Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
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.
Organic farming key to cutting emissions
11 Dec 2009
Converting Britain to organic agriculture would cut that country’s carbon emissions by 3.2 million tonnes – the equivalent of taking nearly a million cars off the road, says the Soil Assocation.
We can do a deal by June, says UN climate chief
4 Dec 2009
A new climate treaty can be ready by June next year, says the UN's chief climate negotiator, Yvo de Boer.
India comes to the party with emissions cut promise
4 Dec 2009
India has became the last of the ''big four'' polluters to reveal its opening hand in the lead-up to the climate change talks in Copenhagen next week.
Danes are going green for the big summit
4 Dec 2009
Danes will be on their best green behaviour when a much-anticipated climate conference brings thousands of foreign visitors to Copenhagen next week.
UN suspends approval of China wind farms
4 Dec 2009
The UN body that oversees carbon credit trading has suspended approval of some Chinese wind farms amid questions about how Beijing obtains money through the system.
World news agencies join forces for Copenhagen
4 Dec 2009
Eleven international news agencies have launched a joint Facebook page to interact with news consumers across the globe during the UN climate conference in Copenhagen.
Senate shambles as Aussie ETS vote due today
27 Nov 2009
The Australian government is confident the Senate will vote late today on its emissions trading scheme following a day of political turmoil yesterday.
Chinese premier, too, taking cuts promise to Denmark
27 Nov 2009
China says it will trim its "carbon intensity" 40 to 45 per cent by the year 2020 as compared to 2005 levels.
Ban says Obama vital to Copenhagen success
27 Nov 2009
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday welcomed the announcement that US President Barack Obama will attend the Copenhagen climate conference next month.
US and India pledge common action on climate change
27 Nov 2009
The United States and India have pledged common action to fight climate change and to build a new global clean energy economy.
Hacker scandal sends ripples through science community
27 Nov 2009
The fallout continues over the theft of private e-mails from a server at a world-renowned climate change research unit in Britain.
‘Human’ CO2 emissions continue to rise
20 Nov 2009
Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities rose 2 per cent in 2008 to an all-time high of 1.3 tonnes of carbon per capita per year, according to a paper published yesterday.
Forum: Taking agriculture forward with the Emissions Trading Scheme
20 Nov 2009
Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith speaks to the Federated Farmers National Council Meeting in Wellington yesterday.
Obama and Hu shake hands on climate deal
20 Nov 2009
China and the United States, the largest producers of greenhouse gases, will team up to fight climate change and create clean energy, say their leaders.
Climate officials cling to hope for Copenhagen
20 Nov 2009
Senior climate change negotiators are optimistic about the Copenhagen talks next month after climate, energy and environment ministers gathered for a meeting in the Danish capital this week.
Fight climate change with free condoms, says UN
20 Nov 2009
Free condoms and family planning advice are seen as two important weapons in the climate change battle, according to the United Nations.
Time for a cup of tea, says veteran Nat
20 Nov 2009
A life-long National Party member is criticising the Government’s “headlong rush” into changes to the emissions trading scheme.
Aussie agriculture backflip could be first of many
16 Nov 2009
The Australian government’s sudden backflip on agriculture yesterday could lead to even more concessions being made to try to get the country’s proposed emissions trading scheme through the Senate in the next couple of weeks.
Can Obama yet save the day at Copenhagen?
13 Nov 2009
The world's first global treaty to combat climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, was agreed in December 1997 after exhausting, all-night negotiations in Japan that saw arguments, desperate phone calls back to leaders in capital cities and inspired diplomacy.
Ban calls on US to put full weight behind talks
13 Nov 2009
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the United States to take a leading role in forging a new international pact to combat global warming, warning that the consequences of failure outweigh the cost of tackling climate change.
Vulnerable nations call on big countries to act
13 Nov 2009
Leaders of 11 nations vulnerable to climate change have called on the developed world to pledge 1.5 percent of their gross national product annually for climate action in the developed world.
FORUM: Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Maldives on climate change
13 Nov 2009
By Douglas Alexander, British international development secretary, and Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives
It’s official: US goes cool on Copenhagen
6 Nov 2009
The US has given up hope of reaching a global climate change treaty at Copenhagen and is working towards a deal late next year, the Obama administration said yesterday.
Ban lays out criteria for success in Copenhagen
30 Oct 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has laid out his four benchmarks for success at the Copenhagen climate talks which open in a few weeks.
All aboard the climate train to Copenhagen ...
30 Oct 2009
A one-time train link between Kyoto and Copenhagen opens up next week - a UN-sponsored one-month, 9000-kilometre journey symbolically joining the site of the last global warming pact with what is hoped to be the birthplace of the next major treaty to combat climate change.
Emissions from major nations continue to rise
23 Oct 2009
Harmful greenhouse gas emissions produced by industrialised countries rose for the seventh consecutive year in 2007, the United Nations reported yesterday.
Europe: Sign the deal and we’ll cut emissions 95%
23 Oct 2009
Europe tried to reassert its international leadership in the fight against global warming yesterday, offering to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95 per cent by 2050 and by 30 per cent by 2020 if a climate change pact is sealed in Copenhagen in six weeks.
Interim steps … that’s about it from Copenhagen
23 Oct 2009
With the clock running out and deep differences unresolved, it now appears that there is little chance that international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December will produce a comprehensive and binding new treaty on global warming.
China, India forge alternative to UN treaty
23 Oct 2009
China and India’s joint plan to cut greenhouse-gas emissions provides the developing world with an alternative to the global climate treaty that wealthier nations want them to sign in Copenhagen this year, analysts said.
Leaders could feel wrath of people-power protest
23 Oct 2009
Experts are predicting that climate change could spark the first worldwide grassroots movement if the world’s leaders fail to settle the issue.
Tourism could be climate victim, UN warns
23 Oct 2009
Rising sea levels could inundate coastal holiday spots while melting snow caps could spell an end to ski resorts, the UN World Tourism Organisation has warned.
Bangkok flop leaves little hope for Copenhagen
16 Oct 2009
As the latest round of UN climate talks in Bangkok ended with little progress, negotiators are preparing for the Copenhagen summit in December on the assumption that not every detail will be agreed this year.
Oceans vital in climate change fight, says report
16 Oct 2009
Preventing the destruction of marine life, from plankton to seagrasses and mangrove forests, could help to offset between 3 per cent to 7 per cent of current fossil fuel emissions, a UN environment report says.
Airlines confident of reaching emission goals
16 Oct 2009
The airline industry will reach some ambitious emissions reductions goals, despite severe financial setbacks faced by airlines across the globe, says International Air Transport Association chief Giovanni Bisignani.
Soros pledges $1bn to search for clean energy
16 Oct 2009
Billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros has pledged to invest more than $1 billion of his own money in clean energy technology to tackle climate change.
Ban urges adoption of green technologies
16 Oct 2009
Green technologies generate not only environmental advances but also promote economic growth, UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
Sack Nick Smith from climate portfolio, says Dunleavy
16 Oct 2009
A call to Prime Minister to relieve Nick Smith of the climate change issues portfolio has been made by the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition’s secretary, Terry Dunleavy.
G8 countries could face class actions on climate change
9 Oct 2009
The US and other G8 countries could face class actions on behalf of people in the developing world if they fail to take convincing steps to cut the emissions blamed for causing climate change, a lawyer has warned.
New research on climate adaptation as severe weather hits
Mon 16 Feb 2026
As extreme weather batters the country yet again, researchers have published the first ever empirical study of climate adaptation justice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Outdated land-use system unfit for modern environmental regulation, commissioner warns
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand’s long-standing Land Use Capability (LUC) system is no longer fit for regulatory decision-making, according to a new review from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
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.
Why Trump might be onboard with a UN carbon-offset programme for airlines
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The president’s team has backed the rollout of an initiative that calls for the use of sustainable aviation fuel and carbon credits, even as Trump has pulled back from other international emissions-reduction efforts.
World fight against invasive species comes to Auckland
10 Feb 2026
Media release: University of Auckland | From countering invasive pink salmon in Norway to controlling feral cats in the Cayman Islands, knowledge on eradicating invasive species will be shared by international experts in New Zealand.
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.
Carbon market rallies but auction floor still out of reach
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market has rallied, with secondary market prices up more than 25% in the past two weeks, although current prices in the mid-$40s are still far below this year’s $71 auction floor, with the first auction of 2026 less than three weeks away.
US pressures Vanuatu at UN over ICJ’s landmark climate change ruling
Mon 16 Feb 2026
The United States is urging governments to pressure Vanuatu to withdraw a United Nations draft resolution supporting a landmark International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that countries have a legal obligation to act on climate change.
Minister’s letters: Mildly positive or just virtue signalling?
5 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market was buoyed slightly yesterday, after letters between the Government and the Climate Change Commission were proactively released.
Flawed decision-making around taxing electricity to fund LNG import terminal
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: The Government's decision to back an LNG import terminal exemplifies an egregious failure in public policy and energy sector governance.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: By deciding to underwrite the private construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, the Government has made a rational choice in favour of energy security and affordability.
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.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
EU weighing options to support industry in carbon market overhaul
9 Feb 2026
The European Commission is looking at various ways to support industries in an upcoming overhaul of the EU carbon market to prevent them moving to areas with lower pollution standards, the head of the Commission’s climate department said late on Wednesday.
France bets on nuclear in new plan to cut fossil fuel imports
Mon 16 Feb 2026
The French government unveiled a 10-year energy strategy that leans heavily on nuclear power and offshore wind farms to curb fossil fuel dependence. Environmental groups criticised a 'stubborn insistence on believing in the nuclear myth'.
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.
Media round-up
Fri 13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
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.
'Damning' report challenges forestry’s role in Tairāwhiti as sector rejects conclusions
4 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New independent analysis commissioned by Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti challenges long-standing claims that industrial forestry underpins the Tairāwhiti economy.
Explosive risk brings caution call on LNG
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Craig Ashworth, Local Democracy Reporter | Community energy lobbyists say a Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Taranaki must be built far from homes to protect locals from the risk of catastrophic explosions.
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.”
European Central Bank's green supervision grows teeth, but will banks avoid being bitten?
Fri 13 Feb 2026
After several years of issuing guidance and repeatedly calling on banks to take climate and environmental risk management seriously, the European Central Bank is moving from guidance and expectations to enforcement.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
No such thing as 'clean gas': if advertisers can act, why can’t politicians?
Mon 16 Feb 2026
COMMENT: In the rankings of least trusted professionals, advertising executives usually sit at the bottom along with politicians and real estate agents. But there’s one area where the advertising industry can now justifiably hold itself above politicians – stopping greenwashing by the gas industry.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
Wed 11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
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”.
Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
4 Feb 2026
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
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.
Lawyers seek answers on climate impacts of LNG import facility
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action has written to Climate Change and Energy Minister Simon Watts warning that the Government's plan for an LNG import terminal could be in conflict with New Zealand’s climate obligations and emissions reduction targets.
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.
Ministers celebrate fast-track milestone amid criticism
10 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government is marking the first anniversary of its fast-track approvals regime, saying it is helping “build New Zealand’s future”, despite continued criticism from environmental groups, opposition parties, and industry voices following several controversial project decisions.
Govt looks to Commission for ways to shore up carbon price
4 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government has asked the Climate Change Commission to look at lower auction volumes and an increase in the auction floor price as options to revive the Emissions Trading Scheme, as carbon prices remain weak.
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.
Climate change linked to decline in southern right whale
Thu 12 Feb 2026
Scientists in Australia are warning southern right whales are showing signs of climate-related stress, just days after a Green Party Member’s Bill was introduced in New Zealand proposing legal personhood for whales.
Climate ambassador moves on
Fri 13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government is on the hunt for a new top climate diplomat, with previous climate ambassador Stu Horne moving on to a posting in Honolulu as New Zealand’s Consul General to Hawai’i.
Commentators slam Govt inaction in aftermath of climate change-fuelled storms
30 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | Climate action - or inaction - is shaping up to be an election issue, with multiple commentators drawing a line between the Coalition Government’s backsliding on climate targets and the deadly extreme weather events of the past week.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
Thu 12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
Space growth plan sparks climate and ozone warnings
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s decision to increase the number of New Zealand's permitted space launches tenfold – from 100 to 1000 – has prompted warnings from scientists about potential impacts on the ozone layer and Southern Hemisphere climate systems.
Australia's Liberals elect net zero opponent as new leader
Mon 16 Feb 2026
Australia's opposition Liberal Party elected as leader on Friday a conservative who lobbied to drop its commitment to net zero emissions, as it seeks to counter an insurgent populist right and rebuild support after a disastrous election loss last year.
Greenpeace set to take UK Government to court over deep-sea mining licences
5 Feb 2026
Environmental NGO Greenpeace has kick-started a legal challenge against the UK Government’s decision to approve the transfer of two seabed exploration licences to a newly-formed mining company with US links.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
9 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand and the United States' negotiations over critical minerals have raised questions for the Waitangi Tribunal’s long-running inquiry into climate change.
Africa leads growth in solar energy as demand spreads beyond traditional markets, report says
Mon 16 Feb 2026
A report shows that Africa has emerged as the world's fastest-growing solar market even as global growth slowed last year, driven by a 60% surge in imports of solar panels from China.
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.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
9 Feb 2026
Media release | A new Antarctic science partnership with a leading UAE university will grow New Zealand’s advanced engineering and modelling capability, supporting high-value jobs, encouraging economic growth, and enabling smarter climate risk management, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says.
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.
China maximises battery recycling to shore up critical mineral supplies
Wed 11 Feb 2026
Beijing is bracing for a tsunami of spent EV batteries by taking steps to boost recycling – a strategy that could also cut its reliance on imports of clean energy minerals.
EU to ban destruction of unsold clothes and shoes
Thu 12 Feb 2026
The European Commission has adopted new measures that will require medium and large companies to stop discarding unsold clothing and footwear, in the bloc’s latest move to target textile waste.
January floods driven by tropical systems and La Niña conditions
Thu 12 Feb 2026
Record-breaking rainfall across parts of Aotearoa in January was fuelled by tropical moisture and persistent low-pressure systems, with some regions recording more than five times their normal monthly rainfall, Earth Sciences New Zealand says.
Argentina fires ravage pristine Patagonia forests, fueling criticism of Milei’s austerity
4 Feb 2026
The wildfires, among the worst to hit the drought-stricken Patagonia region in decades, have devastated more than 45,000 hectares (174 square miles) of Argentina’s forests in the last month and a half, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
10 Feb 2026
Construction is set to start this month on Hiringa Energy’s long delayed green hydrogen project in South Taranaki, after years of consenting fights that culminated in the Court of Appeal rejecting Greenpeace’s challenge in late 2023.
