Topics tagged with 'Science'
Seafood industry passes good practice test
22 Feb 2013
The New Zealand seafood industry has received formal recognition of what the Seafood Industry Council says are strenuous efforts to achieve high standards of environmental good practice.
Millions back farming sustainability
22 Feb 2013
New Zealand’s agricultural sector says it is collaborating with government in a multi-million dollar nationwide programme to ensure a sustainable future for pastoral industries.
Obama vows to take tough line
15 Feb 2013
United States President Barack Obama wants a carbon market.
Solar sponge soaks up gas emissions
15 Feb 2013
Australian scientists have created a 'solar sponge' which captures and then releases carbon dioxide using the power of natural sunlight.
'Pure NZ' impossible mountain, says scientist
8 Feb 2013
The 100% Pure brand is stopping New Zealand reaching its potential, says the current holder of the Prime Minister’s Science Communicator Prize.
Gas research centre gets more funding
8 Feb 2013
The Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium has secured funding from the agriculture sector and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to continue research to find tools for mitigating greenhouse gases.
Ice yields secrets of a warmer world
8 Feb 2013
Ice cores drilled in the Greenland ice sheet, recounting the history of the last great warming period more than 120,000 years ago, are giving scientists their clearest insight to a world that was warmer than today.
Why you should give up red meat, not flying
1 Feb 2013
People who want to have an effect on climate change would be better to give up red meat and changing lightbulbs than to stop taking flights, says a new study.
Our oil sands are fine, insists Canada
1 Feb 2013
A Canadian bid to persuade European Union policymakers to soften proposed fuel quality laws has come unstuck.
At last, it's climate-change time for Obama
25 Jan 2013
By PETER GRIFFIN in Washington. Emboldened by a decisive defeat of his rival in November’s US election, President Barack Obama has outlined a progressive agenda for his second and final term, including rekindling efforts to combat climate change.
Southern lignite stupid idea, says farmer
25 Jan 2013
The idea of digging up fertile farmland for lignite coal is “100% stupidity,” a visiting Australian farmer says.
After 13 billion years, the Universe is getting cooler
25 Jan 2013
Astronomers using a radio telescope have taken the Universe's temperature, and have found that it has cooled down just the way the Big Bang theory predicts.
So, what exactly is going on in Europe?
18 Jan 2013
Despite its green credentials, Europe has ramped up its consumption of coal.
Twenty-year-old predictions looking good
14 Dec 2012
Climate change predictions made 20 years ago are proving reasonably accurate, a New Zealand expert says.
Key defends climate change actions
7 Dec 2012
Prime Minister John Key says that he takes criticism of New Zealand’s actions on climate change with a grain of salt.
Permafrost hosts massive danger, says UN
30 Nov 2012
Huge stores of carbon trapped under the northern hemisphere’s frozen expanses risk being unleashed and becoming a major factor in global warming, a new United Nations report warns.
The answer is a fish’s ear …
30 Nov 2012
Scientists believe that fish ear bones and their distinctive growth rings can offer clues to the likely impacts of climate change in aquatic environments.
EUAs take a dive ... again
30 Nov 2012
EUAs got smacked again last night, falling 25 cents, OMFinancial reports.
Gas emissions levels up by 20%, says UN
23 Nov 2012
The world’s concentration of warming gases like carbon dioxide has increased by 20 per cent since 2000, a new United Nations report says.
National MP questions the science
9 Nov 2012
A Government MP who shouted “where’s the science?” during the debate on changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme this week says he’s no climate-change denier.
Google keeps an eye on the land
9 Nov 2012
Detailed satellite imagery about Australian landscapes will soon be only a button push away for land managers in community and non-profit sectors thanks to a partnership between scientists and Google.
Food key to Australia’s role in Asia
2 Nov 2012
Primary producers, agricultural businesses and regional communities will be big winners as Australia positions itself as a leading food and fibre supplier to the growing Asian marketplace in the Asian century.
Philippines wins NZ geothermal help
26 Oct 2012
New Zealand’s GNS Science will help the Philippines to develop its geothermal energy generation.
Bioenergy process bad, says report
26 Oct 2012
Bioenergy production is often increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the short term even though the European Union counts it as a carbon neutral technology, according to an unreleased report obtained by agency EurActiv.
Europe’s biofuel makers threaten revolt
19 Oct 2012
Representatives of Europe’s biofuels industry have threatened to sue the European Commission if it proceeds with plans to limit crop-based biofuels because of their indirect effect on greenhouse gas emissions.
Silicon Valley backs LanzaTech
5 Oct 2012
New Zealand waste-to-fuels pioneer LanzaTech has bagged more than $18 million of growth captial from a Silicon Valley science investment organisation.
Our lakes are warming up, says report
5 Oct 2012
Recent studies reveal significant warming of the world's lakes.
UN chief urges Pacific leaders to act
28 Sep 2012
The United Nations is counting on the leadership and active engagement of Pacific nations in tackling some of today’s pressing challenges, including sustainable development, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
Scientists urge new way of thinking
21 Sep 2012
A landmark study has found that climate change is likely to have a major impact on Australia’s plants, animals and ecosystems that will present significant challenges to the conservation of the country’s biodiversity.
Scientist wants to breathe new life into flax
14 Sep 2012
New Zealand could revive its flax industry on the back of new research showing it has potential as an anti-fungal packaging material.
Court rejects challenge to weather records
14 Sep 2012
The High Court has rejected a legal challenge to the Niwa national temperature record.
Cool idea could cut coal gas emissions
31 Aug 2012
Refrigerating coal-plant emissions could reduce levels of dangerous chemicals that pour into the air, American scientists believe.
It's about balance, says science chief
24 Aug 2012
Balancing environmental issues with resource use and economic growth is the biggest issue New Zealand faces, our top scientist says.
Billions back fossil fuels, says study
24 Aug 2012
Subsidies for fossil fuels could top $US1 trillion this year, an American-based independent research agency is warning.
Niwa gets bulk of new research money
24 Aug 2012
Environmental research has been allocated more than $16 million in the latest Government science investment round.
Biofuel under fire as food crisis looms
24 Aug 2012
Drought-stricken crops and record-high grain prices have strengthened critics of the European Union biofuel industry, adding fears of a food crisis to their claims that it does not ultimately reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Beer drinkers say cheers to reducing methane
24 Aug 2012
Australian beer drinkers don’t know it but they are helping cattle farmers to reduce methane produced by cows.
AL MORRISON: We've been too smug for too long
17 Aug 2012
The Department of Conservation wants to do business with business.
Rare-earths monopoly worries US
20 Jul 2012
China's near-monopoly on key raw materials vital for green technologies is "very troubling" and could hamper advances in alternative energy and telecoms products, according to a senior Washington policymaker.
Stripping of Lauder station a 'travesty'
13 Jul 2012
Plans by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research to cut a number of senior science jobs at its Lauder office in Central Otago will spell the end of a world-class climate measurement science programme, says the New Zealand Association of Scientists.
More Americans go cool on global warming
6 Jul 2012
Americans' support for government action on global warming remains high but has dropped during the past two years, according to a new survey by Stanford University.
Rio pledges pass $500 billion mark
29 Jun 2012
More than $513 billion in funding has been committed by governments, the private sector, civil society and other groups to achieve a sustainable future.
Right, says Ban, now get on with it
29 Jun 2012
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged world leaders to build on the commitments they made during the Rio+20 conference to achieve economic, environmental and social prosperity for people all over the world.
Supercomputer to lead climate research
22 Jun 2012
The Australian National University is set to house a new supercomputer that it says will put the country at the forefront of climate change, earth science and water management research.
How corporates play the climate game
8 Jun 2012
Many companies are casting unwarranted doubt on the science of climate change, adding confusion to policy discussion and holding back or slowing down action on solutions, says a new report.
Australia nuclear by 2030, says expert
8 Jun 2012
Australia will become a user of the world's most advanced nuclear power technology if the country is serious about cutting carbon emissions, says an Adelaide scientist.
Help us, pleads wind power innovator
1 Jun 2012
A company whose technology has been described as one of the world’s leading innovations in wind power says that policies in this country are making it almost impossible to turn good ideas into export earnings.
Oceans still a mystery, say scientists
18 May 2012
New Zealand doesn’t know what impact mining, marine power and biodiscovery could have on its oceans, scientists say.
Drug makers given green option
18 May 2012
Discoveries made during PhD studies by Victoria University graduate Dr Emma Dangerfield could revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry by allowing drugs to be made in a more environmentally friendly way.
NZ facing the KP2 question
18 May 2012
At the Durban climate change talks last year, Japan, Canada and Russia announced that they would not sign up to Kyoto Protocol 2.
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
Today 11:30am
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?
Thu 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
Today 11:30am
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
Today 11:30am
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
Today 11:30am
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
Thu 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
Today 11:30am
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
Today 11:30am
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
Today 11:30am
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
Today 11:30am
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.
