Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
World must act to salvage biodiversity, says UN
14 May 2010
A new biodiversity report released by two United Nations environmental bodies says that unless radical and creative action is taken quickly to conserve the variety of life on Earth, natural systems that support lives and livelihoods are at risk of collapsing.
No climate deal this year, says UN climate chief
7 May 2010
Outgoing United Nations climate chief Yvo de Boer believes there will be no comprehensive climate treaty this year, saying that a major UN conference in December would yield only a first answer on curbing greenhouse gases.
India talks tough in runup to Mexico
7 May 2010
India has made one of the strongest formal submissions in recent times for climate change negotiations, hardening its stance ahead of a hectic six months of talks leading to a key meeting in Mexico in November.
US whizkid sells Chicago Climate Exchange
7 May 2010
American financial entrepreneur Richard Sandor and the other shareholders of parent company Climate Exchange have cashed out of their big idea for about $600 million.
Scientists hit the skies to measure gas emissions
7 May 2010
The state of California is about to become a giant playground for more than 200 atmospheric scientists.
Scientists pick peers to review UN panel
7 May 2010
A 12-member committee has been chosen to conduct an independent review of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
UN pushes clean energy access to fight poverty
30 Apr 2010
Increasing access to clean energy and improving its efficiency will be vital to both enhancing global prosperity and combating climate change, according to a new report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s advisory group on the nexus between energy and climate.
EU carbon auctions to limit pain for exchanges
9 Apr 2010
A plan to auction European Union carbon-dioxide allowances for the third phase of the bloc’s emissions trading market will limit the “negative impact” on existing exchanges and brokers, the regulator said.
Climate change faces the trillion-dollar question
1 Apr 2010
Political and business leaders gather in London today to try to revive the world's faltering challenge to global warming.
Repentant Pachauri slips into neutral
1 Apr 2010
The outspoken chairman of the UN’s climate change body is to adopt a neutral advisory role and has agreed to stop making statements demanding new taxes and other radical policies on cutting emissions.
Russians rally to save world’s oldest lake
1 Apr 2010
Hundreds have protested in Moscow against the reopening of a factory environmentalists say will lead to waste being dumped into the world's oldest lake.
It’s getting hot in here, weather figures show
26 Mar 2010
The first decade of the new millennium was the warmest on record, the United Nations weather monitoring agency has announced.
Don't blame cows for climate change, says scientist
26 Mar 2010
A scientist in the United States has questioned the impact meat and diary production has on climate change and has accused the United Nations of exaggerating the link.
UN launches global gas emissions calculator
26 Mar 2010
The United Nations has launched the first common system of calculating the amount of greenhouse gases produced in a given city.
Europe shambles could boost value of NZ credits
19 Mar 2010
The value of New Zealand Kyoto credits could rise on the back of a European scandal over recycled CERs.
Arrogance undid Copenhagen summit, says Stern
19 Mar 2010
The "disappointing" outcome of December's climate summit was largely down to "arrogance" on the part of rich countries, according to Lord Stern.
Time to stop pointing fingers, says Maldives
19 Mar 2010
The climate change debate should be reframed in economic and security terms ahead of a year-end UN summit in Mexico seeking a binding climate deal, the president of the Maldives says.
UN chief sees progress toward next talks in Mexico
19 Mar 2010
Countries responsible for more than four-fifths of global emissions of greenhouse gases have now backed the accord that emerged from last year’s climate change summit in Copenhagen, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
World watches for a green world cup in South Afica
19 Mar 2010
The international community is hoping that hosting the world’s largest sporting event will have a positive impact on South Africa’s green energy projects.
Report lists 10 ‘fat cats’ getting rich from carbon
12 Mar 2010
Windfall profits from Europe’s system for trading industrial carbon quotas could discourage big regional polluters from doing anything to curb emissions.
IPCC review scientists won't revisit landmark report
12 Mar 2010
An outside review of the work of the United Nations’ climate change panel will not re-check the body’s controversial latest report but will instead focus on improving procedures for the future.
Uncertainty dries up Aussie carbon market
5 Mar 2010
The carbon market in Australia has come to a complete halt since the Labor Government announced last May that it would delay the introduction of emissions trading.
Green tech now must fight off the fakes
5 Mar 2010
Recycling used tech gear has a far less desirable, unintended consequence - contributing to a rise in fake computer chips.
New body to watch UN climate change panel
5 Mar 2010
The head of the United Nations-backed panel tasked with preparing scientific reports on the impact of climate change has announced the establishment of an independent review body to ensure that procedures are closely followed.
Australia, Indonesia sign forest carbon agreement
5 Mar 2010
Australia and Indonesia have signed a multi-million dollar pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation on Sumatra.
Climate problem urgent, says Chinese leader
26 Feb 2010
Chinese President Hu Jintao has said his country must urgently confront climate change and make it a central part of the government's development strategy.
Weather experts agree to collect better climate data
26 Feb 2010
World weather agencies have agreed to collect more precise temperature data to improve climate change science, officials said this week.
UN climate talks to resume in April
26 Feb 2010
The United Nations says formal negotiations on an international treaty to control global warming will resume in Bonn in April, four months after the failed climate change summit in Copenhagen.
UN must probe ‘bias’, says former climate chief
19 Feb 2010
The UN body that advises world leaders on climate change must investigate an apparent bias in its report that resulted in several exaggerations of the impact of global warming, according to its former chairman.
UN climate chief stepping down to go private
19 Feb 2010
United Nations climate change chief Yvo de Boer said today that he has made the “difficult decision” to step down from his position.
Pachauri toughs it out as pressure grows
12 Feb 2010
A couple of years ago, Rajendra Pachauri seemed destined for a scientist’s version of sainthood.
Does the IPCC need fixing?
12 Feb 2010
New Zealand climate scientist give their views on the call for reforms of the IPCC.
Country on alert as scammers steal carbon units
5 Feb 2010
The New Zealand carbon registry is issuing warnings to members after the theft of nearly $6 million worth of carbon units in an international email scam.
55 nations set 2020 goals under Copenhagen Accord
5 Feb 2010
Fifty-five nations accounting for almost 80 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions have set national goals for fighting climate change by a deadline in the Copenhagen Accord, the United Nations says.
I won't resign, says posh-suits Pachauri
5 Feb 2010
Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri has refused to apologise for a mistake in a 2007 climate change report and has hit out at his critics.
Copenhagen - a letter from Gordon Brown
5 Feb 2010
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown reflects in an open letter to Labour MP Alan Williams on the way forward after the Copenhagen climate change conference - including financing the green economy.
Australia presses on with 5% reduction target
29 Jan 2010
The Australian Government has committed to introducing an emissions trading scheme with a floating carbon market in 2012 regardless of what the rest of the world does to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Nations must not delay, says UN climate chief
29 Jan 2010
The failure of last month’s UN summit in Copenhagen to agree on ambitious and immediate global action to combat climate change means that the task has become more, not less urgent, the UN’s senior climate official says.
Cool heads prevail over Copenhagen, says De Boer
22 Jan 2010
UN climate chief Yvo de Boer has admitted that last month’s conference in Copenhagen was not a success, but said that “cool heads” are seeing it as a way to reach an international agreement on climate change.
IPCC says sorry over glacier melting conclusion
22 Jan 2010
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has expressed regret over “poor application of well-established procedures” in substantiating an estimated rate of recession and date for the disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers.
Copenhagen in crisis: Why it all comes down to China
18 Dec 2009
China will shape whatever deal comes out of Copenhagen as the UN climate change conference heads into its final day.
Ban urges leaders to act as hours tick away
18 Dec 2009
The outcome of climate change negotiations in Copenhagen hinges on the issues of emissions reductions and financing, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
UN shuts clean coal out of emissions trading
18 Dec 2009
The clean-coal industry has been shut out of the global emissions trading scheme at the Copenhagen climate change talks, dealing a blow to the UK, US and Australia.
If diplomacy fails, there is always the fantastic Plan B
18 Dec 2009
Just five years ago, anyone who talked of easing Earth's climate crisis by fertilising the seas with iron, scattering particles in the stratosphere to reflect sunlight or building a sunshade in space courted ridicule.
IPCC winnings go to climate science scholars
18 Dec 2009
The Nobel Peace Prize will pay dividends in the developing world by funding scholarships for climate-science studies.
Copenhagen split as island states make stand
11 Dec 2009
A climate change stand led by the Pacific nation of Tuvalu has split the Copenhagen conference down the middle.
Leaked ‘Danish text’ pushes power for the rich
11 Dec 2009
The UN Copenhagen climate talks erupted after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.
UN view: The talks are going well
11 Dec 2009
The United Nations says talks under way at the climate change conference in Copenhagen have entered the drafting phase towards reaching a final agreement.
The editorial that gave world the message …
11 Dec 2009
An editorial calling for action from world leaders on climate change was published by 56 newspapers around the world in 20 languages on the day the Copenhagen conference opened.
Carbon fraudsters rake in billions, say police
11 Dec 2009
Tax fraudsters have targeted the European Union’s carbon emissions trading system, pocketing about five billion euros, the Europol police agency says.
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'.
