Topics tagged with 'United Nations'
Niger urges rich nations to make 'climate loss fund' operational
21 Dec 2022
The "loss and damage" fund agreed to last month at the COP27 climate conference aims for rich nations to help those that have borne the brunt of their global warming emissions. In Niger, climate change has fueled desertification and conflict as communities compete for dwindling resources.
NZ meets 2020 decarbonisation target with Kyoto credits
19 Dec 2022
New Zealand is meeting its commitment to reducing the country’s 2013-2022 emissions by 5% compared to 1990 levels by using 6.5 million Kyoto protocol credits.
Developed countries not sincere about climate justice, says India's foreign minister
13 Dec 2022
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has criticised developed countries for backtracking on promises to help nations vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Ottawa announces Indigenous guardians network to fight climate change
12 Dec 2022
The Canadian government is announcing the creation of a new network that will help support Indigenous-led environmental initiatives.
Which countries are ‘particularly vulnerable’ to climate change?
9 Dec 2022
The G77+China bloc of developing countries wanted all developing countries to be eligible for the funds. The European Union – which caused a lot of climate change and so will be expected to pay into the fund – wanted the money to only go to “particularly vulnerable” developing countries.
International biodiversity conference must lead to law reform in NZ: expert
8 Dec 2022
New Zealand must do more than simply participate at Montreal’s UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) taking place this week - any agreements must translate to law and policy reform here, according to a local expert.
The 30% goal: is bigger always better for biodiversity?
8 Dec 2022
The UN biodiversity conference now meeting in Montreal is considering a proposal to commit to putting 30 percent of land and sea under protection by 2030. Some ecologists warn that focusing too much on the size of protected areas risks missing what most needs saving.
UAE plans to have it both ways as Cop28 climate summit host
7 Dec 2022
The Gulf oil and gas exporter is going big on renewable energy investment and food security, while expanding hydrocarbon production.
UN report urges countries to treble nature funding by 2030
6 Dec 2022
Global funding to combat biodiversity loss and climate change needs to treble by the end of the decade, a major UN report has found.
The UN says new biodiversity credits can succeed where carbon offsets have failed
6 Dec 2022
The United Nations supports biodiversity credits as a way to boost funding for conservation efforts, but critics warn that the new financial instrument could give companies another tool to burnish green credentials without changing the way they do it do business, change.
COP15: Climate-style deal demanded to halt nature loss and avert survival crisis
5 Dec 2022
Nations around the world are being urged to agree a climate-style deal to halt and reverse nature loss, which is seen as vital to human survival.
PMs confirm commitment to 1.5 degrees
1 Dec 2022
Prime ministers Sanna Marin, of Finland, and Aotearoa’s Jacinda Ardern yesterday issued a joint statement stressing the need for “rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions” and the importance of pursuing efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Should China be let off the hook for climate finance?
30 Nov 2022
The most important outcome of COP27, the climate summit in Egypt earlier this month, was the creation of a new UN-administered fund to compensate developing countries for the costs they incur from climate change-related disasters.
A treaty to end the age of plastic
28 Nov 2022
In March, there was a collective cheer when United Nations member states adopted a historic resolution to end plastic pollution during the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi.
1.5 degrees not just aspirational: Shaw
25 Nov 2022
Climate change minister James Shaw says New Zealand’s commitment to 1.5 degrees is “absolutely essential.”
Lawyers call on government to amend law to commit it to 1.5 degrees pathway
24 Nov 2022
Lawyers for Climate Action New Zealand say that if the government is serious about its commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees it has no choice but to amend the Climate Change Response Act.
UN climate boss settles for no cuts on emissions
22 Nov 2022
Given an energy crisis in Europe and progress made in helping climate victims, the new climate chief for the United Nations said he'll settle for a lack of new emissions-cutting action coming out of the now-concluded climate talks in Egypt.
Pacific nations face certain disaster as COP27 fails to deliver: expert
21 Nov 2022
A climate diplomacy historian says the end of COP27 marks a historic day for Pacific diplomacy, but also a disaster for Pacific nations.
COP27: Climate costs deal struck but no fossil fuel progress
21 Nov 2022
A historic deal has been struck at the UN's COP27 summit that will see rich nations pay poorer countries for the damage and economic losses caused by climate change.
Is COP27 the end of hopes for limiting global warming to 1.5 Degrees?
21 Nov 2022
The COP27 climate conference in Egypt may be remembered as the moment when the world gave up on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the most ambitious goal set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
NZ’s international offsets likely to come from “bespoke” Asia Pacific deals: Shaw
18 Nov 2022
The approximately 100 million offshore carbon credit offsets required to meet New Zealand’s Nationally Determined Contribution are likely to come from “bespoke” bilateral arrangements with countries in the Asia Pacific, climate change minister James Shaw has told an international climate change publication.
Women lead climate talks’ toughest topic: reparations
18 Nov 2022
Men usually outnumber and outrank women negotiators in climate talks, except when it comes to global warming’sthorniest diplomatic issue this year — reparations for climate disasters.
Shaw commits New Zealand to an indigenous framework for climate action
17 Nov 2022
Climate change minister James Shaw told delegates at COP27 in Egypt yesterday, that New Zealand was developing an indigenous framework for climate action led by Māori, for Māori.
Rich countries are trying to hit pause on climate summit’s key issue
17 Nov 2022
The past week has given the world a glimpse of what climate-vulnerable countries have long known: while rich countries bend over backwards to pledge their support for climate action, they are far less enthusiastic when it comes to forking over the cash.
Belize to sell carbon credits worth millions
17 Nov 2022
Belize is one of the world’s most culturally diverse countries, comprised of Creoles, Mayans, and Mennonites. Tourism is the primary economic driver, with people coming to snorkel in its clear ocean waters and enjoy its unblemished coral reefs. They also want to see the world’s largest population of jaguars and 800 species of birds. Agriculture is a money maker too, with the country selling bananas, citrus fruits, and sugar to world markets.
NZ’s loss and damage, loss of face?
16 Nov 2022
Less than a week after the government boasted of being one of just three countries in the world to commit to loss and damage funding, New Zealand has been awarded the ‘fossil of the day award’ for opposing an agreement at COP27 to establish a loss and damage finance facility.
Four signs of progress at the UN climate change summit
15 Nov 2022
Something significant is happening in the desert in Egypt as countries meet at COP27, the United Nations summit on climate change.
Meet Licy of India – one of the world’s youngest climate campaigners
15 Nov 2022
Licypriya Kangujam, 11, is a leading voice in anti-coal protests at home and calls out rich and powerful countries abroad, asking them to make up for the loss and destruction caused due to their unabated regard for the climate.
Let the court decide: Vanuatu's climate push raises hopes
14 Nov 2022
The COP27 climate summit in Egypt has been dominated by calls for nations to redouble their efforts to cut emissions and for rich polluters to finally provide the money that developing nations need to cope with global warming.
As leaders discuss climate, Egyptians bear brunt of a crackdown
14 Nov 2022
Envoys from around the globe gathered this week in a renovated Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where green development projects mushroomed in the lead-up to this year’s climate change summit.
Livestock is a form of climate justice in the Global South
11 Nov 2022
As the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) proceeds in Egypt, few seem to be acknowledging that the elephant in the room is actually a cow.
How do young Egyptians feel about the climate summit?
11 Nov 2022
Accusations of greenwashing have been levelled at COP27 – but Egypt’s youth are remaining optimistic
What became of climate pledges made at COP26?
11 Nov 2022
Meeting at a climate summit in the UK last year, world leaders from nearly 200 countries promised to tell the UN how they would cut pollution faster and sooner.
Pacific Islanders present historic declaration to leaders at COP27
10 Nov 2022
Media release - Pacific island youth met with Australian and Pacific Island leaders at COP27 on Nov 8, to present their demands on decarbonisation, additional loss and damage commitments and accessible climate finance.
COP27: Time to pay the climate bill: vulnerable nations
10 Nov 2022
Leaders of countries flooded or parched due to climate change are pleading at the COP27 summit for an urgent financial lifeline from richer nations.
40 countries to reveal methane action plans at COP 27
10 Nov 2022
With 40 countries expected to unveil their methane reduction plans at COP 27, global action on the climate-busting greenhouse gas could get a boost after stalling out under industry pressure over the last year, even after more 100 countries signed on to the Global Methane Pledge at COP 26.
Aotearoa stumps up cash for loss and damage in developing world
9 Nov 2022
New Zealand has pledged $20 million in funding for a dedicated loss and damages fund for developing countries.
Global South needs $2 trillion a year to tame, cope with climate
9 Nov 2022
Developing and emerging countries - excluding China - need investments well beyond $2 trillion annually by 2030 if the world is to stop the global warming juggernaut and cope with its impacts, according to a UN-backed report released Tuesday.
It's going to be hard for Biden to meet this $11 billion climate change promise
9 Nov 2022
President Biden has pledged to direct $11 billion annually toward international climate aid by 2024, quadrupling the previous U.S. high-water mark.
Climate mitigation expert pessimistic about COP27
8 Nov 2022
A leading New Zealand sustainable energy and climate mitigation expert is pessimistic about COP27, fearing that delegates will not make enough progress on crucial issues where urgent action is already long overdue.
We’re on a ‘highway to climate hell:’ UN chief Guterres
8 Nov 2022
The United Nations secretary general issued a stark warning Monday, telling attendees at the COP27 summit that the world was losing its fight against climate change while also repeating his call to phase-out coal by the year 2040.
Who is paying for climate change loss and damage?
8 Nov 2022
Global warming is leading to ever more extreme natural events and more damage. Countries in the Global South are demanding compensation for climate change they say wealthier nations caused.
NZ risks losing its standing in the Pacific due to lack of ambition at COP27: expert
7 Nov 2022
A climate diplomacy historian is disappointed with Aotearoa New Zealand’s lack of ambition for COP27, which started in Egypt yesterday, and says the country risks losing its standing in the Pacific.
Eight warmest years on record witness upsurge in climate change impacts
7 Nov 2022
The past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat. Extreme heatwaves, drought and devastating flooding have affected millions and cost billions this year, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s provisional State of the Global Climate in 2022 report.
Climate change much deadlier than cancer in some places, UNDP data shows
7 Nov 2022
Media release: UN News | The impact of climate change on health if carbon emissions remain high, could be up to twice as deadly as cancer in some parts of the world, according to new data released on Friday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Climate Impact Lab.
Australia’s carbon report card smeared in red ink as climate action goes backwards
4 Nov 2022
A global report card has marked Australia’s climate action with swathes of red ink, saying the country has not only increased fossil fuel subsidies but gone backwards on climate-risk disclosure policies.
Norway will pay Indonesia $56 million for drop in deforestation, emissions
2 Nov 2022
Norway has agreed to pay Indonesia $56 million in a climate agreement between the two countries, as Indonesia has succeeded in reducing carbon dioxide emissions by preserving its vast tropical rainforests.
Māori youth activists fundraising for UN climate conference
1 Nov 2022
Two young Māori climate change activists are raising money to attend COP27 in Egypt, which starts this week.
Progress on methane emissions by energy companies, but numbers still don’t add up: UNEP
1 Nov 2022
Slashing emissions of methane is the single fastest way to tackle climate change in the short term, says UNEP, as the greenhouse gas remains in the atmosphere for far fewer years than carbon dioxide.
Revolution is in the air at Sisi's climate conference
31 Oct 2022
Storm clouds are gathering over the skies of Egypt which have a hint of revolution within them. They could be the real reason why prominent climate change protagonists like Britain's King Charles III and politicians are not attending the prestigious global COP27 due to be held in Sharm El Sheikh from 6 to 18 November.
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'.
