Topics tagged with 'United Nations'

NZ must work with other countries to reach climate goals: new research
14 Oct 2024
By Liz Kivi | Aotearoa’s international climate targets can only be met through funding significant emissions reductions in other countries. But a lack of public support to spend this money overseas is paralysing New Zealand’s progress towards its goal, according to researchers.

UN carbon trading expert group agrees deal on market framework
14 Oct 2024
A UN expert group has reached a compromise on key elements of a global carbon trading system, in a bid to resolve nearly a decade of talks on what is seen as an important tool for raising climate finance.

The EU’s (vague) climate aid stance: Want more money? Get more donors
14 Oct 2024
The bloc won’t say how much money it’s willing to put up before other details are firmed up.

Minister to co-chair carbon market negotiations at COP29
11 Oct 2024
Climate change minister Simon Watts will chair negotiations on carbon markets at this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), in Azerbaijan next month.

Increased volatility as carbon price inches up towards auction floor
11 Oct 2024
The secondary carbon market saw a slight increase in volatility last week, with carbon trading platform Jarden noting higher volumes above the $62 mark.

New climate ambassador appointed
9 Oct 2024
New Zealand has a new top climate diplomat, with Stuart Horne stepping up as the country’s newly minted climate change ambassador, climate change minister Simon Watts announced this morning.

Azerbaijan is using COP29 to ‘peacewash’ its global image
3 Oct 2024
Azerbaijan is hosting the next UN climate summit, COP 29, in November. Their proposed agenda omits discussions on phasing out fossil fuels and excludes civil society participation.

Minister to meet Pacific Islands climate leaders
30 Sep 2024
Climate change minister Simon Watts is travelling to Fiji today to attend a Ministerial Meeting (Talanoa) with Pacific Island Countries, Australia, and New Zealand.

Govt allows only five days for submissions on repeal of oil and gas ban
27 Sep 2024
By Liz Kivi | The government is allowing only five days for the public to make submissions on legislation to restart oil and gas exploration.

Countries can transform global energy sector by fully implementing 2030 goals: IEA
26 Sep 2024
A new report from the International Energy Agency shows tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency are possible with the right enabling conditions.

Poor nations ask world's richest to do more on climate
26 Sep 2024
Developing nations on Monday pleaded at the U.N. General Assembly for the world's richest to do more to help them cope with the hardships they face from climate extremes.

Cop31 is a chance for Australia to go from climate laggard to global leader
20 Sep 2024
OPINION: Australia’s bid to co-host the UN’s climate conference is not just a diplomatic event; it is a pivotal opportunity to redefine the nation’s role in the global fight against climate change.

500 finance institutions call for better govt climate policy ahead of COP29
20 Sep 2024
More than 500 financial institutions, collectively worth more than $29 trillion in assets under management, have written to national governments urging them to update and introduce policies to unlock investment into climate action and nature restoration.

NZ’s decision to restart fossil fuel exploration will be ‘hard to explain to future generations’: leading climate scientist
19 Sep 2024
By Liz Kivi | The government’s plan to restart oil and gas exploration is set to lock in higher levels of global warming, according to a leading Australian climate scientist.

Media round-up
13 Sep 2024
In our weekly round-up of climate coverage in local media: a former top diplomat says we need to step up our game with our next climate target; are Kiwis really ‘sick and tired’ of spending on cycleways? and why Aotearoa isn’t doing enough to fund climate action.

Minister says buying offshore carbon credits ‘unrealistic’
12 Sep 2024
By Liz Kivi | Climate change minister Simon Watts says buying carbon mitigation offshore to meet the country’s international climate obligations is “unrealistic”.

Price shocks still possible for carbon market: experts
30 Aug 2024
While the government’s move to slash carbon auction volumes has stabilised New Zealand’s compliance carbon market somewhat, experts say there is still potential for market volatility due to wider uncertainty around climate policy.

Lawyers' climate disclosure concerns
30 Aug 2024
Climate-related financial disclosures could be under-reporting companies’ transition risk to investors, exposing them to both commercial and litigation risk.

New reports highlight NZ’s opportunity to boost climate finance
29 Aug 2024
Media release | Two new reports reveal how New Zealand can meet its climate finance obligations ahead of COP29.

Deputy prime minister’s climate denial ‘insult to Pacific leaders’ - Labour
28 Aug 2024
Winston Peters’ attempt to downplay climate change at the Pacific Islands Forum is an “embarrassing new low,” according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.

NZ ‘reneging’ on climate policy makes international headlines
27 Aug 2024
International media has singled out New Zealand for walking back climate policies.

Pacific Islands leaders to meet as region faces ‘polycrisis’ of threats
26 Aug 2024
The last time UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a summit with the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, he made international news as he stood thigh-deep, dressed in a suit and tie, in the sea off the coast of Tuvalu.

Which governments are backpedalling on climate commitments?
23 Aug 2024
New Zealand, Australia, the US and the UK are among countries that have revised, or may revise, climate commitments for fiscal ends.

The 1.5°C target is dead, but climate action needn't be
23 Aug 2024
For the first time, climate scientists have explicitly said it will be impossible to limit peak warming to 1.5°C. Now our focus should be on taking action, not meaningless platitudes and slogans.

UN-backed organisation approves Fonterra’s climate targets
19 Aug 2024
By Jon Rawlinson | The world’s top corporate climate-target verifier, the London-based Science Based Targets initiative, has approved Fonterra’s emissions reductions targets.

Govt keeping options open on international climate targets: Watts
15 Aug 2024
By Liz Kivi | The government is looking at multiple ways to meet New Zealand’s 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), according to climate change minister Simon Watts.

Wary of Trump and Azerbaijan, businesses shun COP climate talks
13 Aug 2024
Companies are anxiously wondering: Can we get hotel rooms? What about the autocratic regime hosting? What if Trump wins?

Govt shifts goalposts for key climate target
8 Aug 2024
The government has told the Climate Change Commission to remove consideration of the 1.5 degrees target from a forthcoming report, a move expected to lead to significantly weaker climate ambition.

IPCC meeting in Sofia fails to agree timeline for seventh assessment report
8 Aug 2024
Delegates at the 61st meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Sofia, Bulgaria have failed to agree on a timeline for the upcoming seventh assessment report.

Carbon capture – climate plan not clear cut
6 Aug 2024
Capturing carbon is capturing imaginations, but can it live up to the government’s expectations?

How is the draft Emissions Reduction Plan supposed to work?
5 Aug 2024
COMMENT: In its new climate plan, the coalition government seems to be setting New Zealand up to withdraw from the world carbon market before 2035, argues economist Geoff Bertram.

Workshops put climate top of mind for decision makers
5 Aug 2024
More than one thousand Kiwis have now taken part in workshops designed to keep the climate crisis top of mind in decision-making.

Singapore Carbon Market Alliance launches
1 Aug 2024
Media release | The Singapore Economic Development Board and IETA have launched the Singapore Carbon Market Alliance, the first platform in Singapore aimed at helping companies obtain access to high-quality Article 6 carbon credits.

Significant risk Aotearoa will not meet climate targets: Climate Commission
31 Jul 2024
There is a significant risk that New Zealand will not meet future emissions reductions targets, according to a new report from the Climate Change Commission.

UN Secretary-General says the world must turbocharge the fossil fuel phaseout
29 Jul 2024
As a new report shows accelerating warming threatens 70 percent of the world’s workers, Antonio Guterres warns that wealthy countries expanding fossil fuel industries “are signing away our future.”

What’s on the table for food systems at COP29?
24 Jul 2024
Food systems advocates are eager to ensure that food and agriculture remain central topics, building on the momentum from COP28 in Dubai.

NZ climate ambassador resigns
22 Jul 2024
Climate change ambassador Kay Harrison has resigned just as the government was set to roll out major climate policies - many of which have been criticised by climate experts.
Green climate fund approves US$22.6 million for Tonga coastal resilience project
19 Jul 2024
Media release | The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has approved a US$22.66 million grant for Tonga’s Coastal Resilience Project.

New plan might see climate change minister in court
18 Jul 2024
Lawyers for Climate Action say there are “significant concerns” about whether the government’s new climate plan will achieve its climate targets, and could be in breach of the Climate Change Response Act.

Govt releases emissions reduction plan
17 Jul 2024
Climate change minister Simon Watts has released the second emissions reduction plan for consultation, with proposed changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme including aligning ETS units with emissions budgets and reviewing the free industrial allocation of units.

What does Denmark’s carbon tax mean for NZ?
17 Jul 2024
By Nick Swallow | COMMENT: A few weeks back Denmark announced a proposal to introduce a tax on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Climate strategy contradictory - or step in the right direction?
11 Jul 2024
A climate policy expert and IPCC lead author is concerned that progress on climate will be lost if the government doesn’t overhaul the Emissions Trading Scheme and introduce other complementary policies to reduce emissions.

A growing spectre of Azerbaijani irredentism hangs over COP29
10 Jul 2024
Technically a diaspora rights organisation, critics say the Western Azerbaijan Community has become one of Baku’s key instruments for domestic radicalisation.

Jones says he hopes Climate Commission CEO is removed
3 Jul 2024
Minister for Resources Shane Jones says he hopes that the chief executive of the Climate Change Commission will soon be removed from her job.

We must take “all necessary measures” to control greenhouse gases, says International Tribunal
1 Jul 2024
The 21-judge International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea says science must guide efforts to prevent climate change and protect vulnerable people and wildlife.

Global survey reveals consensus for stronger climate action
24 Jun 2024
Media release | The overwhelming majority of people around the world want an end to geopolitical differences when it comes to fighting climate change, the results of a landmark public opinion poll conducted by the UN Development Programme.

Exposing ‘risks hiding in plain sight’ – accounting for offshore carbon credits
20 Jun 2024
Media release | The McGuinness Institute has published a discussion paper on how New Zealand’s commitment to purchase offshore carbon credits under the Paris Agreement should appear in financial statements.

Carbon auction preview: Experts predict likely failure and govt lost revenue “own goal”
18 Jun 2024
Experts are picking tomorrow’s carbon auction will fail, with no incentive for participants to bid at prices more than 20% higher than the current secondary market price.

Bonn climate talks: Key outcomes from UN conference
17 Jun 2024
Climate diplomats have finished another two weeks of intense negotiations in the German city of Bonn, discussing global efforts to cut emissions and protect people from climate hazards.

Bonn bulletin: Fossil fuel transition left homeless
12 Jun 2024
Countries clash over where to negotiate the shift away from dirty energy agreed at COP28, while talks on a new climate finance goal make little progress.