business and politicians
1 Jul 2008
Unions are climbing into the emissions trading debate, using two of their heavy-weights to send a clear message to business and political leaders that it’s time to pass the bill.
Questions over SOE-funding of ETS reports
1 Jul 2008
Three State-owned enterprises are in the political spotlight for funding reports being used on either side of the lobby campaign on the Government’s emissions trading scheme.
UN chief uses Kyoto to call for new climate change agreement by end of 2009
1 Jul 2008
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that the world must galvanise its will and reach a new agreement on measures to fight climate change by the end of 2009.
Blair calls for 'short steps' to climate change
1 Jul 2008
Governments trying to hammer out a post-Kyoto deal on climate change should not become “fixated on precise targets” but concentrate on practical short-term steps towards halving emissions by 2050, says former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
Send ETS back to select committee, says Roy
1 Jul 2008
ACT New Zealand Deputy Leader Heather Roy today put her support behind those businesses and individuals pressuring the Government to put the brakes on the Emissions Trading Scheme - a major piece of legislation with wide-ranging effects that should not be rammed through before the election.
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'.
