Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
'Failed' NZ could be walking into trap at Paris climate summit
13 Jul 2015
New Zealand could be in trouble with its post-2020 emissions reduction target if the world doesn’t allow us to continue to use creative accounting to meet our obligations, international scientists are warning.
Fossil fuel firms fail to report climate risks
13 Jul 2015
Fossil fuel companies operating in the UK are accused by a financial monitoring group of a “staggering” disregard for their obligation to acknowledge the risks which climate change poses to them and their investors.
Best brains tell the story ... but will the Government act?
6 Jul 2015
Will the Government order Treasury to prepare an analysis of the economic, environmental and social risks posed by climate change?
We should push climate case at UN, say Greens
6 Jul 2015
New Zealand should use its presidency of the United Nations Security Council to raise the issue of climate change as a security risk, the Green Party says.
Is palm oil the scourge of the earth, or a wonder crop?
6 Jul 2015
If you happen to mention palm oil to most people outside of Asia you are unlikely to get a particularly positive reaction.
WORLD TODAY: New coal plants most urgent threat to the planet, warns OECD head
6 Jul 2015
* Greenhouse gas blamed for climate expulsion driving temperature rises across Pacific nations * China climate pledge inadequate on efficiency, say analysts * UN tells oil giants to stop lobbying against climate deal * UK unveils help for bees with £900m stewardship scheme * Time for pollution pricing to work for the climate * New renewable energy hub launched to boost Scottish firms in Japan
Q&A: Robert Redford tells us what he told the UN General Assembly
6 Jul 2015
The climate change crisis involves action from every country, every nation and every person, actor and environmental activist Robert Redford told the United Nations last week.
Forget the courts, we must get to the politicians
29 Jun 2015
A court case ordering the Dutch Government to slash greenhouse gas emissions is ground breaking – but unlikely to be replicated in New Zealand.
The carbon tax wasn’t a ‘slug’ to the economy and Direct Action may be a waste of money
29 Jun 2015
Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, writing in the Fairfax opinion pages, has said that the now abolished carbon tax was a far more expensive way to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions than the Direct Action policy that replaced it.
Insurance industry leaders must stand up, says UN
22 Jun 2015
The insurance industry has been told it must play a strong role in shaping a more sustainable future.
Next time you're in the shower, check what else is in there with you
22 Jun 2015
Next time you are in the shower using a refreshing exfoliating shower gel, take a moment to check what the scrubbing agents are made of.
Australia's emissions figures wrong, says report
15 Jun 2015
Australia’s official greenhouse gas emissions projections – used by the Government in its submission to the United Nations ahead of December’s climate conference in Paris – may be overstated by more than 200 million tonnes, latest research shows.
European power is slipping away from King Coal
15 Jun 2015
Coal, the muscle that for two centuries powered Europe’s economic dominance of the world, is steadily losing its grip as cleaner fuels take its place and energy efficiency cuts electricity consumption, according to new analysis.
Rich countries’ climate plans leave yawning gap
15 Jun 2015
Some of the world’s richest countries are not preparing to do anything like enough to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, according to new analysis.
Group aims to improve transport systems
15 Jun 2015
A high-level United Nations advisory group has agreed to take measures that could accelerate a shift toward safer, healthier, more efficient and sustainable transport systems.
Australia in the spotlight at climate talks, for all the wrong reasons
8 Jun 2015
Australia has been given a grilling at the United Nations' midyear climate negotiations in Bonn.
World leaders urged to kick killer coal habit
8 Jun 2015
Leaders of G7 countries at the summit in Germany are being called on to show leadership by pledging to end all coal burning for electricity generation in the industrialised world.
Africa’s advocates say fossil fuel subsidies must go
8 Jun 2015
Developed countries should rapidly end subsidies for fossil fuels, says a group established to argue for equitable and sustainable development for Africa.
Shell can’t afford to wait until 2050 to adapt its business to climate change
2 Jun 2015
Shell’s recent AGM was tumultuous. Shareholders voted overwhelmingly for the company to report on whether its activities were compatible with promised government action on climate change.
Why global finance must face up to the climate challenge
2 Jun 2015
The world’s financial system must undergo comprehensive change by 2035 if humanity is to make the transition needed to reduce the threat of dangerous climate change, says a new United Nations report.
Hungarian leader first head of state to back climate campaign
25 May 2015
Hungarian president János Áder has become the first head of state to join the Live Earth: Road to Paris campaign that aims to ensure world leaders agree to a binding deal on tackling climate change.
You must find a way, academics tell farmers
18 May 2015
Farmers must find ways of farming more sustainably while maintaining production, warns the Foundation for Arable Research.
Will the presidential candidates have a substantive debate on climate change?
18 May 2015
Republican New Jersey governor and presidential hopeful Chris Christie briefly made news last week when he said that global warming is real and that “human activity contributes to it.”
No green shoots for sustainability in this Budget
18 May 2015
Last week’s Australian Budget is very disappointing in the broad area of environmental protection.
Canberra dragging the chain, says UN climate chief
11 May 2015
Sigmund Freud would have had a field day with the speech by United Nations climate change chief Christiana Figueres to a Melbourne summit on greenhouse emissions reductions. Because what was most interesting was not what she did say, but what she didn’t.
Water crisis shows the failure of public-private deals
11 May 2015
São Paulo’s ongoing water crisis has left many of the city’s 20m or more residents without tap water for days on end. Brazil’s largest metropolis is into its third month of water rationing, and some citizens have even taken to drilling through their basements to reach groundwater.
Pope aims to win hearts and minds on climate change
11 May 2015
A declaration at the end of a meeting in Rome hosted by the Vatican made a plea to the world’s religions to engage and mobilise on the issue of climate change.
WORLD TODAY: What does Cameron's election win mean for the environment?
11 May 2015
* Australia PM's adviser: climate change is UN hoax to create new world order * Tesla says Powerwall sold out for 12 months, demand ‘just nutty’ * Canadian water for California’s drought? * South Africa prepares to give shale gas go-ahead * Food waste an enormous economic problem, say G20 ministers * Community energy model is speeding US move to renewables
Commitment to end flaring is boost for climate talks
4 May 2015
Companies and governments responsible for 40 per cent of global gas flaring have made a commitment to stop their climate-damaging activities within the next 15 years.
Apparently, we're going to slash thousands of tonnes of emissions by 2020
28 Apr 2015
The Government expects the Emissions Trading Scheme to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 10,000 kilotonnes in 2020.
Watchdog calls for 30% emissions cut by 2025
28 Apr 2015
Australia should pledge far deeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions than its current target if it is to do its fair share in tackling climate change, according to a report by the Climate Change Authority, which advises the federal government on climate policy.
It's up to central banks to back the climate change fight
28 Apr 2015
In the aftermath of the 2008/9 global financial crisis central banks around the world pumped billions of dollars into the monetary system to safeguard the world economy.
Call for an end to ‘business as usual’ option on climate
28 Apr 2015
The whole issue of climate is much too important to be left to governments and their leaders, says Mary Robinson, the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy on climate change.
Treasury COO to be new voice for the environment
20 Apr 2015
New Zealand has a new Secretary for the Environment.
Investors chip in as renewables rise toward record level
13 Apr 2015
Carbon dioxide levels might be soaring, and governments might be slow to reduce fossil fuel emissions and contain climate change, but the smart money could nevertheless be going into renewable sources such as wind and solar power.
NZ hangs back as countries commit to carbon cuts
7 Apr 2015
Russia did it. The United States did it. All the countries in the European Union have done it, as have Mexico, Norway, Switzerland and Latvia. Even oil-and-mineral-exporting Gabon, population 1.3 million, did it.
How the US’s post-2020 climate target could fit into a global deal
7 Apr 2015
The United States' formal submission this week of its intended post 2020 climate target raises several questions for this year’s global climate talks.
Hi-tech farming seen as way to green the food chain
7 Apr 2015
Connected agriculture – from farm to retail – has been promoted at an event in Brussels as the way to wean European agriculture off its addiction to chemicals, water and fossil fuels.
Rich nations urged to cut temperature rise targets
7 Apr 2015
The official target of limiting global warming to a 2C rise has been described by a senior scientist as “utterly inadequate” to protect the people most at risk from climate change.
Memo Jo: Foresters need a bit more than praise
23 Mar 2015
Forest owners want the Government to put its money where its mouth is on sustainable forestry – and are gathering the numbers to back their case.
NZ slow to commit to Paris emissions deadline
23 Mar 2015
New Zealand will not get its post-2020 emissions reduction target into the United Nations by the end of the month.
Old King Coal is sick ... but not yet dying
23 Mar 2015
A global investigation into every coal-fired power plant proposed in the past five years shows that only one in three of them has actually been built.
World needs early warning of climate-linked disasters
16 Mar 2015
A senior French political leader has told an international conference on how to reduce the risk from natural disasters that 70 per cent of them are now linked to climate change, twice as many as 20 years ago.
Carbon measure puts us among worst in the world
9 Mar 2015
New Zealand’s carbon intensity is going through the roof, despite Government claims to the contrary.
How well prepared are businesses for climate change?
9 Mar 2015
The world is changing. The weather is becoming more volatile, with the number of extreme weather events on the rise. Climate change represents the new normal: the Earth is already showing the impacts of our actions, which will continue to become more visible.
Bad news, says BP, we're looking at a 25% rise in CO2
2 Mar 2015
The British-based oil and gas giant BP says it expects global emissions of carbon dioxide to rise by a quarter in the next 20 years.
New Zealand’s defective law on climate change, by Sir Geoffrey Palmer
23 Feb 2015
Distinguished law fellow Sir Geoffrey Palmer, QC, has been at or near the heart of our attempts to tackled climate change for nearly three decades.
Energy Union targets renewables subsidies, boosts idle coal plants
23 Feb 2015
The European Commission’s overhaul of the EU electricity market will target national public support for renewables, while encouraging governments to pay energy companies in other member states for idle power stations.
UN states agree on key document for climate change pact
16 Feb 2015
A key milestone on the route to a new, universal agreement on climate change has been reached by more than 190 states meeting in Geneva.
Carbon pricing the challenge for the future
2 Feb 2015
The concept of carbon pricing as a tool to combat climate change is broadly accepted by the international community. But at what price, and under what conditions?
Farm-level emissions cuts possible, but almost everything stands in the way
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Progress to slash farming emissions is being blocked by limited farmer confidence in mitigation tools, inconsistent engagement, misinformation and a lack of clear policy signals, according to a new report.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
Air NZ inks deal for its first internationally verified carbon credits
9 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Air New Zealand has committed to buying 8000 tonnes of carbon removals by 2030, in partnership with local native forest investment platform My Native Forest.
‘Cali Fund’ aiming to raise billions for nature receives first donation – of just $1,000
16 Dec 2025
A major biodiversity fund – which could, in theory, generate billions of dollars annually for conservation – received its first donation of just $1,000 in November.
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.
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.
Seven quiet wins for climate and nature in 2025
19 Dec 2025
This year's environmental backdrop is familiar: emissions are rising and nature is continuing to decline. But there have nevertheless been bright spots in 2025.
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.
Global coal demand hit record high this year but is set to decline by 2030
18 Dec 2025
Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
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.
India at COP30: A mismatch between grandstanding and climate action
11 Dec 2025
Despite India’s attempt to anoint itself as the leader of the developing world, at the COP30 summit, New Delhi’s track record remains contradictory.
Govt warned that scrapping ag emission pricing comes with risks
11 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s move to halt plans for agricultural emissions pricing without replacing it with any other action will leave New Zealand facing a bigger gap to meet its third emissions budget, Environment ministry officials have warned.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.”
Westpac NZ announces partnership to form Blue Economy hub in Nelson
17 Dec 2025
Media release | Westpac NZ has announced a new three-year partnership with the Nelson Regional Development Agency and Kernohan Engineering to help accelerate the development of a sustainable marine economy – also known as the blue economy.
NZ ‘clearly’ breaching international law on climate – Vanuatu Climate Change Minister
12 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says New Zealand restarting fossil fuel exploration and subsidies is an obvious breach of international law, exposing the country to international and domestic litigation.
Govt slammed for weakening methane target
15 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams The Government has pushed through legislation under urgency to almost halve New Zealand’s 2050 methane target – a move Opposition parties say disregards scientific advice, breaks the country’s hard-won political consensus on climate action, and shifts the burden of higher warming and higher future costs onto the next generation.
COP30 microcosm of difficult geopolitics, says Vanuatu's Climate Minister
15 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Despite ‘intransigent’ states blocking multilateralism and a disappointing official outcome, Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu says he left the COP30 climate summit feeling more positive than after previous UN climate conferences.
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.
Insurers welcome govt decision to keep NHC levy unchanged
21 Nov 2025
Media release |The Insurance Council of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s decision to leave the Natural Hazards Commission levy unchanged, amid ongoing concerns around the cost-of-living.
Why I’m not outraged at the Govt’s latest climate backsliding
7 Nov 2025
COMMENT: The Government’s latest climate rollbacks underline New Zealand’s long history of a lack of genuine desire to cut emissions, writes Geoff Bertram.
Three Greenpeace activists removed by police from Fonterra
17 Dec 2025
Media release | Three Greenpeace activists were removed by police from Fonterra’s downtown Auckland offices, following a protest on Monday at the Shareholders’ Fund meeting over the corporation’s role in the contamination of rural communities’ drinking water.
Oil and gas majors would create $78bn more value by stopping exploration
11 Dec 2025
Media release | Ten of the world’s largest oil and gas companies would create significantly more shareholder value by ending exploration and sharply curtailing upstream development, according to new analysis released today by ACCR.
Wetlands and biodiversity at risk as mining rules loosen: Greenpeace
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Greenpeace says Government changes to national direction instruments under the RMA paves the way for mining in wetlands and biodiversity hotspots and will expose some of Aotearoa’s most fragile ecosystems to irreversible damage.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
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.
Offshore windfarms enhance function of coastal waters and diversity of aquatic life
19 Dec 2025
Media release | A study conducted by researchers from Murdoch University in Australia and Dalian Ocean University in China has found that offshore windfarms can improve marine ecosystems and diversify aquatic food chains.
‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement
16 Dec 2025
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable.
Govt consulting on Pacific Resilience Facility
12 Dec 2025
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee is calling for submissions on its international treaty examination of the Agreement to Establish the Pacific Resilience Facility.
Govt green lights rural recycling scheme
4 Dec 2025
The Government has approved new regulations to bring rural waste schemes under one unified framework.
KiwiRail pauses coal trains amid rising climate protests
9 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Climate activists are ramping up actions this week, with a Christchurch protest leading to KiwiRail pausing some coal train operations on Saturday, and another protest against the Fast-Track Amendment Bill planned for parliament today.
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.
Could tidal energy one day power NZ?
18 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New research suggests Aotearoa holds some of the world’s strongest tidal-stream energy potential – enough to generate up to 93% of today’s electricity use – but one expert cautions that extracting energy at such a scale could have significant impacts and remains highly uncertain.
NZ could lose nearly all glaciers this century without stronger climate action
16 Dec 2025
New Zealand could see 97% of its glaciers vanish by 2100, with new international modelling projecting a rapid acceleration in glacier extinction from the 2030s onward – even under lower-warming scenarios.
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.
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.
The surprisingly convincing case against cars
19 Dec 2025
Life After Cars dares to imagine how different, and enriching, a car-free world could be.
Kaicycle celebrates ten years of collective climate action in Pōneke
14 Nov 2025
Media release: Kaicycle | Since 2015, Kaicycle has grown from a humble pilot project growing kai and collecting compost on bicycles into the thriving urban farm and composting hub that Wellingtonians know and love.
Heatwaves, downpours and droughts – Auckland on track for more extreme weather
1 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New projections show Auckland will face more heatwaves, heavier downpours, worsening droughts and growing coastal threats as climate extremes intensify, according to a new report from Earth Sciences New Zealand.
NZ just had its hottest spring in at least 116 years
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | This year New Zealand had its hottest spring since records began, with widespread heat, rainfall extremes and destructive wind driven by sudden stratospheric warming.
Media round-up
12 Dec 2025
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Another offshore wind firm exits New Zealand over a clash with seabed mining; Fonterra falls behind on its climate goals as farm emissions remain flat; and the businesses trapped by the gas 'death spiral'.
