Topics tagged with 'Tax'
NZ a laggard in climate change related patents
11 Oct 2021
Only two OECD countries – Latvia and Indonesia – rank behind New Zealand in terms of the percentage of patent applications related to climate change mitigation, according a just released “dashboard” comparing the organisation’s 38 member states on a range of climate change related metrics.
Austria govt unveils 'eco' tax reform
4 Oct 2021
Austria's government unveiled on Sunday what it calls an "eco-social" reform of the tax system, a key promise of the conservative-green coalition.
Car dealer imports extra utes to avoid high emissions levy
29 Sep 2021
Auckland car dealership Simon Lucas Mitsubishi put out a press release yesterday saying it had secured a shipment of 2021 Mitsubishi Tritons – allowing people to avoid the high emissions levy due to come into force next year.
Opinion: tax corporations to pay for climate change adaptation
24 Sep 2021
The rapid, radical decarbonisation needed to save the planet will cost a lot. Taxing multinationals and the wealthy properly can help pay for it, argues Eva Joly, a member of the Independent Commission for International Corporate Tax Reform (ICRICT).
Israel announces carbon tax
4 Aug 2021
Israel has announced it will introduce a carbon tax from 2023, with the tax initially applying to just coal, liquified petroleum gas, fuel oil, petcoke and gas.
10 YEARS AGO...
3 Aug 2021
Ten years ago, British electricity generators were paying 16 pounds a tonne for carbon – nearly twice the then price of carbon in New Zealand.
Best way to tax carbon at the border
3 Aug 2021
As more world leaders consider levying border taxes on climate-damaging goods, a new study looks at ways it can be done in countries—including the United States—that haven’t established a domestic market for carbon emissions.
Carbon tariffs ‘not a bad thing’: WWF
30 Jul 2021
WWF International president Pavan Sukhde. a former managing director of Deutsche Bank, has expressed support for carbon tariffs in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
US drawing up carbon tax plans
16 Jul 2021
US legislators are drawing up plans for a tax on imports from carbon-polluting countries to help pay for a $US3.5 trillion ($4.7 trillion) package in new government spending on everything from universal childcare to an expansion of public healthcare benefits.
Business views EU carbon levy as protectionest
6 Jul 2021
The EU faces an uphill battle to convince trading partners that the world’s first levy on carbon imports is fair, workable and a necessary part of the bloc’s attempted green revolution as opposed to a protectionist tool.
Getting people out of their cars a top priority
14 Jun 2021
The lead author of a 2016 Royal Society report that recommended a feebate scheme says yesterday’s announcement is welcome news but getting people out of their cars remains a top priority.
Swiss reject climate tax hike
14 Jun 2021
Exit polls on Sunday indicated that Swiss voters appear to have narrowly rejected a proposed “carbon dioxide law” that would have hiked fees and taxes on fuels that produce greenhouse gases.
Looming EU carbon tariffs
11 Jun 2021
Europe is preparing legislation that would jolt the rules of international trade by taxing imported goods based on the greenhouse gases emitted to make them.
Kiwis want action on climate change: IAG Poll
11 Jun 2021
Media Release - New Zealanders are increasingly expecting the government and business sector to take stronger action on climate change adaptation, according to the results of IAG’s fourth annual climate change opinion poll.
Responses to ClimCom final advice divides along usual lines
10 Jun 2021
An avalanche of press releases in response to yesterday’s release of the Climate Change Commission’s final advice to the government sees interest groups dividing along familiar lines.
Carbon tax planned for Indonesia
9 Jun 2021
The Indonesian government is working on amending the country's tax law, which will include a new carbon tax scheme aimed at increasing state revenue from several industries.
E-bike sales up 300 per cent – SUV sales skyrocket
4 Jun 2021
In mixed news for the climate, e-bike sales are going through the roof – but so are those of double cab utes and SUVs.
How should that $3 billion in ETS revenues be spent?
27 May 2021
Paying farmers to reduce their stocks, electrifying the main trunk line, and subsidies to zero-carbon housing, are some of the ideas suggested by experts for how the Government should spend the estimated $3 billion dollars raised over the next five years from the ETS auctions.
Auckland to spend $21 a year per household on climate change
20 May 2021
Auckland City’s proposed $160 million of spending on climate change over the next 10 years, announced in this week’s “recovery budget,” will add just $21 to the annual rates bill of residential property owners.
$800 per tonne methane tax floated in UN report
7 May 2021
A major UN study on methane, released today, calls for a cut in the consumption of meat and dairy products of up to 50 per cent and observes that a global tax of $US800 per tonne of methane would result in a 75 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050.
Rail plan lacks climate ambition
6 May 2021
The Government has highlighted the 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases New Zealand Rail prevents from entering the atmosphere each year, in its just released NZ Rail Plan, but a climate change expert says the plan is disappointing in its lack of ambition.
Simon Upton’s spirited defence of a departure tax
6 May 2021
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, gave a spirited defence of his proposal for a departure tax at today’s Environment Select Committee, despite the Government having ruled it out in the near term.
Calls for US ETS
28 Apr 2021
Industry groups call for pricing alternative to US president’s preference for mandated reductions, The Financial Times reports.
Pacific plan to decarbonise shipping
27 Apr 2021
The Marshall Islands is calling for a greenhouse levy on gas to speed up the decarbonisation of shipping.
Current NZU trigger price risks $500m bill
22 Apr 2021
The Government could find itself having to buy carbon credits to the tune of half a billion dollars on the international market if the current $50 trigger price for releasing additional NZUs at auction isn’t increased.
Best by the rest...
22 Apr 2021
In our weekly round up of the best climate coverage in the local media, we include items by Jim Salinger on over fishing's mammoth threat to the climate, former PM Helen Clark on her vision of a green NZ, and talk of a night train between Auckland and Wellington.
Departure tax not on the cards
21 Apr 2021
The Government is not currently considering the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's proposal for a departure tax.
China slams European border levy proposal
20 Apr 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping slammed the European Union’s plan for a carbon border levy in a call with the leaders of France and Germany on Friday (16 April), according to state media.
Bursting the climate bubble
19 Apr 2021
The government missed an opportunity to transition to a more sustainable future with the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble today, according to two academics.
10 YEARS AGO...
19 Apr 2021
Ten years ago, the then British High Commissioner, Tony Clemson, was criticising New Zealand for not doing enough about climate change. The more things change... British High Commission first secretary TONY CLEMSON in a personal view, countries are going low-carbon and getting ready to reap the financial rewards. But not New Zealand
New climate indices launched
14 Apr 2021
MEDIA RELEASE - Scientific Beta launches unique series of pure climate indices that translates companies' climate performance and alignment engagement into portfolio decisions
AA calls for ETS revenues to be spent on green transport solutions
13 Apr 2021
The AA has called on the government to spend revenue raised from the ETS on reducing transport emissions or mitigating the effects of climate change.
France's e-bikes for clunkers scheme
13 Apr 2021
France is offering the owners of old, exhaust-belching cars the opportunity to hand over their vehicles for scrap in return for a 2,500 euro grant to buy an electric bicycle.
Unions call for a just transition
12 Apr 2021
Unions are calling for large-scale public investment as part of a “just transition” to a carbon-zero future in their submissions to the Climate Commission’s draft report.
EU carbon tariffs discriminatory - developing nations say
12 Apr 2021
European Union plans to impose taxes on carbon at its border are “discriminatory” and unfair to developing nations, ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China have warned.
'We hear you,' Govt tells worried manufacturers
31 Mar 2021
The country’s largest building company is calling for tariffs to protect local manufacturers from unfair competition from imports with higher carbon footprints – and the Government says it is listening.
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.
Canada will keep its carbon tax
26 Mar 2021
Canada's national carbon tax will remain intact after the country's Supreme Court ruled in favour of its legality.
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.
EU carbon border tax plan worries US
15 Mar 2021
United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry says he is concerned about the implications of the European Union's plans for a carbon border tax.
Carbon tax would be popular with UK voters, poll suggests
25 Feb 2021
Taxing carbon dioxide emissions would be popular with British voters, polling suggests, as the government moots ways to put a price on carbon that could help tackle the climate crisis and fund a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
OPINION: Carbon tariffs are not about Australia
24 Feb 2021
Reports that Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, is considering calling for carbon border levies at the G7 summit to be held in London in June have produced a predictable reaction from the Australian government.
Tax aviation to raise funds for poor countries
19 Feb 2021
Taxes on international transport could provide finance to help developing countries cut greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the impacts of climate breakdown, a group of climate finance experts say.
Hopes new WTO boss can calm carbon tensions
17 Feb 2021
New World Trade Organisation head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala brings an awareness of climate issues to the UN trade body, where member states are set to clash over carbon border taxes.
MARKET LATESTl NZUs $39.10
10 Feb 2021
Spot NZUs opened at $38.60 bid and $39.60 offered on CommTrade this morning, after last fixing at $39.10.
EDITORIAL: It's about to get real
26 Jan 2021
Welcome to 2021 – the year in which we will get our first hard look at the size of the job in front of us.
MARKEST LATEST: NZUs $37.62
23 Dec 2020
Spot NZUs opened at $37.50 bid and $37.75 offered on CommTrade this morning, after last fixing at $37.62.
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.
Carbon prices keep climbing
8 Dec 2020
Carbon prices pushed higher again yesterday, making daily gains of 1.64 per cent on both major trading platforms.
UN limits staff at COP30 climate summit over accommodation concerns
Today 11:45am
High hotel prices for Brazil's COP30 climate summit in November have prompted the United Nations to urge its staff to limit attendance, while government delegations are still scrambling to find rooms within their budgets.
Govt passes law to limit farm-to-forest conversions
Today 11:45am
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government has passed legislation intended to limit farm-to-forest conversions in the Emissions Trading Scheme, with ministers saying the changes “restore balance,” while opponents call it a band-aid that risks climate targets.
NZ needs to be part of a regional SAF strategy: Z, Air NZ
9 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand needs to be part of a regional strategic approach to sourcing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with domestic production less the aim than ensuring access to the fuel from one of a number of strategically positioned bio-refineries around the world.
'Non-negotiable' – EU carbon pricing to hit Kiwi exporters, expert warns
11 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | High carbon exports will inevitably face a high carbon tax at the EU border, possibly in the next five years, and high methane agricultural products might not be exempt, an international expert told a local audience yesterday.
UK foreign aid for nature hits £800m record due to cash for carbon credits
Tue 16 Sep 2025
The UK’s climate-aid spending on “nature protection and restoration” reached record levels of nearly £800m last year, according to government figures obtained by Carbon Brief.
Researchers say sealing old oil wells with bio-oil from crop waste is a dual carbon-removal solution
Today 11:45am
A new analysis shows that oil made from corn husks, wood chips, and other waste could plug greenhouse gas-belching abandoned oil wells while sequestering carbon for about $152 per ton.
Carbon price steady after failed quarterly auction
Tue 16 Sep 2025
By Liz Kivi | The carbon price has continued to trade in its familiar moribund range in the high $50s following last week’s failed quarterly auction, with ample supply still trading on the secondary market at about $10 below this year’s $68 auction floor.
EU set to miss UN deadline for new target under Paris climate accord
Today 11:45am
The delay is intended to allow countries more time to agree to an ambitious goal.
No bidders front to carbon auction - again
10 Sep 2025
By Liz Kivi | Today’s quarterly carbon auction was a non-event yet again, making it the third consecutive auction this year with no bidders, with the secondary market price still limping along at nearly 20% below the auction floor.
Industry struggles with double-digit power price hikes
Mon 15 Sep 2025
As power prices surge by double-digit amounts for the second year in a row, industrial users can’t keep absorbing cost increases, the Major Electricity Users’ Group says.
The merchants of doubt are back
3 Sep 2025
OPINION: If you don’t follow climate policy closely, you might not know that the Trump administration is launching an effort to overturn one of the most fundamental pillars of American climate policy.
Milestone for NZ Steel electrification
10 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | NZ Steel has passed an installation milestone for its new electric arc furnace, which will reduce emissions from the Glenbrook steel mill site by as much as one megatonne (1Mt) a year.
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.”
Watts not considering removing electricity from ETS
Tue 16 Sep 2025
Energy and Climate Change Minister, Simon Watts, says he is “not currently considering” removing electricity generation from the Emissions Trading Scheme, as proposed by NZ First Minister Shane Jones.
Gentailers told to behave as ministers weigh Frontier review
Wed 17 Sep 2025
The chief executives of Contact, Meridian, Mercury and Genesis met Energy and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts on Thursday for their regular monthly session.
Declining sea-ice is altering Antarctic food webs
11 Sep 2025
A new study shows a significant change in Antarctic phytoplankton over time that could cascade through the marine food web and affect the ocean’s capacity as a carbon sink.
Lobby group launches ‘blueprint’ for ocean management reform
Thu 18 Sep 2025
The Environmental Defence Society yesterday released its plan to tackle widespread ecological decline in our oceans.
Marginal drop in last year's regional emissions
27 Aug 2025
Regional greenhouse gas emissions were down slightly last year, with a fall in gas supply leading to a big drop in Taranaki, but more coal burnt leading to higher emissions in Waikato, according to new figures from Stats NZ
Australia leapfrogs NZ on climate ambition
Today 11:45am
By Liz Kivi | Lawyers for Climate Action say Australia’s new 2035 climate target should be a wake-up call for ‘clean, green’ New Zealand.
Exxon and Shell sue the Netherlands in secret tribunals for closing Europe’s biggest gas field
Today 11:45am
Following billions in profits and over a thousand gas extraction-related earthquakes, the oil and gas giants filed claims against the Dutch state in four separate investor-state disputes concerning compensation for home damages and the permanent closure of the Groningen gas field.
A modest geothermal strategy
31 Jul 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The Government has unveiled a far more modest geothermal energy strategy than its primary backer, Resources Minister Shane Jones, had sought.
Why mega-polluters have little to fear from the European Central Bank and its new climate policy
12 Sep 2025
The European Central Bank plans to raise borrowing costs for climate offenders – but a new FTM analysis shows that big polluters such as Shell will barely feel it.
Science cuts will hold back climate research
Wed 17 Sep 2025
By Liz Kivi | A crisis in government-backed science funding is worsening, with dire implications for climate research in New Zealand, according to experts from the scientific community.
Media round-up
5 Sep 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: The great methane debate; law change scuppers legal challenge to irrigation scheme consent; and what are the energy and climate implications of the $7.5 billion Amazon Web Services data centre deal?
Coal imports up 650%
12 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams and Liz Kivi | Coal imports are up 650% as generators stockpile the most polluting fossil fuel ahead of next winter.
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.
Media round-up
29 Aug 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Changes to road user charges will increase New Zealand's emissions; Climate Change Minister Simon Watts promises better access to hazard data for homeowners; and Kiwis borrow over $1 billion in ‘green loans’ for heat pumps and electric cars.
Will NZ walk away from the Paris Agreement?
20 Dec 2024
By Geoff Bertram | COMMENT: Unless the government can find very cheap offshore mitigation, the temptation to walk away from its Paris Agreement obligations may well be too strong to resist for a coalition government focused on fiscal austerity.
Young activists won a landmark state climate trial. Now they’re challenging Trump’s orders
Thu 18 Sep 2025
Young climate activists and their attorneys who won a landmark global warming trial against the state of Montana are trying to convince a federal judge to block President Donald Trump’s executive orders promoting fossil fuels.
Forest carbon stores massive blind spot - study
4 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Aotearoa New Zealand’s planted forests hold significant deep soil organic carbon — with over half of it stored below 30 cm, and much of it over 1,000 years old.
Govt tweaks offshore energy bill with 'declared areas' model
Wed 17 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government is making changes to the Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to address offshore wind developers' concerns about competing for space with other industries.
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 steady ocean pattern just failed for the first time ever observed
Wed 17 Sep 2025
The failure of the Gulf of Panama’s seasonal upwelling system has left scientists wondering what happens next.
Australia's 2035 climate targets on path to net zero judged by the experts
Today 11:45am
After much anticipation, Australia has set its new climate targets: a reduction of 62 to 70 per cent within the next 10 years.
‘Plastic Cup’ competitions are cleaning up rivers in Hungary
1 Sep 2025
Afloat on DIY boats, teams of volunteers have removed over 450 tons of plastic waste from the Danube and its tributaries.
Can certificates solve NZ's heavy vehicle emissions problem?
Thu 18 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Sustainable Business Council has launched a new framework for a national system to cut freight emissions.
Climate change collaboration and competition law
Thu 18 Sep 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The revamped competition law regime needs to be able to take into account the benefits of companies that collaborate for action on climate change, says the panel that reviewed both the Commerce Commission and the Commerce Act.
Underestimating support for climate action limits political decision making, study says
8 Sep 2025
Research reveals huge disparity between perceived and actual willingness of public to contribute to fixing climate.
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.
One city’s race to ‘solarise everything we possibly can’
Thu 18 Sep 2025
Bordeaux is quickly transforming itself into France’s top solar-powered city, banking on innovations like transparent panels that preserve its historic architecture.
Turning squashed bugs into climate change data
Today 11:45am
Media release: University of Auckland | What if the insects you hit with your car could contribute to research on climate change?
Ara Ake backs 13 projects to unlock NZ’s energy flexibility
11 Sep 2025
Media release | Ara Ake has approved over $600,000 in funding from the National Flex Discovery Fund for 13 flexibility service providers (FSPs).
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.
Most EU carmakers on track to meet emission targets: study
10 Sep 2025
Almost all European carmakers are on track to meet EU emission targets after winning a reprieve this year as electric vehicles (EV) sales pick up, a study showed.
Echo Tech secures growth investment to tackle NZ's e-waste crisis
Mon 15 Sep 2025
Media release | Echo Tech Limited, New Zealand’s leading provider of e-waste recycling and IT asset recovery services, is proud to announce a strategic investment from growth equity firm Altered Capital.
La Niña set to prolong NZ hydro shortfall
9 Sep 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With La Niña favouring a drier-than-normal spring across much of the South Island, hydro lakes are unlikely to recover without substantial rain and late snowmelt – keeping national storage levels below average.
Record UK wildfires have burned an area twice the size of Glasgow in 2025
12 Aug 2025
Wildfires have scorched more than 40,000 hectares of land so far this year across the UK – an area more than twice the size of the Scottish city of Glasgow.
Which countries are scaling solar and wind the fastest?
12 Sep 2025
The leaderboard is quite different depending on what metric you look at.
