Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
Ocean heat drives surge to global warming record
8 Dec 2014
It’s official, even though it won’t be conclusive for a few months yet: if present trends continue, 2014 will be one of the hottest years on record − and quite possibly the hottest of them all.
Why our ‘silent ally’ soils are on the endangered list
8 Dec 2014
The world is not paying enough attention to its soil – our silent ally – says the United Nations.
Australia should export more ideas and fewer greenhouse emissions
8 Dec 2014
As climate negotiators meet at the US-China climate deal United Nations' Lima summit, which comes hot on the heels of the landmark
Lima climate talks ‘stepping stone’ for universal treaty
1 Dec 2014
A new round of talks in Lima is an opportunity to raise immediate awareness on climate change and lay the foundation for a new universal agreement to be adopted in 2015, says a top UN official.
Climate change health action urgent, say doctors
1 Dec 2014
The need for rapid action on climate change in New Zealand in order to protect health is clear, according to a group of climate and health experts.
Obama pledge gets dollars flowing into climate fund
24 Nov 2014
It was quite a week for those waiting for some action on climate change.
Investors slow to take up climate change fight
24 Nov 2014
Global investment in climate change reduction has fallen for the second year in a row, a drop of $28 billion from 2012, and far below estimates of what is needed, according to new research
UN warns Pacific islands of extreme weather risks
24 Nov 2014
Extreme weather conditions predicted for the Pacific Ocean pose a significant threat for island states' industry and infrastructure, warns the United Nations.
Australia’s coal and gas exports being left stranded
24 Nov 2014
The United States and China have announced goals to reduce emissions by 26 per cent to 28 per cent and to cap emissions by 2030 respectively.
How a garden on your roof could fight floods this winter
24 Nov 2014
In recent years, there seems to have been a rise in the extreme weather all over the world from terrible flooding in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the record cold snap in North America, to one of the wettest winters on record in the United Kingdom.
NZUs bubble at $4.30
24 Nov 2014
We continue to bubble around $4.3,5 with not much pushing it either way at present. OMFinancial reports:
Deal or no deal … can China and the US deliver?
17 Nov 2014
It’s been called an historic agreement − a game changer in the battle to combat climate change. But can China and the US fulfill the promises in their announcement of plans to cut carbon emissions?
G20 climate challenge calls for a rethink of economics
17 Nov 2014
Focusing on growth, the Brisbane G20 leaders' summit has not grappled with three key issues - how much more growth the planet can survive, how poorer nations can raise their living standards to parity with the developed world, and how can a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth be realised?
Environment another casualty of war, says UN
10 Nov 2014
The environment has long been a “silent casualty of war, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday as he warned that the fast-changing dynamic of conflict required solutions to support peace and sustainable development.
Social acceptance new key for today's miners
10 Nov 2014
A licence to dig is no longer enough for today’s mining and extractive companies. Stakeholder approval is progressively becoming a “must have” for mining companies around the globe — a requirement these companies widely acknowledge through what’s known as a “social licence to operate”.
Our emissions plan hopeless, says renowned academic
3 Nov 2014
New Zealand has no chance of meeting its 2020 emissions reduction target under current policies, says a leading scientist involved in the latest IPCC report.
Leaders must act, says UN after dire climate report
3 Nov 2014
If left unchecked, climate change will increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems, says a United Nations report.
What the politicians said ...
3 Nov 2014
All three of New Zealand's major political parties say that the IPCC's latest call on climate change is important.
At last, there's a glimpse of an ETS in Australia
3 Nov 2014
With the passage of the Emissions Reduction Fund through the Senate last week, Australia's federal government has taken a step toward achieving the country's minimum target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020.
Booming cities need sustainable urban planning
3 Nov 2014
Growing urban areas will need better planned and better managed environments or risk exacerbating negative trends, the United Nations has warned.
Salt-poisoning a growing threat to crops
3 Nov 2014
Salt is poisoning around 2000 hectares of irrigated farm land every day – and has been doing so for the past 20 years, according to new research.
Why uncontrolled climate change might limit growth
3 Nov 2014
By JACK PEZZEY.- “But who do you think’s right, Prof? The optimists or the pessimists?” At the end of my sustainability economics course in 2007, students were challenging me to end 20 years of professional fence-sitting.
New EU emissions goal pits green business against industry
28 Oct 2014
A European Union goal to cut greenhouse gases by 40 per cent by 2030 sets the pace for a global deal to tackle climate change, pitting heavy industry against green business.
Trans-Pacific Partnership threatens green trade deal
28 Oct 2014
The Trans-Pacific Partnership threatens a green trade deal that could ultimately do more to reduce carbon emissions than international climate agreements such as the failed Kyoto Protocol.
Soils SOS as cities gobble up our best growing land
20 Oct 2014
New Zealand is allowing its elite soils to be eaten up by cities – despite signing up to a new global campaign to protect valuable agricultural land.
Outlook palls for fossil fuel investment
20 Oct 2014
Warnings within the world of high finance are coming thick and fast that the increasingly urgent need to combat climate change means investors could lose heavily by sinking funds into coal, oil and gas.
Beehive stays silent on emissions target
13 Oct 2014
The Government remains mum on New Zealand’s 2030 emissions reduction target.
New Zealand is drying out ... and here’s why
13 Oct 2014
Over 2012 and 2013, parts of New Zealand experienced their worst drought in nearly 70 years.
VOILA! A simple new way to put a price on global carbon
13 Oct 2014
A team of French academics has proposed an international carbon trading system, whereby countries with the highest average CO2 emissions pay the most.
WANTED: $44 trillion to switch to clean energy
13 Oct 2014
In a world wrestling with climate change and the need to phase out fossil fuels, nothing is more critical than making sure there are reliable and cost-effective clean energy technologies ready to fill the void.
Sick seas could cost us billions, UN warns
13 Oct 2014
The global economy could be losing as much as $1 trillion annually by the end of the century if countries do not take urgent steps to stop ocean acidification, says a new report.
Shift to low-carbon economy could free up $1.8 trillion
13 Oct 2014
Decarbonising the electricity system worldwide would save $1.8 trillion over the coming two decades by avoiding the high operating costs of using fossil fuels, a new study finds.
Human handprint marks Australia’s hottest year
6 Oct 2014
Despite the Australian prime minister’s climate science scepticism, research funded by taxpayers has unanimously found man-made climate change guilty of causing the country’s record-breaking temperatures last year.
Medicos inject themselves into climate debate
6 Oct 2014
Health professionals in New Zealand are joining an international call for action on climate change.
Controlling deforestation will take more than words
6 Oct 2014
There was little at the recent UN Climate Summit in New York in the way of new climate policy announcements, but 27 countries did sign a new forest agreement — the New York Declaration on Forests.
Memo John Key: Look Pacific leaders in the eye
29 Sep 2014
The Government is being challenged to invite the leaders of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati to come and tell Parliament what they think of New Zealand’s climate change policies.
New York talked the talk, but we’ll have to wait and see who heard
29 Sep 2014
At the end of his summit meeting on the climate crisis, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon put out a list of accomplishments festooned with 46 bullet points, some of them marking concrete new pledges, others diaphanous phrases.
MIA ... but it doesn't mean China's not interested
29 Sep 2014
There were a few notable absentees among the more than 120 world leaders gathered in New York for last week's United Nations Climate Summit - and perhaps most notable of all was the head of the world’s highest-emitting nation, China’s President Xi Jinping.
Cities in the spotlight at Climate Week summit
29 Sep 2014
Even as nations gathered in New York to discuss global-level action on climate change, there was strong recognition that cities, not countries, have so far played the pivotal role in the world's fight against climate change—and will continue to do so.
Do something, big business warns political leaders
29 Sep 2014
Many of the biggest hitters in the global financial community, together managing an eye-watering $24 trillion of investment funds, have issued a powerful warning to political leaders about the risks of failing to establish clear policy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
WORLD WEB ... Obama’s drive for carbon pricing fails to win at home
29 Sep 2014
* Chile becomes the first South American country to tax carbon * UK to introduce fracking drilling law despite 99% opposition * US Homeland Security moves to tackle climate change risks * Hawaii's solar industry in precarious situation * The top 10 greenest cities in America * Avatar director James Cameron talks climate change
How to save the planet ... bike, walk or take a bus
29 Sep 2014
Here’s a way to save $100 trillion and stop 1700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from getting into the atmosphere every year by 2050: cycle, walk or take public transport.
Would a climate change treaty be enough?
29 Sep 2014
Do we need a climate treaty, or could a simple political deal based on national pledges work just as well?
WORTH SEEING … Thin Ice
29 Sep 2014
New Zealand scientist Simon Lamb's award-winning film Thin Ice will have a public screening in Hamilton next week. Lamb, a geologist, filmed the documentary himself, with a view to finding out whether his fellow scientists really were involved in some sort of climate change hoax as some were alleging.
Scientists plead for cuts to ballooning fossil fuel emissions
22 Sep 2014
Scientists are calling for rapid cuts in the use of fossil fuels in the wake of data out today showing we have almost used up our fossil-fuel credit.
Growth and greening now go together, says Stern study
22 Sep 2014
Governments and businesses can now improve economic growth and reduce their carbon emissions together, says a major new report by a commission of global leaders.
... but critic says report fails to back up core message
22 Sep 2014
A new report called Better Growth, Better Climate draws the seductive conclusion that “we can create lasting economic growth while also tackling the immense risks of climate change”.
Population explosion lowers chance of managing climate change
22 Sep 2014
By TIM RADFORD.- New projections say the population of the planet will not stabilise at 9 billion sometime this century. In fact, there is an 80 per cent likelihood that, by 2100, it will reach at least 9.6 billion − and maybe rise as high as 12.3 billion.
China goes up a gear but still has a lot of work to do
22 Sep 2014
In the lead-up to the UN leaders’ summit on climate change (http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit), China is shifting up a gear in its drive towardsnational emissions trading.
How renewables can lead to prosperity and jobs
22 Sep 2014
A new handbook shows how forward-looking communities around the world are already moving away from reliance on fossil fuels and generating their own power with 100 per cent renewables − while also becoming more prosperous and creating jobs.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Media release - Earth Sciences New Zealand | A world-first study of marine life, including sea creatures found in New Zealand's dark, cold, pressurised ocean depths, has revealed that deep-sea life is surprisingly more connected than previously thought.
Does NZ need a national incentive scheme for wetlands?
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | An expert is calling for a national incentive programme to restore New Zealand’s wetlands and wants to stop schemes to drain these vital carbon-sequestering ecosystems.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
Airlines risk legal challenges by advertising jet fuel as “sustainable”, NGO warns
18 Jul 2025
Amid suspected fraud in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a new report says the airline industry should stop calling all alternatives to kerosene “sustainable”.
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
11 Jul 2025
In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, the UK city of Exeter recently played host to the second international conference on “tipping points”.
Sustainability claims questioned as renewable diesel surges
14 May 2025
Critics are sceptical about industry claims of renewable diesel life-cycle greenhouse gas emission cuts and warn renewable diesel carbon releases will surge if sourcing is scaled up, triggering tropical deforestation as producers convert forests to energy crops, such as oil palm and soy.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
Tue 22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
Greenpeace hails Italy court ruling allowing climate lawsuit against energy company to go ahead
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Italy’s highest court has ruled that a lawsuit brought by climate activists against Italian energy company ENI and its government shareholders can go ahead.
Bearish sentiment lingers for carbon market
11 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The compliance carbon market could be set for a gradual upward trajectory, however unsold volume from the quarterly Emissions Trading Scheme auctions continues to act as ‘a price ceiling,’ according to an expert.
EU wants to see China take more ambitious climate action
15 Jul 2025
The world needs China to show more leadership on climate action, highlighting the importance of cutting planet-heating emissions and reducing the Chinese economy's reliance on coal.
Forestry can be a big plus for sheep and beef farmers – but there are caveats
Tue 22 Jul 2025
By Keith Woodford | OPINION: These are good times for sheep and beef farmers with record product prices for meat, which is precisely why now is the time for sheep and beef farmers to be looking again at farm forestry.
Common low-grade clay strengthens low-carbon concrete
5 Jun 2025
Media release | Engineers at RMIT University have converted low-grade clay into a high-performance cement supplement, opening a potential new market in sustainable construction materials.
Cuts to climate finance put exports in jeopardy: Lawyers
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has halved international climate finance, a move aid organisations describe as “devastating,” and which lawyers say could put our Paris Agreement commitments and export market access at risk.
NZ voluntary carbon market’s sad state
14 Jul 2025
By John O’Brien | OPINION: A combination of scandals, challenging economic times, and cheaper offshore carbon credits, mean that the domestic voluntary carbon market in New Zealand remains absolutely tiny.
Media round-up
Fri 25 Jul 2025
In our round-up of the climate coverage in local media: Dairy conversions surge; Gore is hit with a drinking water crisis; meanwhile farming lobby groups Groundswell and Federated Farmers are up in arms about a plan to classify environmental impacts in the agriculture and forestry sector.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
Extreme weather events are the new frontline of online climate denial – report
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Climate science deniers are flooding social media with false claims during extreme weather events, drowning out reliable information and putting lives at risk.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
‘Ideological sludge’: How NZ is quiet quitting climate action
17 Jul 2025
New Zealand once stood out as a world leader on climate change. In June it became the first country in the world to abandon a commitment to phase out oil, gas and coal.
NZ govt’s fossil fuel plans could break international law
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government could be breaching international law with its plans to subsidise and expand fossil fuel extraction, following a ruling overnight from the world’s highest court.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
SBTi releases Net Zero Standard for banks, investors
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The Science Based Targets initiative announced the release of its finalised Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, aimed at enabling banks and investors to set net zero-aligned targets for their lending, investing, insurance and capital markets activities.
Local govt bill 'completely misses the point,' passes first reading
18 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government’s bill making changes to the Local Government Act to "refocus" councils on their core functions passed its first reading in Parliament last night, with critics saying it will set back climate resilience.
Methanex closure comes early this year
14 May 2025
The almost-now-annual closure of Methanex has come earlier this year, giving more confidence that the electricity system will get through the winter without a fuel shortfall.
Electric firebricks: decarbonising high-temperature industrial heat
13 Jun 2025
By Ian Mason | A new technology could offer a more cost-effective solution than hydrogen to decarbonise one ‘hard-to-abate’ sector of New Zealand’s economy, as well as having ample potential for demand response as the electricity grid becomes more renewable.
Climate catastrophes are creating a ‘new market reality’ for insurance carriers
Wed 23 Jul 2025
Raging wildfires and severe storms contributed to record-high global insurance losses — totalling an estimated US$84 billion — for the first six months of the year.
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.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
Clear-sighted view to trade-offs crucial to reimagining our relationship with the land
7 Jul 2025
By Nick Swallow | COMMENT: New Zealand could see a 70% drop in the value of dairy land if we pursue our emissions targets for agriculture, according to a new report.
Elation as Whanganui gets voice in fast-track seabed mining decision
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporter | A Whanganui District councillor is “elated” her council has been named a relevant authority in the fast-track application process for a seabed mining project off South Taranaki.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand is making progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but more work is needed – urgently – to set up for future reductions, according to the latest report from the Climate Change Commission.
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.
Ocean heatwaves may signal climate tipping point
Fri 25 Jul 2025
A recent study that tapped into satellite data has revealed that 2023 marked an unprecedented year for marine heatwaves, with record-breaking levels of duration, reach and intensity across the world's oceans.
Markets aren't going to save us – Carr
9 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Consumerism is reaching its ecological and economic limits, and only systemic change - not market tweaks - can steer us away from climate catastrophe, according to former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr.
Millions of tons of tiny plastic particles are polluting the ocean, study finds
15 Jul 2025
At least 27 million tonnes of nanoplastics are estimated to be floating in the North Atlantic Ocean, weighing more than all wild land mammals combined.
Another offensive launched in the government’s war on nature
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Media release - Environmental Defence Society | Last week the Minister for Resource Management Reform, Chris Bishop, announced that the government would be intervening, yet again, to prevent councils from progressing environmental protections under the Resource Management Act.
Activists sue US development bank over $4.6bn loan to massive Mozambique gas project
18 Jul 2025
Environmental groups claim loan is ‘unlawful’ in legal filing.
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.
Switching to renewables is ‘smart economics’ - Guterres
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The global energy transition is now “unstoppable” due to “smart economics”, UN secretary-general António Guterres has said in an online speech titled: “A moment of opportunity.”
Root intelligence: How old trees learn to suck more CO2 from the air
Thu 24 Jul 2025
New research finds that centuries-old oaks can dynamically rewire how they absorb nutrients—suggesting forests may be more resilient allies in the climate fight than once believed.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Can robot taxis solve NZ's transport woes?
Wed 23 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Ministry of Transport has tested the idea of driverless taxis as a futuristic fix. But while new modelling explores how "robotaxis" could ease congestion and reduce car ownership, critics say it misses a crucial point – the country’s worsening transport emissions.
United Nations carbon market rules agreed but concerns remain
25 Nov 2024
New carbon market rules agreed at the fractious UN climate summit will be a relief to New Zealand and Singapore, who were leading the negotiations, but concerns about greenwashing and disadvantaging nature-based solutions remain.
Fast, sustained phase-out of fossil fuels: best-performing countries in coal and transport sectors
10 Jul 2025
By Robert McLachlan | It’s true that climate change is getting worse – it will continue to get worse until emissions fall to near zero. But is action on phasing out fossil fuels really stalling?
Waste Levy risks becoming ‘slush fund’ under proposed changes – Commissioner
5 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Proposed changes to New Zealand's waste legislation risk undermining public trust in the waste levy scheme, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
