Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
10 YEARS AGO...
24 Jun 2021
Ten years ago, the then United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on United States mayors to help in the worldwide fight against climate change and other energy challenges.
IPCC leaked report offers grim picture
24 Jun 2021
A leaked IPCC report suggests global heating is increasingly likely to trigger tipping points in Earth’s natural systems.
10 YEARS AGO...
17 Jun 2021
Ten years ago, a UN report said that fast action to curb soot would improve human health, generate higher crop gains, and reduce climate change.
Pacific Island bid for carbon price on shipping fails to gain support
17 Jun 2021
Pacific island nations made the case for a carbon price to tackle shipping’s climate impact at the UN body responsible for seaborne transport yesterday, but found only tepid support.
Plantation forests not the solution for climate change: UN Report
11 Jun 2021
Plantations of a single species of non-native tree "are a disaster" for climate change according one of the co-authors of a major new report.
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.
Pests increase due to climate change
4 Jun 2021
Media Release - Climate change is making pests which ravage important agricultural crops even more destructive, heightening threats to global food security and the environment, a UN-backed study published this week found.
Virtual climate talks underway
2 Jun 2021
Officials from around the globe begin three weeks of grueling climate talks Monday that will involve grappling with a number of thorny political issues without the benefit of face-to-face meetings, due to pandemic restrictions.
40% chance of hitting 1.5 °C in next five years
28 May 2021
There is about a 40 per cent chance of the annual average global temperature temporarily reaching 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in at least one of the next five years – and these odds are increasing with time, according to a new climate update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
10 YEARS AGO...
27 May 2021
Ten years ago, the UN called for new regulations and technologies to deal with the growing mountain of e-waste.
Redirect harmful subsidies to benefit the planet, UN urges governments
3 May 2021
Billions of pounds of environmentally harmful government subsidies must be redirected to benefit nature, the United Nation’s biodiversity chief has said, before the restart of negotiations on an international agreement to set new targets for protecting nature.
The geopolitics of climate change
30 Apr 2021
The European Union is emerging as the world’s climate trailblazer - argue two top ranking European Union bureaucrats.
Greenpeace calls out PM
27 Apr 2021
MEDIA RELEASE - Greenpeace is calling out Jacinda Ardern’s lack of action on emissions from agriculture as the Prime Minister speaks at the Leaders Summit on Climate convened by US President Biden.
Global emissions surging
22 Apr 2021
The IEA predicts that carbon dioxide emissions could rise to 33 billion tonnes in 2021 – the second largest rise in emissions ever.
The campaign against the climate
20 Apr 2021
A 30-year-long project by some in the oil industry, who have spent millions of dollars manipulating public opinion and perceptions of climate change, is revealed in a new Al Jazeera documentary by Danish filmmaker Mads Ellesoe.
UN chief calls for revolution in city planning
19 Apr 2021
Media release - The United Nations Secretary-General, on Friday, called for a “revolution” in urban planning and urban transport to beat back impacts of climate change and build a green and sustainable future for all.
NZ emissions down, household emissions up
9 Apr 2021
The good news is that New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions were down in the year to December 2020, the not so good news is that that same month saw household emissions reach their highest ever level.
The decline of coal in China
9 Apr 2021
When President Xi Jinping committed China to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 at the UN General Assembly, this was good news for many, including electric vehicle manufacturers and the renewable energies industries. One sector that stands to lose is the coal industry.
Will COP26 be delayed, again?
1 Apr 2021
Just as President Joe Biden unveils his $2 trillion infrastructure and climate plan and momentum surges on Wall Street for finance solutions, comes word that COP26 this November in Glasgow might be postponed because of covid.
UK taken to task for ignoring Paris Agreement
31 Mar 2021
Prominent scientists and lawyers have said Britain's decision to ignore the Paris climate agreement when deciding on major infrastructure projects undermines its presidency of UN climate talks this year.
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.
GCF approves loan for Liberia
22 Mar 2021
Songdo, Korea - To protect lives and build climate resilient livelihoods in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, the Green Climate Fund approved today $US17.2 million in funding for a new project that will benefit approximately 250,000 vulnerable people living in the Monrovia Metropolitan Area.
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.
Vaccine hold-up threatens representation at climate talks
17 Mar 2021
Climate diplomats in developing countries and civil society groups say slow vaccine rollouts in poorer nations threaten the inclusivity of negotiations at the Cop26 summit in November.
Green Climate Fund a 'toxic' environment, insiders say
15 Mar 2021
As John Kerry promises to “make good” on a $2 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund, the UN’s flagship fund faces critically low confidence in its senior management
Hall of shame: Missing the green recovery
11 Mar 2021
The world’s governments are failing to “build back better” from the covid-19 economic slump, the UN Environment Programme warns in a new report.
Climate work suspended in wake of coup
9 Mar 2021
The United Nations has suspended climate projects that require working with Myanmar’s military government following the February 1 coup and other international donors may follow suit.
OECD contender backtracks on climate scepticism
8 Mar 2021
An Australian former minister widely criticised by environmentalists has made it to the final two contenders to lead the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
Get rid of coal by 2030, Guterres tells nations
3 Mar 2021
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on wealthy nations to end coal use by 2030 so the world can meet its goals to curb global warming, urging G7 nations to make that commitment before or at a leaders' summit in June.
Lower rates if you're sustainable, says bank
2 Mar 2021
The BNZ has signalled today that businesses taking their environmental footprint seriously can expect to pay a lower interest rate on their loans.
Teens take their climate crisis plea to court
2 Mar 2021
Eight teenagers and an octogenarian nun are in Australian court today to launch what they hope will prove to be a landmark case – one that establishes the federal government’s duty of care in protecting future generations from a worsening climate crisis.
Climate pledges a long way from 1.5deg, UN warns
1 Mar 2021
Updated plans to reduce emissions barely make a dent in the huge cuts needed to meet global climate goals and the United Nations is calling for redoubled efforts.
Questions over Samoa flood defence project
22 Feb 2021
Flood walls in Samoa financed by the UN’s flagship climate fund are inadequate and could put people in danger, experts warn.
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.
Put talks online, says Gueterres.
9 Feb 2021
Critical negotiations to prepare for November’s Cop26 climate summit will need to take place virtually as the coronavirus pandemic is still not allowing in-person meetings and further delay is not an option, according to UN chief António Guterres.
Biden signs sweeping orders on climate change
28 Jan 2021
United States president Joe Biden has unveiled a radical change in direction from the Trump era by halting fossil fuel activity on public lands and directing the United States government to start a full-frontal effort to lower planet-heating emissions.
Reformed trade rules could help save the climate
26 Jan 2021
Reformed trade rules could provide a climate dividend of the rancorous Brexit process of leaving the European Union.
Biden takes US back into Paris
22 Jan 2021
Joe Biden has moved to reinstate the US to the Paris climate agreement just hours after being sworn in as president, as his administration rolls out a cavalcade of executive orders aimed at tackling the climate crisis.
NZ cheering from the sideline in Sprint to Glasgow
11 Dec 2020
Officials will represent New Zealand at this weekend’s Sprint to Glasgow event marking the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
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.
Brazil sets ‘indicative’ goal of carbon neutrality by 2060
10 Dec 2020
Brazil has announced it will aim for carbon neutrality by 2060, sparking anger among campaigners who say the pledge is meaningless and a deliberate distraction from president Jair Bolsonaro’s destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Japan's emissions at record low
9 Dec 2020
Japan's greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.7 per cent to a record low in the 2019 financial year that ended March 2020, government figures showed on Tuesday, thanks to growing use of renewable energy and lower energy consumption by manufacturers.
Pressure mounts on UK to update its UN climate target
4 Dec 2020
Scotland and British businesses are piling pressure on the UK government to set an ambitious 2030 climate target ahead of a summit co-hosted by Britain and the UN on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
Yes, we shall (virtually) go to Glasgow next week
3 Dec 2020
Speculation New Zealand will be excluded from global climate talks next week appears to have been premature.
Humanity is waging war on nature, says UN secretary general
3 Dec 2020
Humanity is facing a new war, unprecedented in history, the secretary general of the UN has warned, which is in danger of destroying our future before we have fully understood the risk.
Fossil-fuels to blow climate targets despite pandemic dip, report warns
3 Dec 2020
The United Nations-backed Production Gap report projects a 2 per cent annual rise in global fossil fuel output this decade, when 6 per cent cuts are needed in line with a 1.5deg warming limit
OPINION: Time to 'fess-up on our climate record
2 Dec 2020
Following today's planned climate emergency declaration, New Zealand will have to face up to the fact it has one of the worst climate records of industrialised nations.
CO2 hits new record despite covid-19 lockdowns
24 Nov 2020
Climate-heating gases have reached record levels in the atmosphere despite the global lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation has said.
Trump takes another swipe at Paris Agreement
23 Nov 2020
Out-going United States president Donald Trump railed against the Paris climate accord overnight, telling world leaders at a virtual summit that the agreement was designed to cripple the US economy, not save the planet.
New research on climate adaptation as severe weather hits
Mon 16 Feb 2026
As extreme weather batters the country yet again, researchers have published the first ever empirical study of climate adaptation justice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Outdated land-use system unfit for modern environmental regulation, commissioner warns
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s long-standing Land Use Capability (LUC) system is no longer fit for regulatory decision-making, according to a new review from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
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.
Why Trump might be onboard with a UN carbon-offset programme for airlines
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The president’s team has backed the rollout of an initiative that calls for the use of sustainable aviation fuel and carbon credits, even as Trump has pulled back from other international emissions-reduction efforts.
World fight against invasive species comes to Auckland
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.
Carbon market rallies but auction floor still out of reach
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market has rallied, with secondary market prices up more than 25% in the past two weeks, although current prices in the mid-$40s are still far below this year’s $71 auction floor, with the first auction of 2026 less than three weeks away.
US pressures Vanuatu at UN over ICJ’s landmark climate change ruling
Mon 16 Feb 2026
The United States is urging governments to pressure Vanuatu to withdraw a United Nations draft resolution supporting a landmark International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that countries have a legal obligation to act on climate change.
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.
Flawed decision-making around taxing electricity to fund LNG import terminal
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: The Government's decision to back an LNG import terminal exemplifies an egregious failure in public policy and energy sector governance.
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.
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.
EU weighing options to support industry in carbon market overhaul
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.
France bets on nuclear in new plan to cut fossil fuel imports
Mon 16 Feb 2026
The French government unveiled a 10-year energy strategy that leans heavily on nuclear power and offshore wind farms to curb fossil fuel dependence. Environmental groups criticised a 'stubborn insistence on believing in the nuclear myth'.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 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?
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.
Explosive risk brings caution call on LNG
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Craig Ashworth, Local Democracy Reporter | Community energy lobbyists say a Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Taranaki must be built far from homes to protect locals from the risk of catastrophic explosions.
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.”
European Central Bank's green supervision grows teeth, but will banks avoid being bitten?
Fri 13 Feb 2026
After several years of issuing guidance and repeatedly calling on banks to take climate and environmental risk management seriously, the European Central Bank is moving from guidance and expectations to enforcement.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
No such thing as 'clean gas': if advertisers can act, why can’t politicians?
Mon 16 Feb 2026
COMMENT: In the rankings of least trusted professionals, advertising executives usually sit at the bottom along with politicians and real estate agents. But there’s one area where the advertising industry can now justifiably hold itself above politicians – stopping greenwashing by the gas industry.
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.
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.
Lawyers seek answers on climate impacts of LNG import facility
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action has written to Climate Change and Energy Minister Simon Watts warning that the Government's plan for an LNG import terminal could be in conflict with New Zealand’s climate obligations and emissions reduction targets.
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
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.
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.
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.
Climate change linked to decline in southern right whale
Thu 12 Feb 2026
Scientists in Australia are warning southern right whales are showing signs of climate-related stress, just days after a Green Party Member’s Bill was introduced in New Zealand proposing legal personhood for whales.
Climate ambassador moves on
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government is on the hunt for a new top climate diplomat, with previous climate ambassador Stu Horne moving on to a posting in Honolulu as New Zealand’s Consul General to Hawai’i.
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.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
Thu 12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
Space growth plan sparks climate and ozone warnings
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s decision to increase the number of New Zealand's permitted space launches tenfold – from 100 to 1000 – has prompted warnings from scientists about potential impacts on the ozone layer and Southern Hemisphere climate systems.
Australia's Liberals elect net zero opponent as new leader
Mon 16 Feb 2026
Australia's opposition Liberal Party elected as leader on Friday a conservative who lobbied to drop its commitment to net zero emissions, as it seeks to counter an insurgent populist right and rebuild support after a disastrous election loss last year.
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.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
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.
Africa leads growth in solar energy as demand spreads beyond traditional markets, report says
Mon 16 Feb 2026
A report shows that Africa has emerged as the world's fastest-growing solar market even as global growth slowed last year, driven by a 60% surge in imports of solar panels from China.
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
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.
EU to ban destruction of unsold clothes and shoes
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The European Commission has adopted new measures that will require medium and large companies to stop discarding unsold clothing and footwear, in the bloc’s latest move to target textile waste.
January floods driven by tropical systems and La Niña conditions
Thu 12 Feb 2026
Record-breaking rainfall across parts of Aotearoa in January was fuelled by tropical moisture and persistent low-pressure systems, with some regions recording more than five times their normal monthly rainfall, Earth Sciences New Zealand says.
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.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
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.
