Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
Pacific nations sign climate declaration
12 Nov 2010
Fifteen countries have signed a declaration in Tarawa recognising the increasingly dire situation faced by small island countries due to climate change.
Forget deal at Cancun, says climate envoy
5 Nov 2010
President Barack Obama's setback in the US mid-term elections has killed of any hope of securing a legally binding global climate change deal.
Singapore welcomes big carbon traders
29 Oct 2010
Singapore's carbon market is growing and new firms are setting up shop on the back of increased interest in carbon trading in Asia.
Frankly speaking - Groser addresses Brazil conference
29 Oct 2010
The challenges of life as an international climate change negotiator have been revealed.
EVENT: Carbon Forum Asia 2010 - on now in Singapore
29 Oct 2010
Of the 2414 CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects to date, 77.6 per cent or 1875 are registered in Asia, representing a total of more than 360 million CER (Carbon Emissions Reduction) units.
UN okays pioneering Russian carbon project
22 Oct 2010
Russia has been given the green light for its first emissions reductions scheme to be verified under a new UN-backed carbon offset certification procedure.
Forest owners get positive ETS message from Government
19 Oct 2010
Land owners planting carbon forests say they have been assured that the Emissions Trading Scheme will survive when the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.
China shows the way in wind energy boom
15 Oct 2010
Wind energy could be supplying 22 per cent of the world's power generation by 2030, and 12 per cent as soon as 2020.
Europe claims victory for aviation role in ETS
15 Oct 2010
The European Union claims the way is now clear for its plans to include aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 2012 following an agreement at a meeting in Montreal.
UN to list ‘30 Ways in 30 Days’ to combat change
8 Oct 2010
In the run up to next month’s major climate change conference in Cancún, the United Nations will release one case study daily for 30 days to prove that solutions to combat global are available, accessible and replicable.
Oxfam criticises Global Climate Fund
8 Oct 2010
The poorest people who need the most help to adapt to a changing climate are largely being by-passed by the small amount of climate funds now being disbursed, says a new Oxfam report published at the UN climate change talks in Tianjin, China.
This emissions business is hard, says China
1 Oct 2010
China's goals to slow greenhouse gas growth will be tough and costly, says the nation's top climate change official.
Ecuador oil deal shows how it can be done, says UN
1 Oct 2010
An Ecuadorian decision to leave vast amounts of oil in the ground to protect the biodiversity of a national park represents a model of the kind of innovative international partnership that benefits everyone, says a senior United Nations official.
Pacific states plead for action at Cancun talks
1 Oct 2010
Two Pacific Islands countries have told the UN that the forthcoming climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, must come up with a binding agreement.
Taiwan moves toward carbon offset scheme
24 Sep 2010
Nearly 270 companies responsible for more than half of Taiwan's greenhouse gas pollution have agreed to supply emissions data to the government to help it to launch a carbon offset scheme.
Rugby star kicks off Global Climate Working Bee
24 Sep 2010
All Black Conrad Smith says he is supporting the 350 Aotearoa Global Climate Working Bee.
UN urges airlines to slash carbon emissions
17 Sep 2010
UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has urged the air transport industry to press on with curbs on emissions, underlining that it held "critical keys" to tackling global warming.
Carbon traders setting up shop in Singapore
3 Sep 2010
More companies trading in carbon offsets and those financing emissions reduction projects are setting up shop in Singapore.
Lomborg changes tune in new book
3 Sep 2010
Climate change sceptic Bjørn Lomborg, once compared to Adolf Hitler by UN climate chief Rajendra Pachauri, will publish a book next month that calls climate change “one of the chief concerns facing the world today.”
Indonesia ripe for trading fraud, warn experts
27 Aug 2010
Ambitious plans to harness Indonesia’s millions of hectares of forest to offset carbon emissions could give rise to a new strain of corruption and financial fraud unless managed properly, experts warn.
Traders demand EU act to bolster market
27 Aug 2010
European carbon market traders have called on the European Union to act now to inject some much needed confidence into the market.
EVENT: Carbon Forum Asia 2010: October 27-28, Singapore
27 Aug 2010
As of July 2010, the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention has registered more 2300 CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects globally, an increase of more than 35 per cent over a year ago.
Floods might have set new benchmark
20 Aug 2010
Flooding that has swamped one-fifth of Pakistan and left millions homeless could be the worst natural disaster to date attributable to climate change, UN officials and climatologists believe.
Ecuador touts world's first really green oil deal
13 Aug 2010
Ecuador's ambition to save its rainforest from exploitation could point the way to sparing other threatened landscapes
Huge Greenland iceberg sparks sea-level scare
13 Aug 2010
Sea levels could rise by up to seven metres if greenhouse gas emissions are not scaled back, a panel of leading geoscientists has told the US Congress.
Copenhagen loopholes ‘make farce' of rich pledges
6 Aug 2010
Wealthy nations’ pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions could be made farcical by loopholes in the UN climate change treaty put forward in Copenhagen last year.
Countries must step up action, says climate chief
6 Aug 2010
With the future of humanity at stake, governments must continue building common ground to further progress on climate change, the new United Nations chief on the issue said in the latest round of international negotiations which kicked off in Bonn this week.
UN: Pacific needs help to cope with climate change
6 Aug 2010
Closer international cooperation is necessary to help Pacific island nations to combat the impact of climate change, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, pledging the United Nations’ commitment to mitigating the problem.
UN has Kyoto 'plan B' option if climate talks fail
23 Jul 2010
The UN is considering reducing the number of countries involved in faltering international climate talks in an effort to push through a deal.
China to begin domestic carbon trading
23 Jul 2010
China will start carbon trading in domestic businesses during the next five-year plan beginning in 2011 with an aim to reduce carbon emission.
UN to channel billions into coal-fired power plants
16 Jul 2010
The UN is set to channel billions of dollars of public money from rich countries to giant energy companies to build 20 heavily polluting coal-fired power plants on the basis that they will emit less carbon dioxide than older ones.
Pacific Islands call on rich countries to pay up
16 Jul 2010
Angry Pacific Islands states have called on rich countries to advance progress that has been stalled in delivering financial resources for climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.
Kenya pushes for first ETS in Africa
16 Jul 2010
Kenya is set to become a carbon trading hub in Africa if plans to establish a regional carbon emissions trading market prove successful.
China talks to pave way for Mexico summit
9 Jul 2010
China will host an additional round of climate talks in October in Tianjin before UN members convene in Mexico at the end of the year for a climate change summit.
Bank puts its money where its lightbulbs are
2 Jul 2010
Deutsche Bank and Ecuador have entered into a pioneering transaction to finance household energy efficiency through the carbon market.
UN gives bad Bulgaria the Kyoto boot
2 Jul 2010
Bulgaria has been suspended from United Nations carbon trading for violating greenhouse reporting rules set under the Kyoto Protocol.
De Boer departs … delighted, determined
25 Jun 2010
The UN’s outgoing chief climate negotiator, Yvo de Boer, is confident that the world is making progress on global warming.
Surprise! Bonn talks make some progress
18 Jun 2010
Delegates from 184 countries meeting in Bonn last week were never going to find it easy to deal with the debris left after the inconclusive result of last December’s UN climate change summit in Copenhagen.
NZUs continue to be well bid
18 Jun 2010
With less than two weeks until July 1, when emitters start coming into the Emissions Trading Scheme, interest in the New Zealand market continues to grow, says broker OMFinancial.
Nations work hard on trust at Bonn talks
11 Jun 2010
Climate change negotiators from 194 countries are hard at work in Bonn, not just hammering out details of a future world deal but at rebuilding trust among nations.
New trading platform promises to shake up voluntary carbon market
11 Jun 2010
A new trading platform is promising to shake up the voluntary carbon market by allowing companies of all sizes to carbon offset in a fast, transparent and efficient online exchange.
MAF issues several new ETS guides for forestry and agriculture
4 Jun 2010
MAF has produced several new guides relating to the ETS and forestry and agriculture.
Figueres believes world deal can be done in Mexico
4 Jun 2010
Agreement can be reached in Mexico this year on the basis for a post-2012 global climate change deal, believes the UN’s new climate chief Christiana Figueres
We must move from meat diet, says UN
4 Jun 2010
A global shift toward a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report says.
China to start carbon market by 2014
4 Jun 2010
China will set up a domestic market for trading carbon emissions by 2014 and hand companies “half-mandatory” targets for limiting their greenhouse gases, said a government official.
Indonesia agrees to curb commercial deforestation
28 May 2010
Indonesia has declared a two-year moratorium on clearing natural forests as part of a billion-dollar deal aimed at reviving efforts to fight climate change.
Time to pay up, UN tells rich nations
28 May 2010
The United Nations has told rich countries it’s time to front up with the money they pledged in Copenhagen last December to fight climate change.
Costa Rican to head UN climate body
21 May 2010
The daughter of a former president of Costa Rica has been named the United Nations new climate chief.
Climate dice dangerously loaded, says Hansen
14 May 2010
Evidence for global warming has mounted but public awareness of the threat has shrunk, due to a cold northern winter and finger-pointing at the UN's climate experts, leading NASA scientist James Hansen has warned.
UN bans Bulgaria from carbon trading
14 May 2010
Bulgaria will be banned from carbon emission trading as of June 30 after a United Nations body opened a procedure to revoke its accreditation under the Kyoto Protocol.
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'.
