Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
Bonn post-Kyoto treaty talks get underway
5 Jun 2008
The latest round of UN-sponsored global climate change negotiations is underway Monday in Bonn, Germany.
BT pledges 80% emissions cut
5 Jun 2008
BT has announced plans to cut its carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2020
Heavy emitters group worries over carbon price
5 Jun 2008
Emissions unit prices of $50 a tonne are going to be a huge challenge for New Zealand businesses to absorb and remain profitable, according to the organisation representing heavy emitters.
Climate Change Governator due in town
4 Jun 2008
Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was due in town today – by video link.
Anderton weighs into Greens again: Are they Arthur or Martha on dairy prices?
4 Jun 2008
Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton has made his scond strong attack in three days on the Greens.
Together we can change the world, says UN envrionmental head
4 Jun 2008
Four million new Zealanders alone cannot resolve the global warming programme, but can when they join with the world’s other 6.5 billion people, the head of the UN’s environmental programme said in Auckland last night.
Key reveals thoughts on "bastardised" ETS scheme to student blogger
3 Jun 2008
National leader John Key has referred to different credit phase out timelines for different sectors as “a bit of a bastardised way to develop an emissions trading scheme”.
Transport sector advised to help shape next world emissions deal
3 Jun 2008
Leipzig.-Speaking at the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer called on key stakeholders in the transport sector to help shape the UN climate change deal that will be clinched in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.
FORUM: Climate change sceptics call Government scientists "propagandists"
30 May 2008
NIWA scientists have become political propagandists, according to New Zeaand climate change sceptics.
Stern's global climate change deal proposal
29 May 2008
Several Carbon News readers describe the latest Stern plan to manage climate change an essentail reading.
EU Parliament committee votes overnight for tougher aviation ETS regime
28 May 2008
The European Parliament's Enevironment Committee early this morning (NZ time) voted for a tougher emissions regime for airlines.
Parker's full speech on climate change effects and impacts assessment
28 May 2008
Here is the full speech of CLimate Change Issues Minister David Parker at the launch of new reports into the impacts of climate change.
Say goodbye to half a million plastic supermarket bags in one month?
28 May 2008
New World is intriducing new incentives for customers to forgo using plastic bags.
Statesmen and stars feature at EU clean energy awards gala
28 May 2008
A mixture of statesmen, actors and singers joined MEPs and a large audience for the annual Energy Globe Awards in the European Parliament
"Aspirational goal" G8 ministers told climate change not waiting for any of us
26 May 2008
Ministers from G8 Countries say their leaders are likely to agree only aspirational goals when they meet in July.
Greens get warm, energy-efficient houses in Budget win
23 May 2008
Almost $100 million has been secured in the Budget by the Green Party fore measures which includ increasing the energy-efficiency of New Zealand homes, making it the party’s largest-ever Budget package.
Food crisis, climate change and influenza main health threats says UN
23 May 2008
The global food crisis, climate change and pandemic influenza are the main threats to human health, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).
UN world climate change leaders to address business people at Auckland
22 May 2008
Two of the world’s foremost authorities on managing climate change will be joined by the Prime Minister Helen Clark and New Zealand business leaders at Auckland events to mark World Environment Day on June 4.
Behind Latin America's Food Crisis
22 May 2008
By Laura Carlsen , Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP) . -Even a year ago, few people would have predicted that a global food crisis would make headlines as one of the major concerns for the future of the world.
Mallard cites sustainability in potential $200m fashion market.
21 May 2008
Environment Minister Trevor Mallard says Government initiatives and regulatory drivers, like the Emissions Trading Scheme and the New Zealand Energy Strategy, and changing consumer behaviour mean that New Zealand businesses do need to “get real” and become sustainable.
Now its "go vege" and save the planet?
21 May 2008
A vegan group is now proclaiming a link between diet and climate change, and urging New Zealanders to "go vegie" and save the plant.
ETS delay will cost taxpayers money, says trader
20 May 2008
Carbon trading house OM Financial is warning that delaying the introduction of New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme will cost taxpayers money.
Brazilian companies announce global warming game plan
20 May 2008
The Brazil Greenhouse Gas Protocol Program has been launched today and its 12 founding corporate members have voluntarily agreed to report their global-warming emissions.
Who pays for climate change?
20 May 2008
OPINION: New Zealand Centre for Political Research.- Last week the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment came out in support of the Government's Emissions Trading Bill as the gateway to a 'carbon-constrained future':
Kyoto carbon trade hits one million tonnes a day
19 May 2008
The European Climate Exchange says its futures trade in carbon emissions credits from developing countries based on a UN scheme has hit a million tonnes a day after launching the contracts in March.
Trading in the dark is no place for the nervous
19 May 2008
Carbon may well be the world’s fastest growing traded commodity, and will one day be the biggest, but right now it’s no place for the faint-hearted, as the ever-growing ranks of carbon traders are finding.
Research links fertiliser to huge increase in nitrogen emissions
19 May 2008
Agricultural fertilisers washed into the ocean are causing an eightfold increase in emissions of one of the worst greenhouse gases, according to new research published in the journal Science.
ETS will trim Kyoto bill $909 million, pushes Key further out on policy tightrope
16 May 2008
The emissions trading scheme will avoid a 15 to 50 million tonne rise in emissions between 2008 and 2012, Climate Change Issues Minister David Parker has told Parliament, in what appears to a ground preparing statement ahead of National leader John Key’s ETS policy announcement this Sunday.
The Global carbon trading market takes flight
16 May 2008
Paul Ezekiel travels regularly from his Manhattan office to emerging markets like China and Brazil, prospecting for clean energy projects.
UN spreads the word: Drink more tea and save the world
16 May 2008
The United Nations has issued a call for tea lovers to drink more of the world's most popular beverage.
Two billion trees planted to fight climate change
15 May 2008
More than two billion trees were planted around the world as part of the UN's campaign to combat climate change, the world body's environment programme (UNEP) said this week.
Water and sanitation key to development goals, UN official says
15 May 2008
Improving access to safe drinking water and decent sanitation worldwide will be critical to resolving many other challenges relating to sustainable development, a United Nations official said yesterday.
NZ MARKET REPORT: Emission prices rise again on back of oil, gas
13 May 2008
Carbon prices rose again yesterday as initial strength in oil and gas prices impacted right across the board albeit on light volume, according to OMFinancial's market report..
Shock shipping news puts New Zealand on the spot
13 May 2008
A United Nations study that claims the true scale of CO2 emissions from shipping is three times higher than previously thought, is bad news for New Zealand.
NZ emitters urged to hedge rising carbon price and falling NZ dollar
12 May 2008
The carbon market firmed right across the board on Friday as rocketing oil prices impacted on the entire energy complex.
Big players flood Europe's cap-and-trade-emissions market
12 May 2008
The success of Europe's thriving market in trading carbon emission credits highlights a major area of innovation there -- and a rare instance where making money and helping the planet go hand in hand.
Petrify, liquefy: New ways to bury greenhouse gas
9 May 2008
Turn greenhouse gases to stone? Transform them into a treacle-like liquid deep under the seabed? The ideas may sound like far-fetched schemes from an alchemist's notebook, but scientists are pursuing them as many countries prepare to bury captured greenhouse gases in coming years as part of the fight against global warming.
Canada faces suspension by Kyoto watchdog
8 May 2008
Canada will be probed on suspicion of violating rules for registering greenhouse gases that are the mainstay of a UN-led fight against global warming, official documents show.
EPA experts cast doubts on greenhouse gas emissions trading
8 May 2008
The principal plans Congress is considering to combat global warming may not work as intended, according to an open letter from US Environmental Protection Agency specialists posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
UN experts: Global food crisis could have been avoided
8 May 2008
A lack of investment in agriculture over a long period, as well as the use of precious natural resources for biofuel production, have contributed to the current global food crisis, according to two United Nations experts.
EC fires warning shot to Greece about poor greenhouse gas monitoring
8 May 2008
Greece has received a warning from the European commission for failing to provide adequate monitoring of greenhouse gases emissions which is needed to comply with UN regulations laid out under the Kyoto protocol, a commission spokesperson confirmed.
Indigenous groups blast UN over carbon trading
7 May 2008
The United Nations is facing scathing criticism from the world's indigenous communities for its attempts to promote carbon trading as a tool to address climate change concerns.
Asia's disappearing rainforests ‘an appalling crisis’
7 May 2008
The wanton destruction of Asia's rainforests is “one of the worst crises since we came out of our caves 10,000 years ago,” foresters have been told at an international meeting in Hanoi.
UN confident world can reach climate change pact in time
6 May 2008
Without a deal to cap greenhouse gas emissions around 2015, then halve them by 2050, the world will face ever more droughts, heatwaves, floods and rising seas, according to the United Nations.
Joint warming statement likely at Fukuda-Hu meeting
5 May 2008
The Japanese government is hoping to secure agreement with China over a joint document on environmental issues when Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda meets Chinese President Hu Jintao this week.
US airlines face $9 billion carbon bill by 2020
5 May 2008
Proposed US emission-trading legislation could leave its airlines with a crippling $9 billion annual bill in carbon costs in just over a decade.
Asia tourism, airlines 'complacent' on climate change
5 May 2008
Asian airlines and tourist firms are too complacent about the urgent need to address global warming, industry leaders warned at a conference on climate change.
Humans get 10 more years to save the Earth
5 May 2008
While humans have been heedless in making global warming a reality, nature has given Earth a break. Nations and leaders may get a rare chance to sink their differences and fix climate change as latest research shows that natural phenomena could keep Earth's temperatures in check for the next 10 years.
NZ MARKET: Broker OMF recommends emitters sell put options
2 May 2008
Broker OMFinancial is recommending New Zealand emitters currently consider selling put options.
Tokyo carbon market raises prospect of round-the-clock trading
2 May 2008
The reputation of carbon credits as tradable commodity could take a major leap forward if the Tokyo Stock Exchange presses ahead with plans to create Japan's first greenhouse gas emissions trading market next year.
NZ part of hidden global deep-sea network beneath the waves
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Media release - Earth Sciences New Zealand | A world-first study of marine life, including sea creatures found in New Zealand's dark, cold, pressurised ocean depths, has revealed that deep-sea life is surprisingly more connected than previously thought.
Does NZ need a national incentive scheme for wetlands?
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | An expert is calling for a national incentive programme to restore New Zealand’s wetlands and wants to stop schemes to drain these vital carbon-sequestering ecosystems.
NZ Post drops science-based climate target
8 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | NZ Post has dropped its science-based emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030 with no plans to replace it.
Airlines risk legal challenges by advertising jet fuel as “sustainable”, NGO warns
18 Jul 2025
Amid suspected fraud in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a new report says the airline industry should stop calling all alternatives to kerosene “sustainable”.
Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
11 Jul 2025
In the midst of a record-breaking heatwave in Europe, the UK city of Exeter recently played host to the second international conference on “tipping points”.
Sustainability claims questioned as renewable diesel surges
14 May 2025
Critics are sceptical about industry claims of renewable diesel life-cycle greenhouse gas emission cuts and warn renewable diesel carbon releases will surge if sourcing is scaled up, triggering tropical deforestation as producers convert forests to energy crops, such as oil palm and soy.
Is extending Huntly power station to 2035 in consumers’ best interest?
Tue 22 Jul 2025
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: Genesis Energy is proposing a cartel to keep high-emitting Huntly Power Station in business to 2035. If extending Huntly has economic benefits, is a cartel necessary?
Greenpeace hails Italy court ruling allowing climate lawsuit against energy company to go ahead
Fri 25 Jul 2025
Italy’s highest court has ruled that a lawsuit brought by climate activists against Italian energy company ENI and its government shareholders can go ahead.
Bearish sentiment lingers for carbon market
11 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The compliance carbon market could be set for a gradual upward trajectory, however unsold volume from the quarterly Emissions Trading Scheme auctions continues to act as ‘a price ceiling,’ according to an expert.
EU wants to see China take more ambitious climate action
15 Jul 2025
The world needs China to show more leadership on climate action, highlighting the importance of cutting planet-heating emissions and reducing the Chinese economy's reliance on coal.
Forestry can be a big plus for sheep and beef farmers – but there are caveats
Tue 22 Jul 2025
By Keith Woodford | OPINION: These are good times for sheep and beef farmers with record product prices for meat, which is precisely why now is the time for sheep and beef farmers to be looking again at farm forestry.
Common low-grade clay strengthens low-carbon concrete
5 Jun 2025
Media release | Engineers at RMIT University have converted low-grade clay into a high-performance cement supplement, opening a potential new market in sustainable construction materials.
Cuts to climate finance put exports in jeopardy: Lawyers
23 May 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government has halved international climate finance, a move aid organisations describe as “devastating,” and which lawyers say could put our Paris Agreement commitments and export market access at risk.
NZ voluntary carbon market’s sad state
14 Jul 2025
By John O’Brien | OPINION: A combination of scandals, challenging economic times, and cheaper offshore carbon credits, mean that the domestic voluntary carbon market in New Zealand remains absolutely tiny.
Media round-up
Fri 25 Jul 2025
In our round-up of the climate coverage in local media: Dairy conversions surge; Gore is hit with a drinking water crisis; meanwhile farming lobby groups Groundswell and Federated Farmers are up in arms about a plan to classify environmental impacts in the agriculture and forestry sector.
Key orange roughy population on verge of collapse, govt considers closure
9 Jul 2025
Media release - Deep Sea Conservation Coalition | New data reveals that New Zealand’s main orange roughy fishery, accounting for half of the country’s total catch, is on the brink of collapse, with one model showing it may have reached that point already, and the government’s considering closing it.
Extreme weather events are the new frontline of online climate denial – report
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Climate science deniers are flooding social media with false claims during extreme weather events, drowning out reliable information and putting lives at risk.
Latest trawl bycatch numbers 'a grim wake-up call'
24 Jun 2025
Media release – Greenpeace | The latest fisheries bycatch data paints a grim picture, with trawlers hauling up thousands of kilograms of coral and killing hundreds of fur seals and seabirds over a 12 month period.
‘Ideological sludge’: How NZ is quiet quitting climate action
17 Jul 2025
New Zealand once stood out as a world leader on climate change. In June it became the first country in the world to abandon a commitment to phase out oil, gas and coal.
NZ govt’s fossil fuel plans could break international law
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Liz Kivi | The government could be breaching international law with its plans to subsidise and expand fossil fuel extraction, following a ruling overnight from the world’s highest court.
Watts talks big on energy reform, but barriers persist
29 May 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Energy and Climate Change minister Simon Watts says the government is doubling down on efforts to boost renewable energy generation, streamline regulation, and drive private sector investment as New Zealand faces mounting energy security and affordability challenges.
SBTi releases Net Zero Standard for banks, investors
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The Science Based Targets initiative announced the release of its finalised Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, aimed at enabling banks and investors to set net zero-aligned targets for their lending, investing, insurance and capital markets activities.
Local govt bill 'completely misses the point,' passes first reading
18 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The government’s bill making changes to the Local Government Act to "refocus" councils on their core functions passed its first reading in Parliament last night, with critics saying it will set back climate resilience.
Methanex closure comes early this year
14 May 2025
The almost-now-annual closure of Methanex has come earlier this year, giving more confidence that the electricity system will get through the winter without a fuel shortfall.
Electric firebricks: decarbonising high-temperature industrial heat
13 Jun 2025
By Ian Mason | A new technology could offer a more cost-effective solution than hydrogen to decarbonise one ‘hard-to-abate’ sector of New Zealand’s economy, as well as having ample potential for demand response as the electricity grid becomes more renewable.
Climate catastrophes are creating a ‘new market reality’ for insurance carriers
Wed 23 Jul 2025
Raging wildfires and severe storms contributed to record-high global insurance losses — totalling an estimated US$84 billion — for the first six months of the year.
Will NZ walk away from the Paris Agreement?
20 Dec 2024
By Geoff Bertram | COMMENT: Unless the government can find very cheap offshore mitigation, the temptation to walk away from its Paris Agreement obligations may well be too strong to resist for a coalition government focused on fiscal austerity.
The ICJ’s ruling means Australia and other major polluters face a new era of climate reparations
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Harj Narulla | OPINION: Australia has found itself on the wrong side of history.
Clear-sighted view to trade-offs crucial to reimagining our relationship with the land
7 Jul 2025
By Nick Swallow | COMMENT: New Zealand could see a 70% drop in the value of dairy land if we pursue our emissions targets for agriculture, according to a new report.
Elation as Whanganui gets voice in fast-track seabed mining decision
Thu 24 Jul 2025
By Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporter | A Whanganui District councillor is “elated” her council has been named a relevant authority in the fast-track application process for a seabed mining project off South Taranaki.
Urgent action needed to get on track for climate goals - commission
Fri 25 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand is making progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but more work is needed – urgently – to set up for future reductions, according to the latest report from the Climate Change Commission.
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.
Ocean heatwaves may signal climate tipping point
Fri 25 Jul 2025
A recent study that tapped into satellite data has revealed that 2023 marked an unprecedented year for marine heatwaves, with record-breaking levels of duration, reach and intensity across the world's oceans.
Markets aren't going to save us – Carr
9 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Consumerism is reaching its ecological and economic limits, and only systemic change - not market tweaks - can steer us away from climate catastrophe, according to former Climate Change Commission chair Rod Carr.
Millions of tons of tiny plastic particles are polluting the ocean, study finds
15 Jul 2025
At least 27 million tonnes of nanoplastics are estimated to be floating in the North Atlantic Ocean, weighing more than all wild land mammals combined.
Another offensive launched in the government’s war on nature
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Media release - Environmental Defence Society | Last week the Minister for Resource Management Reform, Chris Bishop, announced that the government would be intervening, yet again, to prevent councils from progressing environmental protections under the Resource Management Act.
Activists sue US development bank over $4.6bn loan to massive Mozambique gas project
18 Jul 2025
Environmental groups claim loan is ‘unlawful’ in legal filing.
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.
Switching to renewables is ‘smart economics’ - Guterres
Thu 24 Jul 2025
The global energy transition is now “unstoppable” due to “smart economics”, UN secretary-general António Guterres has said in an online speech titled: “A moment of opportunity.”
Root intelligence: How old trees learn to suck more CO2 from the air
Thu 24 Jul 2025
New research finds that centuries-old oaks can dynamically rewire how they absorb nutrients—suggesting forests may be more resilient allies in the climate fight than once believed.
Climate groups want UK wealth tax to make super-rich fund sustainable economy
17 Jul 2025
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’.
Can robot taxis solve NZ's transport woes?
Wed 23 Jul 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Ministry of Transport has tested the idea of driverless taxis as a futuristic fix. But while new modelling explores how "robotaxis" could ease congestion and reduce car ownership, critics say it misses a crucial point – the country’s worsening transport emissions.
United Nations carbon market rules agreed but concerns remain
25 Nov 2024
New carbon market rules agreed at the fractious UN climate summit will be a relief to New Zealand and Singapore, who were leading the negotiations, but concerns about greenwashing and disadvantaging nature-based solutions remain.
Fast, sustained phase-out of fossil fuels: best-performing countries in coal and transport sectors
10 Jul 2025
By Robert McLachlan | It’s true that climate change is getting worse – it will continue to get worse until emissions fall to near zero. But is action on phasing out fossil fuels really stalling?
Waste Levy risks becoming ‘slush fund’ under proposed changes – Commissioner
5 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Proposed changes to New Zealand's waste legislation risk undermining public trust in the waste levy scheme, according to Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
For the first time, China invests more in wind and solar than coal overseas
29 May 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, long derided for its heavy carbon footprint, was dominated by wind and solar power projects for the first time from 2022 to 2023, according to a new analysis. But coal plants financed in earlier years are still coming online.
