Topics tagged with 'Science'
Easter carbon surprise
6 Apr 2021
With Easter behind us some people will be worrying about the extra centimetres those chocolate eggs added to their waistlines – but here at Carbon News we’re more interested in how much carbon they added to the atmosphere.
Reserve Bank calls for Govt lead on green bonds
30 Mar 2021
Government intervention is likely to be needed to encourage greater investment in green bonds, the Reserve Bank says.
Temperatures to soar for half a billion people
30 Mar 2021
Many millions of people − among them some of the world’s poorest − will be exposed to potentially lethal temperatures on a routine basis. At worst, the mercury could reach 56deg by 2100.
Big methane cut and free public transport needed, expert tells ClimCom
29 Mar 2021
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change author Bronwyn Hayward has told the Climate Change Commission its draft recommendations are not ambitious enough and larger cuts need to be made in biogenic methane emissions.
The real reason humans are the dominent species
29 Mar 2021
Energy is the key to humanity's world domination. Not just the jet fuel that allows us to traverse entire continents in a few hours, or the bombs we build that can blow up entire cities, but the vast amounts of energy we all use every day.
Listen to experts on hydrogen, Minister says
26 Mar 2021
Companies getting excited about using hydrogen as a major energy source need to listen to the warnings of experts, the Climate Minister says.
Small nuclear power plants no use in climate crisis
25 Mar 2021
Claims that a new generation of so-called advanced, safe and easier-to-build nuclear reactors (small nuclear power plants) will be vital to combat climate change are an illusion, and the idea should be abandoned, says a group of scientists.
Why we need a carbon club
25 Mar 2021
If the three biggest economies - China, the United States and the European Union - agree a carbon tax on imports, it will catalyse climate action globally, a new paper says.
Nature left alone offers more than if we exploit it
24 Mar 2021
Save nature, save money. It’s a simple argument. Wilderness cleared and ploughed offers us less than nature left alone.
Happiness in the age of climate change
22 Mar 2021
A United Nations report suggests countries that have done well in containing the covid-19 pandemic are well-placed to take the sorts of collective actions necessary to combat climate change.
Climate facts back on US EPA website
22 Mar 2021
Canceled four years ago by a president who considered global warming a hoax, climate crisis information has returned to the website of the US government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of Joe Biden’s promise to “bring science back”.
Aviation fuel from food waste could cut emissions
22 Mar 2021
Food waste could be instrumental in producing sustainable aviation fuel, according to a recent study.
Cuba secures climate funds for coast
22 Mar 2021
The Green Climate Fund has approved $US23.9 million in finance for a coastal resilience project along Cuba’s southern coastline.
EV subsidy plan causes division
19 Mar 2021
Toyota New Zealand will continue to push for financial incentives for those buying electric vehicles when it responds to the ClimCom draft report.
Why fish-trawling should be in national carbon accounts
18 Mar 2021
Bottom-trawling for fish releases more carbon dioxide each year than Germany does, yet is not included in national carbon accounts, scientists say.
TRANSPORT 2: Go electriciity, not hydrogen
16 Mar 2021
Green hydrogen is being touted as an alternative to fossil fuels in New Zealand. The Government has invested $8.4 million to explore its potential and $19.9 million in a hydrogen energy facility.
Droughts worst in 200 years
16 Mar 2021
The series of severe droughts and heatwaves in Europe since 2014 is the most extreme for more than 2000 years, research suggests.
The price of coal weighs heavy on planetary health
12 Mar 2021
The true cost of fossil fuels could be a quarter of the world's' GDP, scientists say.
Carbon emissions slow, but not nearly fast enough
9 Mar 2021
Five years after a planet-wide vow to reduce carbon emissions, it happened; in 2020, the world’s nations pumped only 34 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a drop of 2.6 billion tonnes on the previous year.
IMF and World Bank will push G20 over climate
1 Mar 2021
The leaders of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are vowing to step up efforts to combat climate change by looking more closely at climate-related financial stability risk and using other tools at their disposal.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Collins embraces the ETS
26 Feb 2021
National Party leader Judith Collins seems to have abandoned her dismissal of the need for urgent action on climate change – and found a love for the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Fiercer, more frequent fires may reduce carbon capture by forests
26 Feb 2021
More fierce and frequent fires are reducing forest density and tree size and may damage forests’ ability to capture carbon in the future, according to a global study.
'Science-based' targets are no such thing - former adviser
25 Feb 2021
One of the instigators of an influential climate initiative for big business has gone public with criticism of its target-setting process, saying it does not measure up to its ambition.
Three technologies that will change food production
25 Feb 2021
Agriculture’s impact on the planet is massive and relentless. Roughly 40 per cent of the Earth’s suitable land surface is used for cropland and grazing.
Proving that taking care of forest pays carbon dividends
18 Feb 2021
New Zealand’s vast native forests may yet help the country meet its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Emissions 'return to normal', says Fletcher Building
17 Feb 2021
The country’s largest building company says emissions have returned to normal in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic shutdown.
Millions will die if world fails on climate promises
17 Feb 2021
Scientists have looked at conditions in just nine of the world’s 200 nations and found that − if the world keeps its Paris climate promises, of containing global heating to “well below” 2deg by 2100 − millions of lives could be saved.
Carbon-free future is in reach for US by 2050
12 Feb 2021
The United States − per head of population perhaps the world’s most prodigal emitter of greenhouse gases − can reverse that and have a carbon-free future within three decades, at a cost of no more than $1 per person per day.
China’s crackdown on illegal CFC gases is working
11 Feb 2021
A Chinese government crackdown on producers and buyers of illegal CFC gases is working, research has found.
'Dangerous' push to leave farmers out of Aussie target
9 Feb 2021
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison might be warming to the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, but federal Nationals leader Michael McCormack has thrown a spanner in the works by suggesting agriculture be excluded from the target.
Millions for carbon capture contest
9 Feb 2021
Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is offering $138 million for inventions that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or oceans.
Will planes be flying on air?
5 Feb 2021
Scientists are working on recovering atmospheric carbon to conjure aviation jet fuel from thin air.
Plant-based diets crucial to saving wildlife, says UN report
4 Feb 2021
The global food system is the biggest driver of destruction of the natural world, and a shift to predominantly plant-based diets is crucial in halting the damage, according to a report.
Ditch GDP and value nature, says report
3 Feb 2021
Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history, says a report calling for a new economic framework recognising the importance of ecology.
Salla - 'The heat is coming'
29 Jan 2021
Salla, the coldest place in Finland, is making a tongue-in-check bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics, saying thanks to climate change, it expects that by then it will have sand for beach volleyball, lakes for swimming and snow-free hills for downhill bike-riding.
WORTH NOTING ...
27 Jan 2021
The country’s new carbon-auctioning regime is being put through its paces today and tomorrow with a simulated auction. The first real auction will be on March 17.
WORTH NOTING ...
26 Jan 2021
Simulated auctions of NZUs to test the new regime will be held tomorrow and on Thursday.
US return boosts chances of COP26 success
22 Jan 2021
The United States' return to the Paris Agreement is vital to the next round of negotiations, says former New Zealand climate ambassador Dr Adrian Macey.
2020 one of the hottest and driest years we've had
12 Jan 2021
New Zealand’s average temperatures continue to climb, with latest climate data showing 2020 was one of the country’s warmest years on record.
Global 'elite' need to slash high-carbon lifestyles
11 Dec 2020
The world's wealthiest 1 per cent account for more than twice the combined carbon emissions of the poorest 50 per cent, according to the United Nations.
Global emissions at new record
10 Dec 2020
Greenhouse gas emissions reached a new high last year, putting the world on track for an average temperature rise of 3deg, a new United Nations report shows.
One-in-500,000 spring heat in Australia
10 Dec 2020
Australia’s hottest spring on record, which saw temperatures more than 2deg above average, would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, new analysis has found.
Research spending doesn't match priorities - report
10 Dec 2020
There’s a serious mismatch between what New Zealand’s Government identifies as the most pressing environmental issues, including climate change and freshwater quality, and the investments in environmental research it actually makes.
Climate tipping point threatens Australia and China
10 Dec 2020
The grasslands of northern China and Mongolia could be about to lurch into a climate tipping point, an irreversible sequence of heat and drought.
Genesis says it will slash emissions
9 Dec 2020
The operator of the Huntly coal-and-gas-fired power station says it will cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
Z tells Govt how to cut transport emissions
9 Dec 2020
Z Energy is sticking with its dream of selling low-emissions biodiesel, albeit with an Australian product because its own production plant has been mothballed.
Cutting emissions and making fertiliser from beer-and-chip waste
8 Dec 2020
The much-loved combination of beer and chips is being harnessed to tackle climate change.
2020 one of the hottest on record
4 Dec 2020
This year is on track to be one of New Zealand’s hottest on record, meaning five of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 2013, scientists say.
How heat threatens global health
4 Dec 2020
Heat-related deaths are surging around the world, particularly among older people, scientists say, warning of growing pressure on health systems hit hard by covid-19.
Climate change threatens insurance on thousands of homes - report
2 Dec 2020
Insurance could be hard to get by mid-century on at least 10,000 homes vulnerable to flooding and storm surges, a new report shows.
Auckland Council opens $1m Climate and Emergency Readiness Fund
4 Feb 2026
Community groups across Tāmaki Makaurau are being invited to apply for a new $1 million Climate and Emergency Readiness Fund, designed to support locally led action on climate change, disaster preparedness and climate adaptation.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Construction is set to start this month on Hiringa Energy’s long delayed green hydrogen project in South Taranaki, after years of consenting fights that culminated in the Court of Appeal rejecting Greenpeace’s challenge in late 2023.
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.
World fight against invasive species comes to Auckland
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Media release: University of Auckland | From countering invasive pink salmon in Norway to controlling feral cats in the Cayman Islands, knowledge on eradicating invasive species will be shared by international experts in New Zealand.
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.
EU weighing options to support industry in carbon market overhaul
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The European Commission is looking at various ways to support industries in an upcoming overhaul of the EU carbon market to prevent them moving to areas with lower pollution standards, the head of the Commission’s climate department said late on Wednesday.
IPBES: Four key takeaways on how nature loss threatens the global economy
Wed 11 Feb 2026
The “undervaluing” of nature by businesses is fuelling its decline and putting the global economy at risk, according to a major new report.
Minister’s letters: Mildly positive or just virtue signalling?
5 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market was buoyed slightly yesterday, after letters between the Government and the Climate Change Commission were proactively released.
LNG plan risks fossil fuel dependency: Environment Commissioner
Wed 11 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Importing liquefied natural gas risks creating a “new path dependency on fossil fuel” unless LNG is ring-fenced for use only in the electricity system and only during extended periods of hydro-electricity water shortages, says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: By deciding to underwrite the private construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, the Government has made a rational choice in favour of energy security and affordability.
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.
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.
Govt looks to Commission for ways to shore up carbon price
4 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government has asked the Climate Change Commission to look at lower auction volumes and an increase in the auction floor price as options to revive the Emissions Trading Scheme, as carbon prices remain weak.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
Wed 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.
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.
$8.9m research project to map future ocean change around Aotearoa
Tue 10 Feb 2026
The major research project aims to better understand how warming oceans are driving extreme weather events around New Zealand, from heavy rainfall to tropical cyclones.
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.
'Damning' report challenges forestry’s role in Tairāwhiti as sector rejects conclusions
4 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New independent analysis commissioned by Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti challenges long-standing claims that industrial forestry underpins the Tairāwhiti economy.
Australian ministers met Japanese gas companies 20 times amid fossil fuel lobbying push
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Australian government ministers met Japanese gas company executives more than 20 times in the last term of parliament as Labor encouraged investment in the fossil fuel industry.
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.”
US is canceling almost $30 billion in Biden-era energy loans
27 Jan 2026
The Trump administration said it’s canceling almost $30 billion of financing from the Energy Department’s green bank after reviewing transactions approved under former President Biden.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
Mon 9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
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.
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”.
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.
Greenpeace set to take UK Government to court over deep-sea mining licences
5 Feb 2026
Environmental NGO Greenpeace has kick-started a legal challenge against the UK Government’s decision to approve the transfer of two seabed exploration licences to a newly-formed mining company with US links.
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.
Ministers celebrate fast-track milestone amid criticism
Tue 10 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government is marking the first anniversary of its fast-track approvals regime, saying it is helping “build New Zealand’s future”, despite continued criticism from environmental groups, opposition parties, and industry voices following several controversial project decisions.
Court rejects challenge to Minister and Commission over climate targets
28 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Supreme Court has rejected Lawyers for Climate Action’s bid to challenge the Climate Change Commission and former Climate Minister James Shaw over climate targets, ending a long-running case which had been working its way through the courts since 2021.
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.
A turning point for our ocean: why the High Seas Treaty matters for the Pacific
Tue 10 Feb 2026
Media release: UNDP | The global ratification of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty marks a decisive moment in international cooperation and ocean governance. Referred to as the High Seas Treaty, the agreement establishes a legally binding framework to protect marine biodiversity in areas of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction.
Out of Paris, but will the US formally quit the UN climate regime?
30 Jan 2026
The Trump administration has decided to withdraw the US from the broader UN climate convention, raising questions about the legality of the move and what it means in practice.
Commentators slam Govt inaction in aftermath of climate change-fuelled storms
30 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | Climate action - or inaction - is shaping up to be an election issue, with multiple commentators drawing a line between the Coalition Government’s backsliding on climate targets and the deadly extreme weather events of the past week.
Major health risks linked to plastics emissions set to soar by 2040
28 Jan 2026
The adverse health consequences stemming from the global plastics system are projected to more than double by 2040, driven by greenhouse gases, air pollutants and toxic chemicals released throughout its lifecycle.
Rushed resource management reform bills unworkable: Environmental Defence Society
Wed 11 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Environmental Defence Society says significant amendments are needed to the government’s Natural Environment and Planning Bills, warning the proposed reforms risk weakening environmental limits, public participation, and regulatory certainty.
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.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
Mon 9 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand and the United States' negotiations over critical minerals have raised questions for the Waitangi Tribunal’s long-running inquiry into climate change.
Australia's renewables boom delivers coveted power price payoff
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Australia's wholesale electricity prices fell to the lowest in four years in 2025, bucking the rising price trends seen elsewhere and validating claims that renewables-heavy power system overhauls can help lower consumer power costs.
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.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
Mon 9 Feb 2026
Media release | A new Antarctic science partnership with a leading UAE university will grow New Zealand’s advanced engineering and modelling capability, supporting high-value jobs, encouraging economic growth, and enabling smarter climate risk management, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says.
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.
China maximises battery recycling to shore up critical mineral supplies
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Beijing is bracing for a tsunami of spent EV batteries by taking steps to boost recycling – a strategy that could also cut its reliance on imports of clean energy minerals.
Vanuatu introduces draft UN resolution on ICJ demanding full climate compensation
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Media release: Vanuatu Government | Vanuatu has introduced the zero draft of a United Nations General Assembly resolution to endorse the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change, delivered on 23 July 2025.
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.
Argentina fires ravage pristine Patagonia forests, fueling criticism of Milei’s austerity
4 Feb 2026
The wildfires, among the worst to hit the drought-stricken Patagonia region in decades, have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (174 square miles) of Argentina’s forests in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
World's first 20 MW offshore wind turbine powers grid in China
Tue 10 Feb 2026
The world's most powerful offshore wind turbine has begun feeding electricity into the grid off the coast of southeast China, marking a major technological leap in the country's wind power industry.
