Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
POZNAN 2: We need a shared vision, says UN chief
28 Nov 2008
The need for a shared vision in long-term world collaboration on climate change will be stressed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the climate change talks in Poznan next week.
POZNAN 3: Our stand won’t change, vows India
28 Nov 2008
Emerging Asian powerhouse India has made it clear that the Poznan talks next week will not bring a change in its controversial stance on greenhouse gas emissions.
POZNAN 4: Maldives awaits dawn of doomsday
28 Nov 2008
The fate of the Maldives, South Asia's most expensive tourist destination, is set to be one of the features in discussions at the UN climate conference in Poznan next week
Key joins APEC leaders in call to fight climate change
25 Nov 2008
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, whose new government has suspended the country’s emissions trading scheme, is among Asia-Pacific leaders who have collectively called for a comprehensive effort to address climate change through international cooperation.
Governors sign pact to work with Obama – and each other
25 Nov 2008
US state leaders are cheering President-elect Barack Obama's plans to make addressing climate change a national priority - but say they'll continue to move forward on their own.
New UN guide seeks to reduce computer waste
25 Nov 2008
The United Nations has launched a new guide on how to recycle computer equipment in a way that minimises the impact of waste on health and the environment, particularly in developing countries.
GLOBE Americas Legislators' Forum on Climate Change
25 Nov 2008
In the midst of the global financial and economic crisis, the Global Legislators Organisation (GLOBE), together with the Mexican Congress, is holding a major international forum for lawmakers from the Americas to tackle the twin challenges of global financial and climate crises
Europe's $14 billion clean-coal plan running out of backers
21 Nov 2008
A European proposal to spend $US14 billion testing how to pump greenhouse gases underground is itself getting buried.
NZ - friend or foe of US?
21 Nov 2008
New Zealanders should be seriously alarmed at the prospect of the National-led government damaging the country’s relationship with the United States over its stance on climate change, says Greenpeace.
China outlines plans for domestic carbon trading
18 Nov 2008
Chinese officials claim their government will establish a nationwide carbon trading scheme.
Beware the brown peril – the abc of ABCs
18 Nov 2008
A three kilometre-thick "brown cloud" of man-made pollution, which stretches from the Arabian Peninsula to China to the western Pacific Ocean, is making Asian cities darker, speeding up the melting of Himalayan glaciers and affecting human health, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme report.
Greenpeace questions ‘missing’ portfolio
18 Nov 2008
The National Party’s press release detailing Cabinet posts makes no mention of the environment and climate change portfolios, nor the MP who’s rumoured to be heading them.
Ban calls on economic summit to tackle global warming
14 Nov 2008
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for this weekend’s Washington summit on the global financial crisis to seize the opportunity to tackle global warming as well, stressing that such action would create jobs and boost the world’s economies.
UN sees need for global body to tackle biodiversity
14 Nov 2008
The possibility of establishing a United Nations-supported scientific intergovernmental body to address biodiversity loss and protect ecosystems is being discussed at a global conference in Malaysia.
ANALYSIS: Clark could follow in Blair's footsteps
11 Nov 2008
The US presidential victory of Democrat Barack Obama boosts the chances of former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark winning a role with the United Nations.
US must take leading role in climate change, says UN official
11 Nov 2008
The head of the United Nations climate change body has said he hopes the United States will take a more active role in fighting global warming once Barack Obama becomes president.
Obama 2: Climate plan must have priority, says Pachauri
7 Nov 2008
President-elect Barack Obama should put global warming ahead of a domestic plan to cut carbon emissions, says Rajendra Pachauri, head of a Nobel Prize-winning United Nations panel of climate-change scientists.
EXCLUSIVE: Forest owners make Kyoto advance
4 Nov 2008
The Forest Owners' Association has made a major international advance in its push to get forest-offsetting and other issues included in Kyoto Protocol regulations.
Rudd government to go easy on emissions trading scheme
4 Nov 2008
The Australian Government has no ambitions to set an example by moving dramatically ahead of other countries with its emissions trading regime, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says.
UN expert calls for world action to halt desertification
4 Nov 2008
The “silent” crisis of desertification or land degradation if tackled properly can help to address a range of world problems, says a senior United Nations environment expert.
World business leaders back UN climate change deal
31 Oct 2008
The United Nations' drive to clinch a new global framework to curb climate change at its Copenhagen summit next year has been endorsed by global business leaders.
China issues post-Kyoto plans on climate change
31 Oct 2008
The clean development mechanism (CDM) should continue to be implemented even after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires, says a white paper on China's policies on climate change.
Look to your triple bottom line, say fund-keepers
28 Oct 2008
New Zealand’s Super Fund and 51 other international investment funds managing a total of $US4 trillion worth of assets are telling companies to focus on their triple bottom lines.
New climate deal possible in 2009, says EU chief
28 Oct 2008
A crucial global pact on climate change is possible by next year, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said in Beijing following two days of talks between Asian and European leaders.
Cities' leaders pledge action on climate change
28 Oct 2008
Leaders of 40 of the world's major cities have pledged action to fight climate change, taking measures ranging from promoting solar energy to tracking genetically modified food.
Japan set to introduce voluntary carbon market
24 Oct 2008
Japan will introduce a voluntary carbon market based on companies' pledged emissions cuts and hopes that thousands of firms will sign up to what could become a forerunner of a mandatory cap-and-trade project.
Settle it, and quickly, Ban tells Europe’s leaders
24 Oct 2008
United Nations’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed to leaders of the European Union the need to wrap up the bloc’s energy and climate package by the end of the year.
Climate change needs a Roosevelt ‘New Deal,’ says UN
24 Oct 2008
The world should take a leaf from former US president Franklin Roosevelt's songbook for tackling the Great Depression and fund a "Green New Deal" to fight climate change, a United Nations agency says.
EC eyes market solution to deforestation
24 Oct 2008
The European Commission has called for a target to halt global deforestation by 2030, to be delivered partially through a Global Forest Carbon Mechanism (GFCM), under a post-2012 climate agreement.
Our poisoned world - the top 10 worst pollution problems
24 Oct 2008
The "I Trust My Legs" gold mine in Ghana is a local affair, where miners shift silt from rudimentary pits and then combine it with mercury.
EU’s climate actions could be economic boon, says Ban
21 Oct 2008
European Union proposals on tackling climate change could also be a boon for the economy, generating millions of new jobs at a time when the world is suffering from the financial crisis, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
We’re facing climate change havoc, warns new report
21 Oct 2008
Climate change is occurring much faster than predicted by the scientific fraternity, and will wreak havoc unless action is taken on a global scale, says a new report by the World Wildlife Fund.
Finally, EU-Kyoto carbon trading link up and running
17 Oct 2008
Carbon emissions trading schemes in the European Union and under the Kyoto Protocol were connected yesterday after months of technical delays.
Greece again fails to meet emissions test standards
17 Oct 2008
A United Nations committee in Athens said Greece has failed to demonstrate its ability to adequately measure carbon dioxide emissions, endangering its chances of participating in Kyoto Protocol emissions trading programme.
Markets turmoil could usher in new green era, says UN
14 Oct 2008
The global market crisis could provide an opportunity for the world financial system to reconstruct itself to promote “green” growth, the top United Nations climate change official said yesterday in New York.
Don’t blame cities for climate change troubles, says report
14 Oct 2008
Cities are being unfairly blamed for most of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions and this threatens efforts to tackle climate change, warns a new report.
Top economist supports chamber's views on carbon taxes
14 Oct 2008
The latest pronouncement from one of the world's top economists that a carbon tax is better than an emissions trading scheme to fight global warming is welcome news, according to the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce.
EU nods to credit crisis but remains tough on emissions
10 Oct 2008
A powerful European Union committee on Wednesday handed some concessions to industries in an economic downturn but maintained a tough line on curbing carbon emissions in the fight against climate change.
Experts seek clues on impact of climate change on health
10 Oct 2008
Experts at a meeting convened by the United Nations World Health Organisation yesterday agreed on a plan of action to create guidelines on the impact of climate change on human health.
Fiji eyes billion-dollar windfall from carbon trading
10 Oct 2008
The Fiji Government is aiming to receive at least $US1billion in foreign exchange from carbon trading for the next 25 to 30 years.
Financial crisis must not diminish climate change, says UN chief
10 Oct 2008
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned of the dangers of the fight against climate change - which he characterised as the "defining challenge of our era" - getting bogged down by shorter-term problems, such as the current global financial turmoil.
Hong Kong, Singapore fight for carbon trading crown
7 Oct 2008
Hong Kong and Singapore are locked in a heavyweight battle to see which will wear the crown of Asia’s first carbon trading hub.
World Bank makes huge jump in funding of renewable energy projects
7 Oct 2008
The World Bank’s funding for renewable and efficient energy projects in developing countries rose 87 per cent during the past year to nearly $2.7 billion, reflecting the growing interest and demand for environmentally friendly sources of power.
Eastern Europe collects windfall as Japan snaps up carbon credits
3 Oct 2008
Thanks to Kyoto emission levels pegged to 1990, when pollution was worse, former Eastern Bloc countries now sell carbon credits to Japan
Millions of new jobs in green economy, says UN report
30 Sep 2008
Tackling climate change could potentially generate millions of new employment opportunities, according to a new UN-backed study – the first of its kind on the emergence of a “green economy” and its impact on labour.
Greenhouse gas pollution up despite economic downturn
30 Sep 2008
World carbon dioxide emissions continued to rise in 2007 despite a slowing global economy, according to energy use figures from oil company BP and an annual report by the Global Carbon Project.
‘Obsolete’ market system to blame for deforestation, PNG tells UN
30 Sep 2008
The current global economic system is to fault for deforestation, Papua New GuineaDeputy Prime Minister Puke Temu told the UN General Assembly’s high-level debate yesterday, stressing the need to protect the South Pacific nation’s rainforests from degradation.
Ban urges faster efforts to expand access to safe drinking water
26 Sep 2008
Warning that a world without water will be very unstable, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday called for a three-pronged strategy to ensure that the poorest inhabitants of the developing world have access to clean water and basic sanitation within seven years.
Is the end of higher fert prices on the horizon?
26 Sep 2008
There are signs that farmers might be in for some respite from rising fertiliser prices, says Ballance Agri-Nutrients Chairman, David Graham.
Copenhagen most important meeting since WWII, says Stern
23 Sep 2008
The UN climate change meeting to be held in Copenhagen next year is the “most important gathering since the Second World War”, according to Nicholas Stern, author of the influential Stern Review on the economics of climate change.
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'.
