Topics tagged with 'The House'
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
10 Jul 2020
Negotiations for a free-trade agreement with the United Kingdom start on Monday.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
9 Jul 2020
Applications to remove tree-weeds without incurring a carbon liability are now open.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
8 Jul 2020
Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Select Committee today considers proposals to tighten up regulation of financial markets.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
7 Jul 2020
A petition calling for decisions about spending for the covid-19 pandemic economic recovery to be governed by sustainability principles goes before MPs tomorrow.
Abandoned waste lands smelter company in court
6 Jul 2020
The Environmental Defence Society is taking the operator of the Bluff aluminium smelter – one of the country’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases - to court over waste dumped in the old paper mill at Mataura.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
6 Jul 2020
Parliament is taking a break for the school holidays and will next sit on July 21.
FRIDAY POLITICS: Draw your hammer
3 Jul 2020
Climate minister James Shaw is nailing his colours to the mast of the Climate Change Commission.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW...
3 Jul 2020
Parliament is taking a break for the school holidays and will next sit on July 21.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW...
2 Jul 2020
The Government's plan to whizz some covid-19 pandemic economic recovery projects through the resource consenting processing is expected to be passed today.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
30 Jun 2020
Parliament sits today, with the Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisers) Amendment Bill at number three on the order paper.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
29 Jun 2020
The Climate Change and Business Conference will go ahead this year.
Parker whips home third leg of climate trifecta
26 Jun 2020
The third leg of the Government’s climate change legislation trifecta came home this week.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
26 Jun 2020
The Carbon Market Institute holds a webinar today on participating in the Australian carbon market. OMFinancial’s head of commodities, Nigel Brunel, is one of the speakers.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
25 Jun 2020
Changes to the Resource Management Act requiring local councils to consider greenhouse gas emissions when granting resource consents are expected to be confirmed today.
Make climate-risk a must, urges Carr
24 Jun 2020
The Climate Change Commission has again told the Government that assessing the climate impact of projects should be mandatory under a new fast-track consenting process.
Good job and well done, says ClimCom
24 Jun 2020
The Government’s determination to overhaul the Emissions Trading Scheme despite the covid-19 pandemic has won praise from the Climate Change Commission.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
24 Jun 2020
The Environment Select Committee continues hearing submissions today on the Government’s plans to fast-track some of its covid-19 pandemic recovery projects through the Resource Management Act.
No carbon-zero without new forests
23 Jun 2020
Government suggestions that it will limit forestry conversions to 40,000 hectares a year could prevent the country being carbon-neutral by 2050, forest owners says.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
23 Jun 2020
Greater Wellington Regional Council’s climate committee meets today, with ways of implementing the Regional Climate Emergency Plan on the agenda.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
22 Jun 2020
The Environment Select Committee meets today to discuss the Government’s covid-19 fast-tracked resource consent bill.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
19 Jun 2020
Sunday is the last day for submissions on the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-Track Consenting) Bill – to grant resource consent in months rather than the usual years for projects likely to help the country’s economic recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.
Parliament does major job on ETS
17 Jun 2020
Parliament has passed major changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme, bringing agricultural emissions into the scheme and, for the first time, setting a cap on emissions.
New consent panels to OK fast-track jobs
17 Jun 2020
The Climate Change Commission will be consulted about projects being fast-tracked through resource consent as part of the covic-19 pandemic economic recovery.
Rail comes out top of fast-consent work
16 Jun 2020
A sea-level-rise-proof Cook Strait ferry terminal and a host of improvements to the country’s rail service are among infrastructure projects the Government plans to give fast-track consent in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic.
Nats should have done more, admits Muller
15 Jun 2020
New National Party leader Todd Muller has admitted his party should have done more about climate change when it was in power.
EDITORIAL: Into the red
15 Jun 2020
By ADELIA HALLETT | A rapid rise in the price of carbon could leave some of us facing winter without fresh tomatoes. But that’s as it should be.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
15 Jun 2020
The overhaul of the Emissions Trading Scheme is due to have its third reading in Parliament this week.
Coal companies want carbon price slashed
12 Jun 2020
Government decisions that have pushed carbon prices up 28 per cent in eight days of trading must be reversed, says the minerals industry.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
12 Jun 2020
The Environment Select Committee discusses the Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisers) Amendment Bill again today.
Carbon prices stick to the upward trail
10 Jun 2020
Carbon prices are pushing on towards $31 today as the New Zealand market continues a bull run.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
10 Jun 2020
Transport and urban development minister Phil Twyford discusses low-carbon transport networks for our cities in an online session for the Sustainable Business Network today.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
9 Jun 2020
Wellington’s regional transport plan is scheduled for debate at a meeting of the Greater Wellington transport committee today.
Forest owners stay with carbon wait-and-see
8 Jun 2020
Forest owners are adopting a wait-and-see approach to selling units as carbon prices head into record territory.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ...
8 Jun 2020
The Sustainable Business Network holds a host of events this week – from a discussion on urban transport with transport minister Phil Twyford, to sessions on how the textiles sector is embracing the circular economy and on flexiworking and making sustainable business the new normal.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW >
5 Jun 2020
Today, the Bioenergy Association holds a webinar on switching heating in schools from boilers burning fossil fuels to wood pellets, while the Sustainable Business Council has a session on preparing for the “new normal”.
Carbon prices continue the good-news climb
4 Jun 2020
Carbon prices jumped another $2 yesterday as the market continued to react to Tuesday’s announcements about the Emissions Trading Scheme.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW >>
4 Jun 2020
Parliament takes a break today from discussing climate change, with the third reading of the Emissions Trading Scheme reform bill and the committee stage of the Resource Management Act reform too low on the order paper to get an airing.
Shaw sings songs of praise for trading scheme
3 Jun 2020
Climate minister James Shaw – who three years ago was calling for the Emissions Trading Scheme to be scrapped – was singing its praises in Parliament yesterday.
WHAT YOU NEEED TO KNOW >
3 Jun 2020
Parliament sits today and tomorrow, with the Resource Management Amendment Bill due for its second reading and reforms to the Emissions Trading Scheme about to go through the committee of the House stage before having their third reading.
Effective carbon price-cap will hit $35 this year
2 Jun 2020
The effective price cap on carbon prices in New Zealand will go to $35 this year.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW >
2 Jun 2020
Changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme are expected to have their second reading in Parliament today.
POLITICS: Carbon pricing plans about due
29 May 2020
Whether the Government will go ahead with plans to lift the maximum carbon price this year could become clear next week.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW >
29 May 2020
Sunday is the last day for emitters to pay for their 2019 emissions – either by surrendering carbon credits or paying the Government $25 for every tonne of liable emissions.
Cities critical to climate, Wellington tells Govt
26 May 2020
One of the country's largest local authorities says the Government 's plans for urban development are at odds with its programme for combatting climate change.
Simpson happy with his lot
26 May 2020
Coromandel MP Scott Simpson says he’s pleased to have kept the climate and environment portfolios in yesterday’s National Party reshuffle but had no say in the matter.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
26 May 2020
The Climate Action Tracker international climate science coalition holds an online summit today on achieving net-zero emissions energy systems.
Muller's got 'very strong views' on cutting carbon
25 May 2020
New National Party leader Todd Muller says the drive toward a low-emissions economy should continue despite the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on the economy.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
25 May 2020
Horizons Regional Council is expected to approve its 2020/21 annual plan today, with $175,000 going to assessing the region’s vulnerability to climate change.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
21 May 2020
Today is the last day for submissions on a new law aimed at smoothing out the supply of logs for the domestic wood industry.
Empty emergency reserve forces $6.1m flood repair loan
Mon 2 Mar 2026
By Kira Carrington, Local Democracy Reporter | A depleted emergency fund has forced Marlborough to borrow $6.1 million to repair damage from last year's floods.
South Korean farmers sue utility giant KEPCO over climate damage to crops
Wed 25 Feb 2026
As harvest season approached last November, farmer Ma Yong-un walked through his apple orchard in southern South Korea with a growing sense of dread.
Air NZ joins Marsden Point SAF project
Today 12:30pm
By Pattrick Smellie | Air New Zealand has quietly added its name to a consortium exploring the viability of green hydrogen production for sustainable aviation fuel at Channel Infrastructure’s Marsden Point energy hub.
Singapore sets first ever sustainable aviation fuel levy, as Southeast Asia’s fuel industry grows
17 Feb 2026
Flying in and out of Singapore, home to Southeast Asia’s busiest airport, will get slightly more expensive this year as the city state begins imposing a levy of between 75 cents to $32 per ticket to fund sustainable aviation fuel.
World leaders invited to see Pacific climate destruction before COP31
Today 12:30pm
The leaders and climate ministers of governments around the world will be invited to meetings on the Pacific islands of Fiji, Palau and Tuvalu in the months leading up to the COP31 climate summit in November.
Govt’s own modelling shows LNG leads to higher electricity prices than other solutions
19 Feb 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: According to modelling conducted by Concept Consulting for MBIE, either developing the Tariki gas storage facility or managing electricity demand would deliver lower wholesale electricity prices than the Government’s preferred solution of an LNG import terminal.
Bidders no-show at carbon auction – again
Today 12:30pm
By Liz Kivi | As predicted, today’s carbon auction yet again failed to attract any bidders, with NZUs currently trading hands on the secondary market at a 35% discount on this year’s auction floor price.
Oil and gas prices jump as conflict escalates
Today 12:30pm
Oil and gas prices have surged as Iran continues to launch strikes across the Middle East in response to ongoing attacks by the US and Israel.
Carbon auction set to be another non-event
Mon 2 Mar 2026
By Liz Kivi | Tomorrow’s Emissions Trading Scheme auction – the first for 2026 – is set to be a non-event, with secondary market prices more than $25 below this year’s $71 auction floor price.
3,600 times faster: China is shaking up the steel industry
Wed 25 Feb 2026
For over a century, making steel meant coal, heat, and hours of waiting. A Chinese research team now reports collapsing that process into just three to six seconds; no coal, near zero emissions, and a vortex lance already moving toward commercial production. The technology is called flash ironmaking, and in February 2026, its implications are still unfolding.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
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.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
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.
Italy calls for suspension of EU carbon market
Mon 2 Mar 2026
The Italian Minister said the Emissions Trading System (ETS) has a "perverse effect" and is condemning European companies from being competitive with other countries, urging other member states to back the suspension.
How Trump’s war could destabilize the global energy market
Mon 2 Mar 2026
It starts — but doesn’t end — with the Strait of Hormuz.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Pacific climate advocates welcome pre-COP31 meeting in Fiji and Tuvalu
Fri 27 Feb 2026
Media release – 350.org | Climate advocates across the Pacific will now prepare for the Pre-COP31 meetings in Fiji and Tuvalu, with the Pacific Islands Forum confirming the hosts yesterday.
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.
The 15 foods destroying rainforests, in one simple chart
Wed 25 Feb 2026
It’s pretty much impossible to live a life free of environmental harm. But there is one thing you could do immediately that would help the planet a heck of a lot: eat less beef.
Judge orders Greenpeace to pay $345m over Dakota Access pipeline protest
Mon 2 Mar 2026
Greenpeace says the case is far from over after being found liable for defamation and other claims brought by the energy firm.
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.”
New study looks to nature markets to accelerate climate response
18 Feb 2026
The Nature Conservancy is teaming up with local groups to study the most affordable and effective ways of restoring native habitats at the top of the South Island, including ways to fund the work using international voluntary carbon markets and biodiversity credits.
Surviving on Trump's dangerous planet
Mon 2 Mar 2026
COMMENT: Yet another war, and yet another argument for an end to oil.
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
18 Feb 2026
Tech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
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.
Media round-up
13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
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.
EDS puts environmental lawmaking under the spotlight
Thu 26 Feb 2026
Media Release |The Environmental Defence Society has launched the first in a series of investigative pieces into how environmental laws are being made in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Climate 'dream team' launches foundation targeting 100 million tonnes in emissions cuts
Wed 25 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The New Zealand Climate Foundation, which has the ambitious aim of cutting 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, had its official launch on Monday.
China has a new competitor? Kazakhstan reveals huge rare Earth deposit that could power the next tech boom
Wed 25 Feb 2026
China’s grip on rare earths might finally see some competition, and the world is already taking notice.
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.
Kiwis overly optimistic about state of environment
Fri 27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests many New Zealanders believe the environment is in better shape than it really is, with public perceptions often out of step with scientific evidence.
UN approves first carbon credits under Paris Agreement market mechanism
Fri 27 Feb 2026
The United Nations has approved the first credits to be issued under a carbon market established by the Paris climate accord, aimed at reducing emissions – a mechanism that has faced scrutiny over greenwashing concerns.
Australia-US minerals deal underpinned decision to allow mining company to clear threatened indigenous forest
23 Feb 2026
The Australian government’s decision to allow the US mining giant Alcoa to continue clearing swathes of Western Australian jarrah forest despite past illegal clearing practices was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year, a new document shows.
‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics
24 Feb 2026
Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?
Local govt shake-up risks weakened environmental outcomes – Commissioner
Fri 27 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s push to simplify local government is "deeply flawed" and has been launched without a clear understanding of which functions must remain regional, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
UK Greens win by-election as anti-data centre protests mount
Today 12:30pm
The Green Party's Hannah Spencer won the contest for the vacant parliamentary seat of Gorton and Denton, with Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party coming second, and Labour pushed into third place.
Media round-up
20 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: 'Every tonne matters': The climate scientist who wants to give you hope; Minister says managed retreat is an option; and climate change is here – is New Zealand ready?
Brazil and India agree to boost cooperation on rare earths
24 Feb 2026
Brazil and India sealed a deal Saturday on critical minerals and rare earths, enhancing cooperation on crucial resources between two major countries of the global south as they seek to diversify their trading relationships.
Africa primed for solar breakthrough after record capacity growth
Today 12:30pm
The continent of Africa looks set to emerge as a key driver of global solar power production over the rest of the 2020s thanks to a potent mix of policy support, rapid economic growth and declining component costs.
High-tech flights tackle climate modelling dilemma
Mon 2 Mar 2026
Media release – University of Canterbury | An ongoing challenge in global climate modelling is being addressed by HALO-South a German-Christchurch collaboration.
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.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
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.
Canterbury rolls out NZ’s first lightweight electric double-decker
Today 12:30pm
Metro has introduced the country’s first lightweight electric double-decker bus, marking a major milestone for public transport innovation in Canterbury.
General Assembly chief calls for US to pay UN fees in full
Fri 27 Feb 2026
The head of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday urged top contributor the United States to pay its fees in full after Washington made only a partial payment to the global body, amounting to less than 5% of the total amount owed.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
Study finds warming world increases days when weather is prone to fires around the globe
20 Feb 2026
The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy — ideal to spark extreme wildfires — has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.
India and UK launch offshore wind taskforce
23 Feb 2026
Constituted under Vision 2035 and the Fourth India-UK Energy Dialogue, the Taskforce is designed to provide strategic leadership and coordination for India’s nascent offshore wind ecosystem.
