Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
Asia set to become biggest climate change driver
19 Jun 2009
Asia's share of global greenhouse gas emissions could rise to more than 40 per cent by 2030, making it the world's main driver of climate change, experts have warned.
UN launches high-level climate and energy group
19 Jun 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has launched a new group consisting of business leaders and experts who will advise him on energy and climate change challenges, particularly in identifying key issues in the run-up to the major United Nations conference in Copenhagen in December.
US forests stand crucial for NZ growers
16 Jun 2009
The United States’ stand on forestry offsetting is being closely watched and could be hugely beneficial to New Zealand.
Global climate agreement in sight, says UN
16 Jun 2009
An ambitious and effective global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is in sight, the top United Nations climate change official said, as the latest round of negotiations wrapped up in Bonn.
Japan under fire for 8% emissions cut target
12 Jun 2009
Japan has said it plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 8 per cent from 1990 levels by the end of the next decade, a goal attacked as too little by environmentalists.
Rich countries have ‘moral duty’ to cut emissions
12 Jun 2009
Britain needs to cut greenhouse gases by 45 per cent by 2020 to prevent the world "lurching into climate disaster", according to a report from Oxfam.
New climate pact ‘unlikely’ in Copenhagen
12 Jun 2009
The UN's top climate official has voiced doubt about the prospects for completing a new pact on global warming in Copenhagen by its much-touted December deadline.
Millions on move as climate changes, warns UN
12 Jun 2009
Climate change has already caused displacement and migration, and could uproot millions more in the future, warns a new United Nations-supported report.
How heifers became the Hummers of agriculture
12 Jun 2009
While most of the world debates penalising vehicle and industrial pollution, a United Nations report has fingered another guilty party - cows.
No need to rush climate laws, says Aust Opposition
9 Jun 2009
Claims by the US that its likely failure to finalise climate change legislation before December will not jeopardise the crucial Copenhagen talks have been seized on by the federal Opposition as evidence that Australia does not need to rush its laws through by the end of the year.
Flights tax could fund climate aid for poor countries
9 Jun 2009
Wealthy countries could be asked to accept a levy on international flight tickets to raise billions of dollars to help the world's poorest nations to adapt to climate change.
Nature best at handling climate change, says UN
9 Jun 2009
Nature is best at controlling the gases responsible for climate change, the UN Environment Programme believes.
Get smart on climate change, urges UN chief
9 Jun 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for multilateralism and “smart solutions” to confront economic and climate challenges that could result in insecurity and upheaval.
$155 billion spent on clean energy, says UN
5 Jun 2009
More than half the $US250 billion invested in new power generating capacity worldwide in 2008 was spent on renewable energy sources, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report launched yesterday.
High-earning green sector workers feel safe in jobs
5 Jun 2009
Most workers in the thriving climate change sector feel just as safe in their jobs, if not more so, than they did a year ago, a new Reuters survey shows.
Pacific islands win UN vote on climate threats
5 Jun 2009
Small Pacific islands vulnerable to rising sea levels won a symbolic victory at the United Nations this week with the passage of a resolution recognising climate change as a possible threat to security.
Latest round of climate talks ‘progressing well’
5 Jun 2009
The latest round of United Nations climate change talks in Germany are making headway, a spokesperson for the world body said yestetrday.
Kiwi organisations unite to tackle climate change
5 Jun 2009
To encourage appropriate action in response to climate change in the lead-up to the crucial UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this December, organisations nationwide are uniting through the New Zealand Climate Action Partnership, they say in a media
Cleaning company calls for better practices on World Environment Day
5 Jun 2009
New Zealand businesses are being urged to do their bit for their employees and the environment on World Environment Day today by switching to green cleaning products.
Dumped computers major headache, says lobby group
2 Jun 2009
Clean-up lobby Computer Access New Zealand has identified e-waste as overwhelmingly the “fastest growing” component of public waste.
Govt delays setting emissions target again, says Greenpeace
2 Jun 2009
With only five months to go until the crucial UN climate talks in Copenhagen, the New Zealand Government has announced another delay in setting an emissions reduction target, says Greenpeace.
Climate change crisis 'catastrophic', says new report
2 Jun 2009
The first comprehensive report into the human cost of climate change warns the world is in the throes of a "silent crisis" that is killing 300,000 people a year.
US says rich nations likely to miss carbon targets
2 Jun 2009
Rich nations as a group are unlikely to reach the deep 2020 cuts in greenhouse gas emissions urged by developing nations as part of a new UN climate treaty, the top US climate envoy has said.
African ministers reach climate change accord
2 Jun 2009
The United Nations Environment Programme has announced a landmark agreement reached by more than 30 African ministers to mainstream climate change adaptation measures into national and regional development plans.
Climate change outburst embarrasses Act
29 May 2009
The Act Party is distancing itself from a statement made in its name yesterday in which National Party MPs were told they would “introduce an emissions trading scheme at their peril."
$470 million NZ Units spend in the next year
29 May 2009
The Government is providing to boost spending on allocating New Zealand Units from $22 million to more than $470 million in the next financial year.
Business leaders urge ambitious climate action
29 May 2009
Global business leaders in Denmark for a summit on climate change have jointly issued the expected "Copenhagen Call," urging ambitious, global actions on climate change.
EU stands alone as world ponders carbon schemes
29 May 2009
Only the 27-member European Union has a legislated and operating emissions trading scheme to achieve the carbon pollution reduction targets it will sign up to at the United Nations climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December, the Australian points out.
Forum: Cooler weather heats up debate
29 May 2009
Dr Muriel Newman of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research looks at changes in the way we talk about climate change.
UN chief challenges business to create cleaner, greener economy
26 May 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued a challenge to business leaders to lead efforts to transform the global economy into one that is “cleaner, greener and more sustainable.”
Business leaders vow to set price on carbon
26 May 2009
World business leaders meeting in Copenhagen are vowing to help world governments set a price on carbon, establishing a market that governments can use to cut greenhouse gases.
Business could push governments over the line on climate change
26 May 2009
Global business leaders meeting in Copenhagen could make a significant contribution toward a fair and safe deal to tackle climate change, says Oxfam.
Personalities sign on for climate change campaign
26 May 2009
Stephen Tindall, Lucy Lawless Cliff Curtis, Peter Gordon and Jim Salinger are among a group of high-profile New Zealanders joining with Greenpeace to call for strong climate action.
Minister goes off half-cock, says lobby group
26 May 2009
Environment Minister Nick Smith should not "go off at half-cock" with his proposal announced last week of a possible national environment standard on sea-level rise, says the Climate Science Coalition.
US-China climate change deal near, says report
22 May 2009
A US-China deal on climate change could be reached in autumn this year after secret back-channel meetings in the closing months of the Bush administration, according to the Guardian.
European investors call for carbon trading revamp
22 May 2009
As fresh details emerge confirming that US legislators plan to water down proposed cap-and-trade legislation, a group of European investors have called on world leaders to move in the opposite direction and undertake urgent reforms designed to tighten up emerging carbon markets.
UN posts Copenhagen talks text online
22 May 2009
Progress towards achieving an ambitious new treaty on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is gathering pace, the top United Nations climate change official said yesterday.
UN chief urges action on risk of natural disasters
19 May 2009
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has called for decisive action to reduce the growing impact of climate change as he launched a global assessment of ways to minimise the risks from natural disasters.
Climate change dire health threat, say doctors
15 May 2009
Climate change will present the greatest threat to health this century, amplifying the risk of disease, malnutrition and homelessness through floods, drought and rising sea levels, a medical panel said yesterday.
Japanese ask world: What should we do?
12 May 2009
The nonprofit group Japan for Sustainability is asking people around the world for their comments about the country's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
China looks ready for post-Kyoto climate deal
8 May 2009
China is ready to abandon its resistance to limits on its carbon emissions and wants to reach an international deal to fight global warming, the Guardian newspaper says.
US puts first case for new UN climate treaty
8 May 2009
The United States has said it would be committed to joining the world on a climate treaty with "robust targets and ambitious actions" against heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
UN must send strong signal, says climate minister
8 May 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon must ensure that a high-level summit slated for September sends a “very clear and strong signal” to negotiators aiming to reach a new climate change deal in Copenhagen this December, a top Danish official said yesterday.
Maldives joins NZ in climate neutral pact
8 May 2009
The Republic of Maldives, one of the countries most affected by climate change, has joined New Zealand and five other countries as a member of the Climate Neutral Network led by the United Nations Environment Programme.
One cup of coffee =140 litres of water
5 May 2009
Dutch scientist Arjen Hoekstra is one of the few people who know that as much as 140 litres of water are involved in making a cup of coffee.
Australia's new GHG target shows up NZ's lack of target - Greenpeace
5 May 2009
The New Zealand Government has been caught out by Australia’s proposal for stronger and faster greenhouse gas emission cuts, says Greenpeace.
Australian powerco in landmark carbon deal
1 May 2009
The owner of a coal power station yesterday began to deal with the major costs it will face under an emissions trading scheme by signing the first firm carbon trading deal between two Australian parties.
We must burn less diesel and wood, says Gore
1 May 2009
Nobel peace prize-winner Al Gore says the world must burn less diesel and wood because the soot produced is accelerating the melting of ice in polar and mountainous regions.
Traders call for land-use offsets in climate deal
1 May 2009
Reducing emissions from land use should play a key role in the post-Kyoto climate agreement, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) says.
EU aid decision good news for NZ
28 Apr 2009
The European Union decision to let Australia select the providers of Brussels–financed aid in the Asia-Pacific region is good news for New Zealand manufacturers and professional services.
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'.
