Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A run of four consecutive years when overall insurance losses from natural catastrophes have topped $160 billion, previously the mark of a remarkably bad year, has spooked executives. Michael Heffner had ow...

For New Zealand farmers, lowering emissions is not a choice its ultimately a requirement from our global customers and trading partners. Photo / Brett Phibbs OPINION AgriZeroNZ chief executive Wayne McNee reflects on his experience at Cop28 and the unique challenges facing the ...

New Zealand needs an urgent rethink on how it involves the public in adapting to climate changes ever-worsening impacts with a status-quo approach risking making the problem bigger, researchers say. A new report , released by the Helen Clark Foundation and engineering consultan...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate Change Minister James Shaw. Photo / Marty Melville The Government is no longer on track to meet its first emissions budget in 2025 and will require significant and costly action offshore to hit its ...

Incoming prime minister Christopher Luxon will have his hands full delivering real climate leadership. Photo / Greg Bowker OPINION For democracy to get the job done, the response to our biggest challenges must be bigger than politics. Much, much bigger. The challenge of navigati...

Carbon capture technology can help industry reduce its carbon footprint. Photo / Kenny Roger OPINION by Jeremy Ward Now that global weather events and changing atmospheric conditions directly affect the way we live, the need to address climate change is becoming clear to everyon...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. As East Coast farmers stare down the barrel of a potentially severe big dry this El Nino summer , scientists are exploring what a horror New Zealand drought will look like in a climate-warmed future. While ...

A number of low-lying Pacific Island nations including Tuvalu, Tokelau and Kiribati are increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change. Photo / NZME New Zealand is being urged to create immigration pathways for people in low-lying Pacific nations - such as Tuvalu and K...

One of the stunning images from the Trouble in Paradise Climate Change in the Pacific photography exhibition that opens at the Turner Centre, in Kerikeri, on November 2. Climate change is a serious issue and in a sign of just how important it is, the British High Commissioner w...

Cows with the "slick" variation at LICs dairy farm in Hamilton. Photo / Play Creative Having identified the slick variation that gives cows shorter coats and better heat tolerance, Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) scientists are now embarking on the next research stage, i...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Rod Carr and Izzy Fenton at the Climate Change and Business Conference last week. Photo / Sustainable Business Council Whos out in front on climate action in this country? After the activist and lobby group...

A managed retreat from flood-prone areas in Whanganui was one of the issues on MP candidate's minds concerning climate change. Photo / Bevan Conley Through the Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis, climate change has remained high on the list of issues for many in the Wha...

The Heralds political and specialist reporters examine the big issues facing New Zealand and how the main political parties plan to deal with them. Today, Jamie Morton looks at climate change. Our extreme summer made it a top-five issue among Kiwis and the potential for wildfir...

Act's Simon Court said there was no climate emergency during a debate in Auckland last night. Photo / RNZ The Act Partys climate change spokesman says there is no climate emergency, which drew gasps from the audience during a pre-election debate last night. Simon Court, who is a...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Clouds have served up some strange challenges in climate change modelling. Photo / Getty Images Theres a puzzle in climate change modelling that has confounded many scientists over the years. The reality is...

Geoff Ross, director of Lake Hawea Station. OPINION New Zealands response to climate change needs to shift from Yeah but... to We are..., writes Geoff Ross. Yeah but, we are too small to make a difference. Yeah but, it wont really affect us. Yeah but, what about the economy? Yea...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Parenting is often the most taxing, demanding work adults even undertake, writes Janfrie Wakim. Photo / 123RF Letter of the week: Struggling families deserve credit too How many commentators when describing...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins turned up the heat against National's Christopher Luxon this week. Photo / Mark Mitchell Every weekday at 5am, the New Zealand Herald presents The Front Page , a daily news podcast covering the biggest stories of the day. Heres a rundown of key stori...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Tui in full voice while busy depleting the stocks of nectar from a tree on the slopes of Owairaka/Mount Albert. Photo / Jason Oxenham Welcome to the new nature Your wonderful picture of the tui in the exoti...

Wildfires across the Northern Hemisphere summer provide a warning of the threat posed by dry, hot weather. Photo / AP Those wishing for a long hot, dry summer might want to rethink their wishes. We live in a time when climate records and weather shocks have become the norm, nece...

Advertorial by Ballance Kapuni, Site 11. Image / Supplied. Advertorial by Ballance Green hydrogen project should be fuelling NZs low-carbon future. This content was prepared by Ballance Agri-Nutrients and is being published by NZME as advertorial. As a leading agri-business, Bal...

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air A number of coastal marae in the Bay of Plenty are dealing with the direct effects of climate change and face the difficult prospect of having to move. Ngai Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley said marae along the coastline ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. We can opt to make our city liveable, or like Los Angeles, where theres no public investment, the car rules and the ethos is be rich or go to hell. Photo / Getty Images Opinion: The election hoardings are u...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. An offshore wind farm near China: How long before we see this off our own coast? Ecosystems are collapsing and the weathers getting really wild. Some say we have to change the way we live, others believe te...

National leader Christopher Luxon (centre) discusses his party's new renewables policy with MPs (from left) Simon Watts, Chris Bishop, Simeon Brown and Stuart Smith. Photo / Michael Craig OPINION The Greens released a decent centre-left policy this weekend, flexing their muscle ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Brett ORiley. Photo / Supplied The past 12 months have been an interesting journey for me in understanding the impacts of climate change on Aotearoa New Zealand and our Asia-Pacific region. I have had the o...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Prolonged exposure to extreme heat can have devastating impacts on peoples health. Photo / Getty Images During mid-winter in New Zealand, it may be hard to imagine extreme heat. But for several weeks during...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Teh-han Chow is Fonterras Great China chief executive. Over the past three years Chinese consumers awareness in sustainable products and climate change has increased dramatically and Fonterra Co-operative G...

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith. Photo / Duncan Brown New Zealand needs to win when it comes to reducing agricultural emissions to maintain our tickets to the game and flourish in international markets. Thats the view of Ministry for Primary Indu...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Locals helping in the clean-up in Te Karaka, inland from Gisborne, in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: Sam Rillstone, RNZ Its turned our land into porridge. Of all the descriptions of the devastation 2...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. While theres now plenty of health data to show New Zealand has comparably high rates of childhood asthma and that asthma attacks have been generally increasing less clear are the specific drivers behind i...

Photo / Supplied. Sponsored by Plant & Food Research John Mawson and his colleagues are building an orchard a digital apple orchard which will bear fruit of a very different kind. Its part of the work New Zealand scientists from Plant & Food Research are pushing ahead with to ...

A Gribble Family Trust wetland restoration planting day in Whanganui, with support from Brunswick School. Thirty-six community projects will share $341,772 in climate and biodiversity funding. Horizons Regional Council chairwoman Rachel Keedwell said she was pleased Horizons cou...

The Green Party wants to make homes warmer and more efficient by offering grants and loans of up to $36,000 for energy upgrades. Photo / Thinkstock The Green Party wants to offer homeowners up to $36,000 in grants and loans to make their homes more energy-efficient and healthy. ...

Normal life ended the moment our undamaged home was red-stickered by Auckland Council. Photo/Zoe McIntosh Abe Dew has lived in Muriwai for 24 years. Six months on from the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle, residents are still picking up the pieces and battling to try to ...

Sponsored by AMP Image / Supplied. Sponsored by AMP AMP took a bold move in 2021 by pivoting to a sustainable investment philosophy across its AMP KiwiSaver and pension funds, supporting its range of corporate sustainability initiatives. Sustainable investing is more than just w...

The Case Against Travel: An essay by a leading academic has given travellers reason to stop and think. Photo / Ian Dooley, Unsplash OPINION A love of travel is not an achievement. Its barely a hobby, argues one US pop academic. As the travel season was starting in the northern h...

The prizewinners of the 9- to 13-year-old category with co-ordinators Anna Harding and Lexi Laybourn, and Climate Change Taitokerau Northland Trust board members Peter Bruce-Iri and Carol Peters. The winners of Northlands first Climate Action Film Contest have been crowned. Josh...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Wildfires like this one near the village of Kiotari, on the Greek island of Rhodes, led to the evacuation of about 20,000 people. Photo / Getty Images If youve never witnessed the feverish joys of cognitive...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The 77th session of the General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters. Photo / AP, File OPINION it is easy to feel afraid for the future of our world. We are emerging from a global pandemic. We face e...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. BlackRock chairman Larry Fink has said that businesses cannot merely have a purpose - they must be leaders in a divided world. Photo / New York Times EDITORIAL Its been called a win-win development and, as ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION Incredibly, its come to this. Our two major political parties are now fighting this election over which of them will build the bigger and more expensive roads. National promises a whole new bunch of...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The early morning sun tries to break through the fog, as cattle roam the fields on a Northland farm. Photo / File Letter of the week: The world we want future positive We are living in a climate funk, with...

Unesco experts are recommending that Venice be added to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger. Photo / 123rf At the beginning of this week, Unesco experts recommended Venice should be added to the list of World Heritage sites in danger, as interventions from Italian authori...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION Hallelujah! Chris Hipkins has drunk the climate Kool-Aid and come to the very public realisation that you cant offset your way out of the climate crisis. Its about time. The upshot of successive gov...

Predictions have become much more accurate, but some dramatic events remain elusive. The worlds weather is presenting a paradox. In many regions, conditions are unprecedented, different to anything seen before. Yet they are also more predictable than ever. This summers extreme h...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Tourists shelter from the sun during a visit to the Acropolis, as a heat wave rips through Athens, Greece. Photo / Getty Images The Acropolis has stood above the city of Athens for centuries, its ancient wa...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Activists in central London protest against the unpopular ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) expansion proposal. Photo / Getty Images Something quite strange happened in London last month the Conservative Part...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Scientists expect hay fever rates to worsen as a result of climate change. Photo / Getty Images Question: Last summer, I spent five months laid low by hay fever that did not get much better with medication....

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. More than 30 years ago, a senior medic wrote about a lack of morale among senior medical staff who were not being listened to. It appears little has changed for the better, a reader says. Photo / 123rf, Fil...

Airlines and economies have pledged to cut emissions by the end of the decade, but is New Zealand's air connectivity on the chopping block? Photo / AP Australia and New Zealand risk being the hardest hit by cutbacks to air connectivity as the world meets climate commitments, avi...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Sahishnu Bhardwaj, 11, (left) and Amit Bhardwaj remove carpet from their Sandringham, Auckland home following January's devastating Anniversary weekend floods. A new research project is looking at how the s...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. There is much chatter in the aisles about a supposed plan to remove Goods and Services Tax from food items. Photo / Jenia Broggi, 123rf, File Tax break to chew on With the speculation about reducing GST on ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Flood experts are bracing for a new norm after extreme weather saw the Bay of Plenty Regional Council issue 54 flood warnings in five months. That was 10 more than it issued for the entire year to June 2022...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The war against climate change requires ALL countries to engage in its defeat. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times Letter of the week: No place for climate inaction by NZ The war against climate change requires ALL...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins during a street walk and visit to businesses in the Leeds St precinct in Wellington on Thursday. Photo / Mark Coote, D...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Back-to-back La Nina events like the one which just helped deliver New Zealand one of its warmest, wettest episodes in history may become more frequent as our planet heats, a new study suggests. Photo / D...

Airlines claim rising temperatures are affecting operations. But is aviation a culprit of victim of climate change? Photo / Getty Images Are airlines the culprit or the victim of climate change? Possibly both says United Airlines, claiming its bottom line is being affected by wa...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The IPCC has revised its assessment of the impact on temperature of ruminant methane downward by a factor of three to four times. OPINION It would not be difficult to imagine the huge outcry if, when electe...

CBEC EcoSolutions, winners of the Te Tohu Matua - Supreme Award, at Friday nights ceremony for Northland Regional Council's Environmental Awards in Whangarei, with Conservation Minister and Northland MP Willow-Jean Prime (far right), who presented the award. Photo / Dawn Dutton ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION Wasnt that a beautiful weekend? Almost no rain! I spent my Saturday morning at Te Mahurehure Marae in Pt Chevalier, with a bunch of young journalism leaders, most of them people of colour. The event...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (left) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese eating sausages at a barbecue lunch in Brisbane in April. The two will meet again next week. Photo / Michael Neilson OPINIO...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A firefighting helicopter flies through smoke as people look on in Mandra west of Athens, Greece, this week. Photo / AP With the news, it is never the headlines we should be reading. We find the greatest di...

The 2017 Port Hills fires in Christchurch threatened many homes. Theres a risk the Government will not reduce emissions enough to meet its first emissions budget. But this does not necessarily mean the Government has fallen short of the emissions reduction rules it has set itsel...

The cost of a weekly shop has become a large burden. Photo / 123RF The annual inflation rate cooled to 6 per cent in the June quarter, from 6.7 per cent in the previous quarter. This shows things are trending in the right direction, but those numbers still make things uncomforta...

Fonterra, the countrys largest dairy producer, and exporter, has committed to reducing coal use across six manufacturing locations. The Government will give $90 million to Fonterra, one of New Zealands largest greenhouse gas emitters, to help reduce the use of coal in its dairy ...

Sponsored by AIA Len Elikhis, NZ Chief Product and Investments Officer, AIA. Photo / Supplied. Sponsored by AIA New report: small changes individuals can make to lower deaths. New Zealanders can harness consumption patterns and purchasing power to help benefit the environment a...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate Change Minister James Shaw says the system is working as it should. OPINION The planet might be overheating, but the Government is struggling to burn Climate Change Commission (CCC) advice in its po...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins with colleagues at the launch of the Labour Party Election 2023 campaign slogan "In It For You" on Sunday. Photo / Alex Burton OPINION How did this happen? Everyone agrees the c...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Avent Green inspecting car imports at the Port of Tauranga. Photo / Alex Cairns Comment: Theyre the unsung guardians that protect our shores from foreign invaders. From inspecting stock feed to scrutinising...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Aeroponics at Nature Urbaine in Paris, the largest rooftop farm in Europe. Stand by for aeroponics! Plastic columns with small cylindrical outlets, growing fruit, vegetables and flowers, their roots danglin...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. These thieves' attempt at a ram raid failed due to bollards installed at an East Auckland business. Photo / Hayden Woodward What a horrible society it has become in the Western world. So many entitled selfi...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Tim Gilbertson, Water Holdings Hawke's Bay's largest shareholder, says the urgency for water security is looming larger every day. Photo / Paul Taylor The babies of today might grow up burning down old peop...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Kiwis have been battered by disaster and a pandemic in the last few years. Has it left us afraid to take risks? Photo / Alan Gibson Wannabe Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called us wet and whiny. Amid not...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Tairawhiti people are "at breaking point" after three states of emergency this year. Its turned our land into porridge. Of all the descriptions of the devastation weather has wrought on Tairawhiti Gisborne ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The Whanganui National park. Were developing a deeper appreciation of the intrinsic value of permanent, native forests, says James Shaw. OPINION Most of us grew up in homes made of wood. Were going to need ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Finnish company Neste has opened a big biofuel refinery in Singapore. Photo / Supplied Airlines are finding it hard to go green. As signs emerge daily of the climate crisis accelerating, the painfully slow ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. As New Zealand has an acute shortage of doctors, it is time to rethink medical training and drop the ego. After all, every country has a medical workforce and they seem to do a splendid job. Photo / 123RF S...

Environmental issues can have a major impact on a companys bottom line. Photo / Getty Each week BusinessDesk and the NZ Heralds Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, its how your KiwiSaver and investments will change under new climate rules. Hosted ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The carbon forestry industry takes a dim view of the Government's proposed changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme. The newly-formed Climate Forestry Association says a proposed revamp of the Emissions Trad...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Ben Stokes of England and David Warner of Australia attempt to stop a "Just Stop Oil" protester as Jonny Bairstow of England tackles a "Just Stop Oil" protestor at Lord's Cricket Ground. Photo / Getty Image...

The Green Party will today make what have been some of its biggest frustrations with the Labour Government election priorities, including making sure all decisions are consistent with keeping global warming below 1.5C. It comes after co-leader James Shaw on Saturday accused Labo...

Climate anxiety during lockdown led Waikato woman Sija Soman to capturing hope amid the devastation of severe weather events on camera. Climate anxiety during tough times in lockdown led Waikato woman Sija Soman on a life-changing personal journey to capture hope amid the devast...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Re-food: Exploring the Troubled Food System of Aotearoa New Zealand by Emily King. Photos / Supplied In Re-food , Emily King explores Aotearoas troubled food system and looks at the best way to address the ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A security guard wearing an electric fan on his neck wipes his sweat on a hot day in Beijing, on Monday. The planet set unofficial records for the hottest days in human data keeping on Monday and Tuesday. P...

Wakata Kingi and Peter Ririnui outside the wharenui at Maungatapu Marae. Photo / Alex Cairns Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air Climate change is threatening an iconic 143-year-old marae in Tauranga. Maungatapu Marae sits in the valley of Maungatapu on waterfron...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Mt Ruapehu looked pretty bleak when Joanna Cho and her friends visited last year. Photo / Supplied by Hannah Bridger Joanna Cho / is a writer living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. OPINION: For the past three year...

Haromono Waru-Morgan is worried about climate change. His is among the strong young voices in Kaitaia demanding change. Photo / Noel Garcia Far North youth are in the hot seat of our warming world as they face predictions of catastrophic weather events, insufficient behaviour ch...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. "The agricultural sector has put its own profits ahead of a stable climate and avoided taking any responsibility for its giant share of the countrys greenhouse gas emissions," writes Gord Stewart. Photo / M...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Sam Cane of the Chiefs. Photo / Photosport Letter of the week: Boo a bad match call not the ref Credit to Sam Cane for calling out the online abuse of referee Ben OKeefe. He called on the New Zealand rugby...

Investigations editor Emergency departments across the country are under unprecedented strain since the Covid-19 pandemic. A senior doctor at Auckland City Hospital tells investigations editor Alex Spence it is compromising the care she and her colleagues can provide to acutely ...

What's next for Whangarei's east coast in places where coastal homes are built on the edge of the beach in what is a constantly changing environment Photo / Susan Botting Coastal retreat may eventually be the best option for affected Whangarei coastal communities facing expensiv...

Having just unveiled the worlds first net zero carbon shoe at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, Allbirds co-founder and chief innovation officer Tim Brown reflects on the challenging road to this landmark release. Much of what influences my philosophy in business has been ...

Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Maori Art Gallery opened with the assistance of Provincial Growth Fund funding. Opinion They say the best time to get the attention of politicians is leading up to a national election, when the eyes of the country are upon them and their prop...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. People watching coastal inundation at Matakatia Bay near Little Manly on Whangaparaoa at high tide as cyclone Gabrielle hits New Zealand. Photo / Dean Purcell The Herald is looking at how our cities and tow...

Commercial Partnership with ASB Photo / Getty Images. Commercial Partnership with ASB ASB: Just talking about emissions reductions not enough anymore. Kiwi businesses are increasingly aware of the need to create plans to reduce their carbon emissions, says ASB Senior Economist a...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OceanGate Expeditions' submersible Titan departs the launch platform. Wreckage was found this week after the sub's ill-fated trip to the Titanic wreck. Photo / OceanGate via AP Checks and balances It may be...

A seagull flies over Lake Taupo, enjoying unseasonably warm and mild weather in the latter part of June. Photo / Merv Richdale Just where has Jack Frost gone? What happened to the very cold winter weather of the previous week in Taupo? Well, after the previous week of below-aver...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, says ETS tweaks could spark unwanted volatility. Photo / Dean Purcell Changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) could create some uncertaint...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Hundeds gathered on Victoria University of Wellington's Hunter Lawn last week to oppose proposed cuts. Photo / Azaria Howell Date taken 21/06/23 OPINION We often tell our students that they are studying at ...

Theres a collective desire for real, transformative change permeating the local fashion industry, and with circular solutions innovations and systems that design out or repurpose potential waste considered the future of fashion and gaining traction, its an exciting time. In rec...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. These days youre more likely to see David Seymour than Christopher Luxon leading an opposition attack on the Government or putting forward a new policy. Photo / Kelly O'Hara Images OPINION The rise of the A...

Senior Writer The future is here and it does not love broccoli. I hope, when Im older, Id be a bit better at eating vegetables, says James Walton, 9. Im not the best right now . . . Walton had some reservations about this interview. For example, he confides, he quite likes eati...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The government is our biggest car owner, writes Bruce Cotterill. Pictured: One of the Crowns new BMW's in 2020. Photo / Greg Bowker OPINION Its interesting that the Greens want a discussion about wealth. Th...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Flooding has Auckland, and other parts of the country, more than once so far this year. Photo / Supplied OPINION The ruinous rainstorms that gatecrashed summer, and returned this week to cause a winter emer...

Only a special vintage could draw a wine editor across the ditch to celebrate its launch. The 2015 vintage of Moet & Chandon Champagne is just that, Jo discovers, with a complicated path from vine to bottle. After years of heat and drought, plus a pandemic, youd think thered not ...

Senior Writer In the latest instalment of our series The New New Zealand: Rebuilding Better, the Herald is looking at how our cities and towns can cope with more extreme weather. Is managed retreat from flood zones and coastal properties the answer? Or are there better ideas to ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. While Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has been working to balance council finances, he has been advised to take a close look at his planners emissions reduction strategy. Photo / Michael Craig OPINION Recent ann...

The Government is proposing changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to make it less attractive for businesses to offset their carbon emissions using forestry. Its worried that businesses find it cheaper to pay to offset their emissions, rather than invest in technology to ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. I see a country with 1800 more cops and 4000 more nurses, where an experienced teacher can now earn more than $100,000 a year and where we have lifted 77,000 children out of poverty in five years, says Shan...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins at Fieldays 2023. Photo / Stephen Barker OPINION Its a good week to be a farmer. Fieldays, a record forecast for primary exports, and killing Labours plan for a climate tax. Its...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Asked if he was worried about this years auctions not clearing, Climate Change Minister James Shaw said, No. Markets fluctuate all the time. Photo / Pool It is becoming increasingly likely the Government wi...

Tirau chicken farmer Jeff Collings is working hard to decarbonise his operation. Reducing carbon emissions in primary industries is a hot topic these days, but Tirau chicken farmer Jeff Collings of Nicholson Poultry is one example of a farmer that shows whats possible. Collings ...

Te Pati Maori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Photo / Mark Mitchell Te Pati Maori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has criticised fellow Maori politicians for their alleged insufficient efforts in addressing climate change. Ngarewa-Packer endorsed former Mana Party deputy leader...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate change is going to cost the Government, writes John Milnes. Photo / NZME Cyclone Gabrielle is going to cost the country probably more than $10 billion dollars. If not directly caused by climate chan...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Bethells Beach Surf Life Saving Patrol club captain Leonard Mead standing below the broken clubhouse - now half its former size after Cyclone Gabrielle caused the Waitakere River to flood. The club faces a ...

Cyclone Gabrielle has destroyed significant parts of the North Island's infrastructure. Photo / George Heard OPINION: The impact of wild weather events in 2023 has exposed the glaring fact that our old and ageing infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle New Zealands changing cli...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Julie Anne Genter. Photo / Supplied This op-ed appeared in the NZ Heralds Infrastructure Report. Read more views here . OPINION: New Zealand has an infrastructure deficit. For decades, local and central gov...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. What's eating Gen Z and Millennial workers? Photo / 123rf New research has provided insights into Gen Z and Millennial workers concerns and whether or not their organisations measure up on key issues. The 1...

Sitiveni Rabuka. Photo / Fiji Elections Office Fijis new Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is visiting New Zealand this week for his first visit since winning last years election. He arrived in the country on Monday and will travel to Wellington for a day of official engagements on...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. PwC Australia's Sydney office on May 25. The Australian government has referred a PwC tax scandal to the police and asked them to consider a criminal investigation as political scrutiny mounts. Photo / Bren...

Experimental vineyard. Photo / Jerram Tocker Barron. Sponsored by Plant & Food Research An experimental vineyard is one of the ways that science will ensure the world will still be able to enjoy New Zealand wine as the climate changes. With the ability to fine-tune the environme...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Some kiwifruit growers are struggling financially after two challenging seasons. Catastrophic and unbelievably bad is how one kiwifruit orchardist has described this years harvest, with some growers running...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Shane Te Pou says lets look after our kaumatua; they deserve to retire at 65 with their super. Photo / Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg OPINION Want to decide what the National Partys policies are going to be? Ther...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. View of Queenstown from the Queenstown Hill walk. Photo / Destination Queenstown Keen to keep things pristine, Queenstown is creating a carbon-zero visitor economy by 2030. By visiting these key attractions...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Tuis rainbow flag request was meant to be a symbol of support for the LGBTQIA+ community. Photo / Getty Images On November 25, 2018, most of the All Blacks wore rainbow laces in a test match against Italy. ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Me, myself and bike. Photo / Bevan Conley I never say Im perfect. I think weve all got principles, which tend to flex when were asked to alter our lives for them: like a vegan sneaking a cheeky chicken parm...

Personal changes can be physical, intellectual, relational or spiritual, writes Ngahi Bidois. Photo / NZME OPINION We all have changes of seasons in our lives. He maha nga wahanga. These changes can be physical, intellectual, relational or spiritual and it helps if we notice whe...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Wild horses graze in front of a forest block at Hukatere on the Aupouri Peninsula in the Far North. Photo / Glenys Rogers, File OPINION The Climate Emergency Response Fund, CERF, played a conspicuous role i...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A shot of a different kind leads to Shane Te Pou thinking that the threat of climate change, like gun violence, demands bold political action. Photo / 123rf Opinion It was late enough to be considered early...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Films like The Terminator, The Matrix and Blade Runner offered specific warnings about a grim AI-led future. Photo / 123rf OPINION: The problem wont be smart computers, it will be stupid humans. Its always ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, Minister for Energy and Resources Megan Woods and Climate Change Minister James Shaw at the Glenbrook Steel mill south of Auckland. Photo / Alex Burton, Letter of the week: Sco...

By RNZ Fonterra, one of the countrys largest greenhouse gas emitters, says it will be a decade before it will abandon coal altogether, and it wants more Government assistance. Last week New Zealand Steel said it would halve its coal use in 2027 after a Government boost to help c...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, Minister for Energy and Resources Megan Woods and Climate Change Minister James Shaw at the Glenbrook steel mill to announce an electric arc furnace part-financed by Government...

On Antartica trips, guests often ignore red poles put up by guides to warn of wildlife. Photo / Eloise Barker Should Antarctica be off-limits? On this untouched landscape, how many visitors are too many? Asks Eloise Barker Witnessing Antarctica is a once-in-a-lifetime experience...

School Strike 4 Climate protesters marching to Parliament in March. Photo / Mark Mitchell Opinion School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C) is holding a nationwide strike on Friday. SS4C is a rangatahi-led grassroots organisation, demanding strong, effective, resilient and long-standing cl...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION Christopher Luxon is right! He says Government should not be paying multinational corporates to reduce their carbon emissions when theyre perfectly capable of doing it themselves. But Luxon is also ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Analysis The Government today announced a partnership with NZ Steel to spend up to $140 million on helping it transition away from burning coal in a move equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road. It w...

Empower separate emergency executive leaderships for hospitals, says Rob Campbell. Photo / Getty Images Former Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) chair Rob Campbell addressed a New Zealand Women in Health gathering on Friday night where 90 clinical health professionals from around Aotearo...

Shaneel Lal sees social media influencing like any other job people do to pay their bills. Photo / 123rf Opinion When the floods hit Auckland in January, social media influencers who continued to post as usual faced the full wrath of Aucklanders. Some called them out of touch an...

La Nina and El Nino events are becoming more frequently strong as our planet heats, researchers have found, as a separate UN report warns the symbolic 1.5C threshold could be crossed as soon as 2027. Photo / Dean Purcell La Nina and El Nino events are becoming more frequently st...

OPINION Part of the fun of any Budget is engaging in pre-Budget speculation - informed, uninformed and ill-informed - as to what the Budget might actually include. Collected below is a list of things that the Herald thinks just might pop up in the Budget today. All will be revea...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION Despite the grim warnings, Finance Minister Grant Robertson is widely expected to pull a rabbit from his hat in the Budget today. Frankly, I hope he has a very big hat, because why shouldnt we expec...

Why you'll always weigh more in these countries, according to Nasa. Photo / Joachim Schnurle, Unsplash Weight gain is a common complaint of holidaymakers. According to Nasa choosing a different destination could make a difference in how much you weigh. Scientists have recently d...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare attends a meeting with former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in China during a 2019 visit. Photo / Getty Images Opinion The Herit...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Auckland must be able to simultaneously grow up and grow out, Roger Partridge of the NZ Initiative argues. Photo / Bruce Clarke, Incredible Images OPINION Anyone hoping for an end to the countrys housing af...

Mangawhai-based Sustainable Kaipara spokesperson Sarah Bray says recycling food scraps, like what is happening in her coastal settlement, is a better option for waste management. Food scraps from 50 Mangawhai households and 10 businesses are turned into compost at this community...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Extinction Rebellion members support other members in court on charges of willful damage for painting outside the ANZ Bank on Auckland's Queen St. Photo / Dean Purcell Wellington motorists have been outrage...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Perth, Western Australia. OPINION Its amazing what you get used to. Ive spent most of this week in Perth, Western Australia. While Auckland flooded, its been warm and sunny. Unfortunately Ive been in a conf...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. John Roughan: Industrial action is irresponsible in this climate. How does it convince parents and pupils that it is important to attend school every day? Photo / Emma Houpt OPINION: Had anyone told me when...

Pete Fitz-Herbert has been thinking about change after helping out in Hawke's Bay post-Cyclone Gabrielle. File photo / Mike Scott Opinion: After helping out the flood-stricken Patoka community, Manawatu farmer Pete Fitz-Herbert reflects on how change comes to us all. The C word ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. There are plans to cut $1.3 million from Whanganui District Councils climate spending. Plans to cut $1.3 million from Whanganui District Councils climate, solar and coastal plan budgets have been met with c...

Downpours again wreaked havoc across the North Island. The downpours this week ripped open fresh wounds for many North Islanders, some of whom were still in the process of rebuilding after the January floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. The tension across Auckland was palpable, with m...

Holiday destinations are changing thanks to climate change. So how do you protect your next trip from weather-related events? Photo / Getty Images For Travel - May 9 Holiday destinations are changing are you up to date? asks Eloise Barker Global heating is changing our world at...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. NZ Green Finance wants to invest more in solar pojects. New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) will get a $300 million boost from the Government in the upcoming Budget to support reduced carbon emissi...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the May 18 Budget will give carbon market traders more certainty. Photo / Mark Mitchell The Governments effort to soothe the pain of inflation by preventing the cost of...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Families evacuate from their Napier homes during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Paul Taylor, File OPINION Climate action has been a topic of conversation for years but the devastating floods at the start of 202...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate Change Minister James Shaw said responding to climate change was making it difficult to reduce emissions. Photo / Alex Burton A tight labour market is acting as a handbrake on the Governments climat...

Kate Hall cuts through the beauty industry greenwashing. Photo / Getty Images Makeup, no matter what its made from, is never good for the planet. You wont find wear makeup on the list of activities we can do to solve our climate crisis, so when youre hunting for makeup that is m...

Rainbow Falls, in Kerikeri, was a torrent around 2pm on Friday with flood waters created by the storm hitting Northland. Photo / Peter de Graaf Theres good news and not-so-good news for weather watchers as Northland remains sodden from almost a week of rain: the bad weather shou...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Klaus Littmann's forest in an Austrian stadium. The trust board that runs Eden Park has proposed a bold renovation with a covered roof and, they say, massive environmental benefits. They dont know the half ...

Restore Passenger Rail protesters say they will continue to glue themselves to motorways and disrupt Wellingtonians for as long as possible. The group says its in the name of climate change and they will not stop until the Government makes a reasonable move on its demands. Howev...

The inaugural Manawatu-Whanganui Joint Climate Action Plan has been released. The inaugural Manawatu-Whanganui Joint Climate Action Plan has been released with the aim of clarifying the role of councils in addressing climate changes impact and building communities to preserve an...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell Opinion Ive never felt so much division in our country before, Its us and them, Ive been made out as a bad person but Im just doing what I thinks the right thing. These are comments Ive heard over the past few wee...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Greg Steward, who failed science and left school at 16, has become Scions and possibly New Zealands longest serving indigenous forestry researcher. Photo / Supplied Greg Steward has been celebrated for his ...

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation has partnered with Sankari Studios, an international gaming-for-good company, to promote fundraising for the environmental cause. The Great Barrier Reef Foundation and Sankari Studios, a for-good international gaming company, have partnered up t...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. #vanlife in the Arizona desert. Its not for everyone. And if youve seen the movie Nomadland , you might think living in a mobile home in the American southwest is mainly something itinerant Amazon workers d...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Revenue Minister David Parker looked a lonely figure this week as he picked up the baton against capital gains tax . Photo / Mark Mitchell Opinion The day Jacinda Ardern crumbled on capital gains tax, annou...

Sponsored by Contact Tauhara cooling tower under construction/Photo Supplied. Sponsored by Contact Contact's plans: cut emissions equal to 220,000 cars off the road. This opinion piece from Mike Fuge, CEO of Contact, is the last in a series of eight looking at improving outcomes...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Is it still possible to sell the concept of living in 'Godzone' to those who consider emigrating? Photo / Sylvie Whinray, File Our advantages Lets be realistic. There is no way we can compete with Australia...

More New Zealanders could be looking to dust off their passports. Photo / Getty Images Recent changes Australian immigration rules have caused some to predict a massive brain drain from of talent out of New Zealand. With higher wages and more opportunities, Australia has long be...

If theres anything this years floods and tornadoes have taught us, its that climate change is not going anywhere anytime soon. Around the world, were already seeing its impact through extreme cases of droughts, storms, and heat waves. When it comes to the fashion industrys well-d...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Hands up all those who remember a truly inspirational teacher? Photo / 123rf, File Teaching methods Can anyone seriously doubt the validity of schoolchildren being introduced to the so-called Three Rs at th...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has met with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Brisbane today after a historic announcement of guaranteed citizenship pathways for Kiwis across the Tasman. At a press conference fronted by the two prime ministers, Albanese said the two c...

Treasury claims following the Climate Change Commissions advice would substantially increase prices for consumers, particularly that of petrol and diesel. Photo / Daily Post OPINION: New Zealands Emissions Trading Scheme needs reform, but with differing views from Wellingtons po...

Brit Bunkley. OPINION: In the 1960s, the tobacco industry portrayed smoking as an act of elegance and sophistication - even as in the US, in 1964, the Surgeon General report officially recognised the health risks of tobacco, and cancer deaths soared. The Harvard Gazette stated t...

This massive tree brought down in Memorial Park was one of the casualties of Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Sandra Conchie An estimated $15-20 million worth of damage was caused by the Auckland Anniversary storm and Cyclone Gabrielle, Western Bay of Plenty Council says. Combined wit...

Theres a new buzz phrase in town and it's nature-positive holidays. Photo / Getty Images Travellers, take note theres a new buzz phrase in town. But what exactly are nature-positive holidays? Ahead of Earth Day on Saturday April 22, Catherine Roberts sheds light on the concept....

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. New housing development, Flat Bush, Auckland, Photo / Supplied Environment Minister David Parker has given Auckland Council a years reprieve from the Governments housing intensification demands after it sou...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. News this week that the pace of inflation had slowed from Usain Bolt to Carl Lewis speeds prompted a collective sigh of relief in the Beehive. A year after the peak had been forecast to happen, had it actua...

Inflation data came in lower than expected. Photo / 123RF Economists around the country were caught by surprise upon the release of inflation data this week. While most anticipated it to stay stubbornly around the 7 per cent mark, the actual data showed the figure to be far lowe...

A concept for the Government's now-axed cycle bridge. The new crossing over Aucklands Waitemata might not include any additional lanes for cars and instead focus exclusively on walking, cycling and rail. The Government last month released five scenarios for the new crossing. The...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. AgFirst farm consultant Tafi Manjala says the days of peak cows in Northland are gone. Photo / Tania Whyte A warning that the days of peak cows and milk production in Northland are over has been issued as a...

Sponsored by Forest Owners Association Photo / supplied. Sponsored by Forest Owners Association Forest owners: pines are organic superglue against climate change. In this opinion piece, Don Carson, communications manager at the New Zealand Forest Owners Association, says more tr...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. How much profit is enough when people are struggling to put healthy food on the family table? Photo / 123rf, File Moneyed by misery What kind of society is this that is happy to line the pockets of sharehol...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Over the past decade, thousands of people have been sent to NZ under the 501 policy. Photo / Australian Border Force The number of Kiwis being deported from Australia under its controversial 501 policy appe...

New Zealand's Tasman Glacier. Photo / Niwa, Rebekah Parsons-King New Zealand could face a bill of $24 billion in the years leading up to 2030 in order to meet its international climate change targets, according to a Government report. That scenario is based on New Zealand not re...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Turner and Growers 30-hectare orchard on Puketapu Road, west of Napier, after the Cyclone Gabrielle floods. 16 February, 2023. Photo / Mark Mitchell Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland anniversary floods wil...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. National Party leader Christopher Luxon (left) with infrastructure spokesman Chris Bishop, announcing their new renewable energy policy. Photo / Michael Craig OPINION: Electrify New Zealand, announced Natio...

What type of future are we walking into? Photo / Paul Taylor The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reiterates the concern that time is running out fast. This, the third report from the IPCC in two years, came only weeks after the devastating impact...

Extreme weather events like last month's Cyclone Gabrielle will become more frequent under a changing climate. Photo / Dean Purcell The experts have officially said their piece, giving world leaders what they need to tackle our planets worsening climate crisis. Science reporter ...

Big deluges have become up to four times more common - and drop up to 30 per cent more rain - in the East Coast regions that Gabrielle hit hardest. Thats according to an early study thats explored climate changes potential role in our worst weather event this century, but which ...

Mangatokerau bridge, Tolaga Bay, covered in forestry slash. Photo / Miss-Kate Rochelle It is too late to reverse climate change. It will be changing for a long time to come. All we can do is slow it down. If we act that is and that is where the problem lies. We still think that ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION How New Zealand responds to climate change will determine whether we remain a first world country. As it is, the median wage in Australia is now $24,000 higher than in this country, and more than a ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Kyle MacDonald explains that denial has never helped anyone solve a problem. Photo / Getty Mind Matters psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald answers your mental health questions. Q Im really worried about climate...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The Ngaruroro River in Hawke's Bay after it burst its banks during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Dawson Bliss Letter of the week: Catherine Henderson, Matakana My relatives celebrated their diamond wedding ann...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A house flooded on Swamp Rd, in Hawke's Bay, as Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread damage to the region. Photo / Matt Wheatley OPINION: New Zealands era of climate-change mitigation, which began with Natio...

OPINION: The climate crisis looks and sounds terrifying, but I had never anticipated the smell. It smells like sewage spewed out of neglected pipes. Sodden carpets and curtains ripped up and out of thousands of homes. Air so thick dehumidifiers choke. When the news cycle moves o...

Extreme weather events need unified action. But will we get it from our politicians? Photo / Warren Buckland The issue of climate change needs to rise above the bickering of party politics, according to Government Minister and Green Party co-leader James Shaw. Speaking to The Fr...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Even with the damage done by a procession of storms like Cyclone Gabrielle its hard to detect much urgency in the Governments preparations for those inevitably yet to come. Photo / Warren Buckland OPINION: ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Air New Zealands new sustainability boss Kiri Hannifin says the hammering the country is taking from extreme tropical weather is yet another stark warning to polluting industries. Globally, aviation contrib...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Leo Bancale at Cordis Hotel's bar, Our Land is Alive which has a local produce emphasis. Photo / Supplied With the devastation from Cyclone Gabrielle highlighting the scale of the climate crisis, a sustaina...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Cyclone Gabrielle fells a tree at Kuirau Park. Photo / Andrew Warner OPINION Cyclone, hurricane, typhoon. To bastardise a line from the Bard, a storm by any other name can be just as devastating. In our cor...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle on North Island towns and cities has focused minds on the challenge presented by homes that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. What happens to people liv...

He Toka Tu Moana Mo Maketu aims to safeguard the future of Maketu's people, places and natural environment. Photo / Andy Belcher In a rohe already seeing the impacts of climate change first-hand, the Maketu community in the Bay of Plenty has come together to develop a plan to re...

Whangarei District Council said while it has seen progression in some of its climate change actions, there was room for improvement. Photo / John Stone Whangarei District Council (WDC) has admitted its climate action plan is stagnating after a local conservation group called out...

Sponsored by Buddle Findlay Photo / Supplied. Sponsored by Buddle Findlay In this opinion piece David Allen, a specialist in resource management, environmental and natural resources law at Buddle Findlay says now that key NZ climate change policies are bedded in, the real work s...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. North Island farmland: Why doesn't National have a credible plan for dealing with farm emissions? Photo / NZME OPINION: Why is National Party leader Christopher Luxon trying to outflank Act and New Zealand ...

Tarawa, an atoll in Kiribati. Photo / AP A refugee has failed in a bid to receive protected status in New Zealand on the basis his island home is becoming uninhabitable, despite a United Nations ruling saying its unlawful to return people to countries where their lives might be ...

A swollen Kerikeri River races past two of New Zealand's oldest buildings, Kemp House and the Stone Store in 2020. Photo / Peter de Graaf Five vulnerable communities in Northland have been identified as being at risk of major flooding as climate change impacts bite. A new govern...

New Zealand is joining a small group of wealthy countries to commit funding to help developing nations facing losses and damages caused by climate change, with an initial pledge of $20 million. An environmental lawyer says it is a great step, particularly to help the Pacific and...

New Zealand's cherished glaciers are melting at a frightening rate, with warmer temperatures over recent decades stripping them of a third of their total volume. As our third consecutive La Nina bodes another dire summer for these icy wonders, a glaciologist is launching a major...

Rough estimates have put the cost of losing properties and assets in coastal and floodplain areas threatened by climate impacts at about $145 billion. Photo / Brett Phibbs River and surface flooding may pose an even bigger threat to our banks' mortgage portfolios than that from ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A walker takes advantage of the unusual warm weather Northland is having, with energy-sapping high humidity due this weekend. Photo / Michael Cunningham Northlanders will need to turn on the fans in an atte...

The game became a metaphor for the inequalities in the world, caused by climate change. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer A football match in Hamilton this week between two girls' high school teams became a terrible, one-sided disaster despite being organised as part of the Spirit o...

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton's report says we cant plant our way out of the impact of GHG emissions. File photo / Alan Gibson Opinion: There are no easy answers to New Zealand or the Worlds GHG emissions but is there too much hot air and confusion s...

Whangarei climate scientist Matt de Boer (left) and Kim Newall prepare for their Climate Imaginaries performance. Photo / Supplied By Susan Botting - Local Democracy Reporter for Northland Journeying through climate change is the focus of an immersive live installation performan...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw feared the Government's preferred option to address agricultural emissions could be "ineffective" and risked not meeting targets. The Government today released for consultation its plans for a world-first scheme that will see farmers paying for...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Companies have been slow to recognise climate change risks in their accounts, PwC says. NZX-listed companies are warming to the need to report the impact of climate change in their annual accounts, PwC says...

Climate activists and pensioners Brian Wheeldon, Carillon Cowan and Gillian Coombes had their charges dismissed in court when they appeared for trial. Photo / Michael Craig They were three unlikely activists: old enough to collect the pension but so passionate about their messag...

Agricultural emissions make up about half of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions, the largest portion of which comes from dairy cows. Photo / Chris Tarpey An area covering more than half of the North Island would need to be in pine plantation forests by 2050 to meet the...

Kiwis will soon be able to find out what climate shifts will play out where they they live and work, with a new forecasting tool being developed in a million-dollar study. Photo / George Heard New Zealanders will soon be able to find out how their local climate will shift over c...

Student protesters gathered on Parliament grounds in Wellington. Photo / Nick James Green Party co-leader James Shaw has called on school students to start a "rolling series of climate strikes" until next year's election to put pressure on politicians and businesses to take grea...

More than 500 people packed Auckland's Aotea Centre, eager to hear from a who's who in the climate world. Photo / Supplied By Hamish Cardwell of RNZ A sold-out climate and business conference in Auckland has heard fears for the future expressed alongside optimism for business op...

One of the wider questions arising from flooding around the takiwa is whether communities in climate-prone areas should be rebuilt at all? Photo / George Heard OPINION Sunken cars, deluged houses and businesses, paddocks under water. Images from last month's flooding in Whakatu ...

A displaced family wades through a flooded area after heavy rainfall, in Jaffarabad, Pakistan. Photo / AP Climate change likely worsened rainfall by up to 50 per cent late last month in two southern Pakistan provinces. But global warming wasn't the biggest cause of the country's...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A business on the western coast of Rarotonga is inundated by surging waters during a cyclone. Photo / Supplied OPINION To the low-lying small islands across the immense Pacific Ocean, the term climate chang...

CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere were the highest detected in 800,000 years. Photo / 123RF By Hamish Cardwell of RNZ A major new international report shows last year again broke climate records, with the highest ever recorded greenhouse gases, ocean heat and global sea level...

Shoppers enjoying some retail therapy in the laneways of Melbourne, Victoria. Photo / Supplied, File By Rosie Gordon of RNZ As international travel climbs back to pre-pandemic levels, climate change experts are urging New Zealanders to re-think the way they fly and even axe tran...

A new paper shows that ice melt from Greenland alone will cause an inevitable sea level rise of around quarter of a metre. Photo / 123rf By Hamish Cardwell of RNZ An ominous new study shows about a 25cm sea level rise is now inevitable - even if all climate-damaging actions stop...

Aurora Expeditions' ship The Greg Mortimer is at home in Antarctic waters. Photo / Jocelyn Pride "Ta da!" says Dan Stavert, our Assistant Expedition Leader striking a dramatic scientist stance. "We're now working for Nasa." A buzz of excitement ripples through the group as we ga...

File photo / Brett Phibbs Opinion: When it comes to climate change and global warming, some farmers need to drop opinions driven by "historical prejudice and a wilful determination to ignore what's happening around them," retired farmer Geoff Prickett writes. Earlier this month,...

A major insurer is eyeing risk-based pricing for coastal erosion, in what's being described as another symbolic step by the industry to confront climate threats. Photo / Brett Phibbs A major insurer is eyeing risk-based pricing for coastal erosion, in what's being described as a...

Climate change is a big issue for a coastal island nation like ours. Photo / Paul Taylor OPINION: The Government released its Climate Adaptation Plan and while its misses several key points, it at least begins a discussion on one of the greatest issues facing property owners, co...

Activists engage in a 'Show US The Money' protest at the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Photo / AP African officials outlined their priorities for the upcoming UN climate summit, including a push to make heavily polluting rich nations compensate poor countries for...

Entire towns and communities will likely need to be abandoned because of climate change impacts and laws will be in place to guide the high-cost and last-resort scenario by 2024. But exactly how to do that, and the tricky questions of how much it will cost and who pays, have sti...

Grant Wilkins says the stress for all the Grant Wilkins says the stress for all the Matata residents having to abandon their properties was horrendous. Photo / Supplied Hamish Cardwell of RNZ Some communities in Aotearoa may be abandoned, with climate change driving increasing s...

Wellington's Owhiro Bay has been the site of several recent flooding incidents. Photo / Mark Mitchell By Hamish Cardwell of RNZ Storms and flooding driven by climate change are already causing massive damage in Aotearoa and will only become increasingly common. So how do we adap...

Talosaga Bilbo at the Savalalo Market set to be rebuilt with the help of $12 million from New Zealand. Photo / Vaimoana Mase Almost $30 million will go towards supporting Samoa's climate change response and to rebuild a local market destroyed by fire. The announcement comes as P...

Experts are ignoring the worst possible climate change catastrophic scenarios, including collapse of society or the potential extinction of humans, however unlikely, a group of top scientists claim. Eleven scientists from around the world are calling on the United Nations' Inter...

Wildfires, floods and soaring temperatures have made climate change real to many Americans. Photo / AP In 1998, as nations around the world agreed to cut carbon emissions through the Kyoto Protocol, America's fossil fuel companies plotted their response, including an aggressive ...

The Zayandeh Roud river no longer runs under the 400-year-old Si-o-seh Pol bridge, Iran. Photo / AP Temperatures in the Middle East have risen far faster than the world's average in the past three decades. Precipitation has been decreasing, and experts predict droughts will come...

The Routeburn Track is one of New Zealand's 10 Great Walks. Photo / Stewart Nimmo By Tess Brunton of RNZ Some of the country's iconic Great Walks may be rerouted or huts moved as the Department of Conservation (DOC) prepares for more extreme weather due to climate change. In the...

For most of the major carbon-polluting nations, promising to fight climate change is a lot easier than actually doing it. In the United States, President Joe Biden has learned that the hard way. Among the 10 biggest carbon emitters, only the European Union has enacted policies c...

Weather prediction made this week. A hypothetical forecast of the weather in 2050 is set to become a reality 28 years early, as the UK braces for an "unexpected" heatwave. Photo / Supplied In a set of graphics two years ago, the UK's official weather and climate service produced...

Bethanie Luke: The Sacred Heart student representing Hon Andrew Little at Youth Parliament 2022. Photo / Achim Hanne With a focus on youth leadership and climate change, Bethanie Luke is looking forward to the experiences Youth Parliament 2022 will bring this week. "I'm looking ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern being greeted as she arrived in Fiji this week. Photo / Michael Neilson EDITORIAL It must be maddening indeed to sit and listen to world leaders talk stability and ...

In a blow to the fight against climate change, the Supreme Court on Thursday limited how the US's main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. US President Joe Biden called the decision "devastating". By a 6-3 vote, with conservat...

This image shows how the temperature in New Zealand has changed since the start of the 20th century compared to average (1971-2000). Photo / Metservice / Ed Hawkins / Show Your Stripes MetService has shared a worrying image detailing the impact climate change has had on New Zeal...

The frequent use of the term "shared values" to describe developments in the Pacific tends to obscure a distinct shift in New Zealand and Australian relations with their Pacific partners over the past two decades. This shift has seen a move away from ready acceptance by Pacific ...

Te Hapua is one of the Far North coastal communities having to act now to combat the impending risks to the community as a result of climate change. Photo / Peter De Graaf 090622SPLMAP, 'The NZRise online tool allows people to see how sea levels will rise along their coastline. ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Rising sea levels and more extreme weather will change the way property is insured, but one expert warns higher premiums are just the start. Climate change is set to intensify and increase the major weather...

Tinkering with the planet's air to cool Earth's ever-warming climate is inching closer to reality enough so that two different high-powered groups - one of scientists and one of former world leaders - are trying to come up with ethics and governing guidelines. This week, the new...

Damaged caused by flooding in Tairawhiti in March. Photo / Tairawhiti Civil Defence By Hamish Cardwell of RNZ Climate change was a factor in autumn being the second-equal warmest on record, but last season also brought extreme flooding, high winds, tornadoes, and drought - all w...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo / AP EDITORIAL Has a giant woken from its slumber on the climate crisis? Australia's election has delivered a new government with a more determined attitude...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese has promised to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. Photo / Rick Rycroft OPINION: Anthony Albanese's decisive election victory over the weekend and the way Scott Mo...

With Hawke's Bay's climate and generally flat land cycling and walking to work as part of everyday life, should be easy. Photo / Paul Taylor At last we have it! An Emissions Reduction Plan with the funding to back it was released on Monday. A plan for real action on climate chan...

The Government's major plan to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been pulled apart by critics on all sides of the political spectrum, with even the Climate Change Minister admitting he'd like it to go further. The National Party has criticised a lack of detail - pa...

Over a third of cars on the road will be electric or hybrid - and high-emitting vehicles will be banned - under a significant plan unveiled by the Government. The $4.5 billion in funding announced on Monday will help reduce global warming and avoid the catastrophic impacts of cl...

The Government has today unveiled its Emissions Reduction Plan to tackle the impacts of climate change and help reduce global warming.. Here are eight talking points: The Government wants at least 30 per cent of the light vehicle fleet (ordinary passenger cars) to be zero emissi...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The legal risk to boards around climate change is growing, an expert says. Climate change is posing an ever larger legal risk to boards and most listed companies are "grossly underestimating" the time and c...

By Hamish Cardwell of RNZ Analysis - Climate Change Minister James Shaw this morning sketched out some more details about to expect from a historic 10 days in climate policy in Aotearoa. The Government today announced its comprehensive plan to slash climate emissions will come o...

Since 1990 there has been a 76 per cent increase in transport emissions, now making up 16.7 per cent overall. Photo / Alex Burton The National Party supports greenhouse gas emissions budgets set today by the Government, continuing a run of cross-party collaboration on climate ch...

Whangarei's Town Basin is among many parts of Northland's coastline to be challenged by climate change's impacts into the future. Photo / Susan Botting. Northland is the first place in New Zealand to have a region-wide local government climate change adaptation strategy, with 70...

Flooding and washout at Waipiro Bay in Tairawhiti in mid-April from ex-tropical cyclone Fili. Photo / Supplied Who pays and how much for shifting homes and potentially entire communities due to extreme weather events associated with climate change is part of a major consultation...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has revealed climate change - including low emissions shipping and flights - to be a new focus of New Zealand-Singapore relations during a press conference with her Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong. Both countries also agreed to continue to upg...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Methane, belched by cows, is critical to an urgent response to the climate crisis. Photo / Mark Mitchell OPINION So much to do, so little time. We can still prevent catastrophic global warming, the IPCC war...

The danger of climate change is closer than we realise. Photo / Getty Images We only have about three years left to reverse greenhouse gas emissions to avoid climate chaos in the coming decades. This is the key message from the latest instalment of the Intergovernmental Panel on...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. EDITORIAL The latest United Nations report on increasing dangers posed by climate change sharpens focus on how we live our lives in New Zealand and how people get here. This country is heavily reliant on av...

The legislation will instruct Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to apply a 36 per cent discount on road user charges over three months. Photo / Warren Buckland The Green Party says a bill being rushed through Parliament to subsidise fuel prices flies in the face of much-needed act...

Temperatures on Earth will shoot past a key danger point unless greenhouse gas emissions fall faster than countries have committed, the world's top body of climate scientists say, warning of the consequences of inaction but also noting hopeful signs of progress. UN Secretary-Gen...

Scientists have teased out the hidden hand of climate change in one of our worst flood events - finding it made last year's West Coast deluge about 10 per cent more intense. Photo / George Heard Scientists have teased out the hidden hand of climate change in one of our worst flo...

Ashburton councillors questioning the authenticity of climate change have been labelled "embarrassing" by one of their own. Photo / Supplied Ashburton councillors questioning the authenticity of climate change have been labelled "embarrassing" by one of their own. The simple tas...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate Change minister James Shaw defended plans to introduce slow, steady national emissions cuts rather than more ambitious action. Photo / Mark Mitchell While the Parliament grounds were literally burni...

If you can adopt a stream or river of your own and bring it to life with your mates and whanau by creating your own nursery then do it, says Hinewai Ormsby. Photo / NZME Last week the IPCC Sixth Assessment report came out where it provides an assessment of the impacts of climate...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A gas flare burns at dusk in the Permian Basin in Texas. Photo / Bronte Wittpenn, Bloomberg Climate crisis action As if droughts, floods, fires, and food failures were not obvious enough, the UN has publish...

Scientists have long been warning that extreme weather would cause calamity in the future. But in South America which in just the last month has had deadly landslides in Brazil, a wildfire in Argentine wetlands and flooding in the Amazon so severe it ruined harvests that futur...

Photo / 123RF By Hamish Cardwell for RNZ A group of lawyers will today argue in the High Court that the Climate Change Commission's (CCC) roadmap for cutting emissions does not go hard enough or fast enough. The Lawyers for Climate Action NZ - made up of 300 lawyers - allege the...

In this 2016 file photo, a haul truck with a 250-ton capacity carries coal after being loaded from a nearby mechanised shovel at the Spring Creek strip mine. Photo / AP In the coal fields of eastern Montana, climate change is forcing a stark choice: halt mining that helped build...

Climate change scientist James Renwick will give a talk on science, response and energy in Taupo. Photo / Supplied The climate is changing and sea level is rising - and humans must continue to adapt to the conditions. An expert in such changes, Victoria University of Wellington ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. While the world has been focused on Covid-19 over the past two years, the elephant in the room is getting bigger. Photo / NZME OPINION For nearly two years all our minds and energy have been focused on Covi...

Snowpack in the US West has decreased by about 20 per cent in the last century, but making snow for ski fields isn't without it's own environmental cost. Photo / Unsplash The sight can be jarring during extreme drought: snowmaking guns lined up on a mountainside, blasting precio...

Twenty-three-year-old Alexandra Cox, faced with the fear of what climate change will mean for the future, says she is considering not having children. Photo / 123RF Twenty-three-year-old Alexandra Cox, faced with the fear of what climate change will mean for the future, says she...

Kapiti Coast Mayor K. Gurunathan. Weekly column by Kapiti Mayor K Gurunathan. It's a sizzling 26C in sunny Otaki as I write. In fact, the past six years have seen the planet hit consecutive records as the hottest. New research from Niwa shows extreme events in New Zealand have o...

Renders from Wellington City Council's Digital Twin currently being developed in Unreal Engine. Photo / Supplied A digital recreation of Wellington which aims to educate people about climate change is one of 15 innovative initiatives to be awarded US$1 million in the Bloomberg M...

It produced an ash cloud spanning hundreds of square kilometres - but scientists say it's unlikely Hunga-Tonga's big blow will put any dent in global warming. Image / JMA It produced an ash cloud spanning hundreds of square kilometres but scientists say it's unlikely Hunga-Tong...

In a major new Herald podcast series, Detour: Antarctica , Thomas Bywater goes in search of the white continent's hidden stories. In this accompanying text series, he reveals a few of his discoveries to whet your appetite for the podcast. You can read them all, and experience a ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. New Zealand's climate is warming at a quickening pace - making severe events like drought more frequent. Photo / George Heard They called it the "bummer summer", with January 2017 its lowest ebb. Sun-starve...

Nga Tangata Tiaki o Whanganui chair Sheena Maru presents at Te Aratini at Expo 2020 Dubai. Photo/Supplied (Te Aratini) Honey, meat, climate change and resilience were all on the table when a Maori farming collective of more than 9000 shareholders went to Expo 2020 Dubai to build...

The Green Party is smarting after Labour decided to delay enacting changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that would see climate change considered in consenting decisions. The changes would have come into force on December 31 this year, instead, after a decision at Cabinet...

In a major step to fight climate change, the Biden administration is raising vehicle mileage standards to significantly reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases, reversing a Trump-era rollback that loosened fuel efficiency standards. A final rule would raise mileage s...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran says passengers face having to "put their hands in their pockets" to help airlines tackle climate change, as moves speed up to make alternative fuel for planes man...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate change is coming if we admit to it or not. How much of our beautiful nature remains in tact - like stunning Elliot Bay in the Bay of Islands - is up to us. Photo / Julia Czerwonatis The Advocate cli...

An aerial view of a coal-fired power station in Lanzhou in northwestern China's Gansu province. Photo / Chinatopix Via AP Russia has vetoed a first-of-its-kind UN Security Council resolution casting climate change as a threat to international peace and security, sinking a years-...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Noah Hewlett is a 12-year-old from Whangarei who is passionate about climate change. Photo / Michael Cunningham Our youth and their children will bear the brunt of climate change. What is being done now, wi...

Long-awaited details of how the Government expects to finance its climate change work look set to be announced next week, when the Government sets out its budget priorities for 2022. The Government will not confirm what sort of announcement will be made, but when questions relat...

Climate change is the reason why the Canterbury flooding earlier this year was so severe, researchers have found. Researchers studying the effects of climate change on severe weather events in New Zealand have found that the extreme rainfall that brought flooding to Canterbury i...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Northland has its fair share of natural beauty worth protecting. Photo / Julia Czerwonatis Talking about climate change is uncomfortable. Especially when we realise it's happening because of what we've done...

Auckland mayor Phil Goff presented the mayoral proposal today for his fifth budget. Photo / File Auckland mayor Phil Goff is proposing a 5.9 per cent rates increase next year, including 2.4 per cent for a new fund to reduce carbon emissions. In his fifth budget since becoming ma...

Emma Lewisham says collaboration is the best tool we have to fight the climate crisis. Photo / Supplied OPINION: As the COP26 summit comes to a close, I've taken some time to reflect on my learnings. Firstly, the summit has only solidified my belief that collaboration is our str...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw attended the COP26 summit in Glasgow. Photo: Pool / Stuff / Robert Kitchin By Hamish Cardwell of RNZ The COP26 climate summit agreement has enraged environmentalists but the consensus from delegates is that it is better than no deal at all. The...

Young climate campaigners take part in a UK Student Climate Network protest in London. The UN's COP26 summit wrapped up this weekend. Photo / Matt Dunham/AP A landmark UN conference has closed with promises of stronger action to curb climate change but advocates at home say COP...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Nations have drafted a global deal to tackle the climate emergency at the UN's COP26 summit in Glasgow, wrapping up this weekend. But will it be enough to bring down emissions before it's too late? 10 New Z...

The world's top carbon polluters, China and the United States, agreed Wednesday to increase their cooperation and speed up action to rein in climate-damaging emissions, signalling a mutual effort on global warming at a time of tension over their other disputes. In back-to-back n...

The Government will soon be issuing sovereign "green bonds" to help raise finance towards a move to a low-carbon economy. Green bonds, which provide financing for low-emission or environmental projects such as renewable energy or reforestation, have increasingly become part of c...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The storm that hit the South Island's West Coast in July - and flooded much of Westport - cost $85m in insured losses. Photo / George Heard A major insurer's move to raise some premiums based on flood risk ...

Scientists are to retrieve samples from below Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf, to learn how ice responded when global temperatures were as warm as those expected in coming decades. Photo / Neil Silverwood Kiwi scientists are preparing to drill deep into the Antarctic ocean floor, to...

Councils can already protect communities from rising sea levels. Photo / Brett Phibbs Councils don't need to wait for new laws to act on climate change risks that threaten coastal homes and communities, experts say. About 675,500 Kiwis live in areas already prone to flooding, wi...

Biden reportedly let rip at a swanky function. Photo / Getty Images As world leaders gathered to discuss the grave threat posed by climate change, much was made about the need to control emissions. Now it has been revealed that at least one high-profile participant was reportedl...

Sponsored by APEC Lit Wei Chin. Photo / Supplied. Sponsored by APEC There was a recent quote from Microsoft founder Bill Gates that resonates with New Zealand's Lit Wei Chin: "By 2060, climate change could be just as deadly as Covid-19, and by 2100 it could be five times as dead...

Climate activists attend a protest organized by the COP26 Coalition in London, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. Photo/AP Tens of thousands of climate activists marched Saturday through Glasgow, the Scottish city hosting the UN climate summit, physically close to the global negotiators in...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called time on decades of empty climate commitments that rely on other countries to do the heavy lifting. "It's not enough to simply say, "We'll wait until everyone else does their bit." - I've heard that argument. We have to do ours now, lest w...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Green shade? Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern discussing New Zealand's climate action, with Climate Change Minister James Shaw. Photo / Greg Bowker The power plays, the conflicts, the drama and the news about ...

Unlike New Zealand, most countries are focused on methane emissions that leak from pipelines. Photo / AP More than 70 countries, including the United States and New Zealand, have promised to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. Writing for The Nation, US journalist A...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Greta Thunberg in Glasgow: "Greenwash alert!" Photo / AP The power plays, the conflicts, the drama and the news about the weather. "The green choice needs to be the easy choice. If there's a barrier to doin...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION: Climate change bedevils politics. It's not unlike a larger, more complicated, green version of the central bank independence debate that vexed democracies in the second half of the last century. In...

National Leader Judith Collins says she'll do her best to meet the Government's new 2030 climate change target if she is Prime Minister - but she isn't making any promises. The Government has committed to up New Zealand's emissions reduction pledge (called an NDC) from the 30 pe...

This picture made available by the World Food Program shows a mother giving supplementary nutrition products to her 6 month old daughter in Ankilimanondro, Atsimo-Andrefana Region. Photo / AP The drought-stricken island nation of Madagascar is a "wake up call" to what the world ...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, and U.S. President Joe Biden attend the COP26 Summit. Photo / AP World leaders promised to protect Earth's forests, cut methane emissions and help South Africa wean itself off coal at the UN climate summit Tuesday (US time) part of a...

Large nuclear power stations, like this one in Belgium, could be overtaken by small-scale reactors that could provide electricity for a town. Photo / AP As international leaders meet in Glasgow to discuss cutting carbon emissions, Emeritus Professor Ralph Cooney argues that the ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, left, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, at the opening ceremony in Glasgow. Photo / AP The power plays, the con...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate Change Minister James Shaw was forced to re prioritise climate change policy because of a lack of staff. Photo / Pool Rob Kitchen - Stuff Early this year, Climate Change Minister James Shaw warned m...

New Zealand just setting a new climate change target is one thing, but meeting it is another. So what can Kiwis expect? Jamie Morton explains. Over the weekend, the Government upgraded its previous Paris Agreement pledge of cutting gross greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent b...

Maori climate activist India Logan-Riley gave a rousing speech at the opening of the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow earlier today - and had a stark warning for world leaders listening to them. Logan-Riley, who introduced themselves on stage in Glasgow in te reo Maori, ...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw will head to the COP26 conference in Glasgow with an ambitious new emissions reduction commitment: cutting net emissions to 50 per cent below gross 2005 levels by 2030. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the "enhanced contribution to the global...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. English sculptor Bamber Hawes made this polar bear and has been walking it through Britain to raise awareness about the climate crisis. Photo / Supplied The power plays, the conflicts, the drama and the new...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Colosseum in Rome. Inaction on the climate, he has warned, could mean civilisation faces a calamity as great as the fall of the Roman Empire. Photo / AP The Glasgow conference on the climate crisis has begun. The long-awaited United Na...

The timing of William and Kate's holiday was risky, writes Daniela Elser. Photo / Getty Images OPINION: Toe-sucking in the South of France. Shimmying on a Swiss dance floor in eyebrow-raising proximity to an anonymous blonde. A naked game of strip billiards. In the long and wind...

New Zealand scientists are venturing to a remote region in Antarctica to gain crucial observations that could tell us much more about how the frozen continent is changing. With its vast, icy stores holding the equivalent of tens of metres of global sea level rise, and its essent...

Shaun Davey is the overall winner for this sunset at Porlock Marsh in Exmoor National Park. Stark images of extreme weather, wildlife in decline and pollution were accompanied by images of hope and nature recovery in the Campaign for National Parks' (CNP) Photography Competition...

Crickets are a source of high protein that don't produce methane and require less food than cattle or sheep. Photo / File Do you want to play your part in helping the climate? Well, switching from beef and lamb to crickets is just one option that could soon be on the table for c...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. With the opening of the UN climate change summit in Glasgow now just days away, Jamie Morton explains where New Zealand sits within the big show. Under the Paris Agreement, New Zealand's "nationally determi...

A man walks along Lake Tuz in Turkey on October 25. The lake is a victim of climate change-induced drought that has hit the region as well as decades-long wrongful agricultural policies. Photo / AP For centuries, Lake Tuz in central Turkey has hosted huge colonies of flamingos t...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The Scottish group Pedal on Parliament is planning a mass ride to the Glasgow climate conference. Photo / Supplied The power plays, the conflicts, the drama and the news about the weather: Diary notes as th...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. James Shaw recalls an email he received last year from a Northland man, whose farm had been in the family for a century. "They were just coming out of drought; his dad had dealt with four of them in his lif...

Sanjogeeta Kiran with her mother at their destroyed home in RakiRaki, pictured soon after Cyclone Winston hit Fiji in 2016. Tropical cyclones are expected to grow more severe. Photo / Brett Phibbs As world leaders prepare to head to Glasgow for crucial UN climate talks, Herald s...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The Last Chance Saloon: Xie Zhenhua, John Kerry, Greta Thunberg, James Shaw and Scott Morrison at COP26 in Glasgow. Illustration / Rod Emmerson There will be shock troops. They'll come from all over Europe,...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate Change Minister James Shaw. Photo / Mark Mitchell Climate Change Minister James Shaw has had enough of the criticism over his upcoming trip to Glasgow. Shaw will attend the 2021 United Nations Clima...

People wade their way through the water in flooded St. Mark's Square following a high tide, in December 2020. Photo / Anteo Marinoni, AP Photo After Venice suffered the second-worst flood in its history in November 2019, it was inundated with four more exceptional tides within s...

OPINION: As world leaders prepare to meet at a United Nations conference in Glasgow, Professor James Renwick, a prominent climate scientist and an author of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, has written an open letter via the Herald to all New Z...

Prince Charles singled out his eldest son for praise in a touching social media post today. Photo / Getty Images OPINION: Prince Charles is known for many things his plant whispering, his Duchy of Cornwall biscuit empire, his trenchant antipathy towards modern architecture but...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate Change Minister James Shaw. Photo / Mark Mitchell Covid-19 and the "rise of authoritarian regimes" derailed global climate action, but a summit at the end of the month offers a chance to get back on...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Saturday morning, Otara Markets. Will our response to climate change give Auckland communities the chance to thrive? Photo / Richard Robinson As world leaders prepare to meet for crucial climate talks in Gl...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Finance Minister Grant Robertson Photo / Mark Mitchell OPINION On Tuesday morning, Grant Robertson opened the Government's books to unveil a fiscal fairytale. The Government's accounts for the year showed a...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw ahead of the UN summit COP26, which some believe is the world's final chance to avert a climate catastrophe. Photo / Sam James, File The coronavirus pandemic has shown that humans are very good at responding to an immediate crisis, says New Zea...

Banning new gas connections, getting people to cut their car use by a fifth, paying people to scrap their dirty cars, capturing gases emitted by landfills, and planting a whole lot of trees are suggestions floated by the Government to drag New Zealand's persistently high greenho...

Prince Harry and Prince Charles at the Natural History Museum, Kensington, in 2019. Photo / Getty Images OPINION If ever there was a royal moment which summed up just how bananas the world is right now, then it is this: Watching Prince Charles telling the world, via an iPhone vi...

New polling has boiled the public's views toward climate change down to five types of Kiwi: with a quarter of us labelled "the alarmed". Photo / Alison Grant New polling has boiled the public's views towards climate change down to five types of Kiwi: with a quarter of us labelle...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sits on a pad at the Kennedy Space Center before sending four tourists into orbit. Photo / AP OPINION: With all the challenges on planet Earth, it may seem like a frivolous waste of...

A power plant fires coal from the nearby Garzweiler open-cast mine near Luetzerath, western Germany. File photo/AP. Dozens of large German companies have urged the country's next government to put in place ambitious policies to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord. Th...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION: We can all see the impact to our coast of erosion, inundation, sea level rise, storm surges and slips. Hawkes Bay's coast is vulnerable to coastal hazards which are made worse by climate change. Mo...

Calls are growing for the way Mt Everest is conquered and controlled to be strongly reconsidered. Photo / Getty Images It's been a rocky few years for Mount Everest thanks to climate change, coronavirus and desperate climbers. Climbing to the highest point on earth has been the ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Launch of Te Arawa's climate change strategy at Scion on Friday. Photo / Supplied "We do not need sustainability. Instead, we desperately need restoration." These were the words of rangatahi speaker Arohanu...

Prehistoric deposits left in New Zealand's ancient caves - like Waipuna cave in Waitomo - could help scientists better understand how rainfall changes as our climate warms. Photo / Supplied Scientists are turning to prehistoric clues left in New Zealand's caves to predict how cl...

Maldives' President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees of global warming would be a "death sentence" for the island. Photo / Rayyu, Unsplash Come visit the Maldives, its president entreated the world at this year's United Nations General Assembly...

Greta Thunberg says Jacinda Ardern, like other world leaders, is doing nothing to fight the climate crisis. Photos / Getty Images Greta Thunberg does not think much of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's efforts when it comes to climate change - in fact, she thinks the P...

China's President Xi Jinping remotely addresses the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in a pre-recorded message, Tuesday Sept. 21, 2021, at UN headquarters. Photo/AP. The two biggest economies and largest carbon polluters in the world have announced separate fi...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw. Photo / Mark Mitchell Climate Change Minister James Shaw is taking nine New Zealand staff to a conference in Scotland at a time the country is experiencing a major Covid-19 outbreak, while also taking up coveted MIQ spots. Prime Minister Jacin...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Australia is still going full steam ahead on mining. Photo / Supplied OPINION: Australia will cement its place as a climate pariah when nations from around the world meet at the next round of global climate...

Whangarei Girls' High School taking part in New Zealand's first student strike for climate change in Whangarei in 2019. Future international sea level rise predictions are increasing urgency for Northland's first regional climate change strategy. The new Te Taitokerau climate ad...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw. Photo / Mark Mitchell The Government has pushed back releasing a crucial climate change plan by six months. The Government was required to release an Emissions Reduction Plan - a response to Climate Change Commission advice on how to slash emi...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw will attend climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland in person this November. At this stage he will still attend the conference from November 7-12, as planned Shaw will be only the second minister to venture beyond New Zealand's borders since they we...

Fridays for Future is the global movement protesting against the lack of action from the world's governments on the climate crisis. Photo / Supplied The University of Waikato has launched the world's first Bachelor of Climate Change degree as New Zealand works to meet its target...

Students gathered in Wellington's Civic Square ahead of the Strike 4 Climate protest march to Parliament in April, 2021. Photo / Mark Mitchell OPINION: When disaster strikes, we react. We mobilise to ensure everyone gets to safety. We painstakingly work to make sure no one is le...

Auckland mayor Phil Goff. Photo / Alex Burton Watercare is yet to integrate climate change into its long-term modelling tools, and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is concerned. Now experts are asking why the council-controlled organisation has moved so slowly on such a critical issue. ...

Tuvalu, north of Fiji, is under threat. Photo / Google Maps The runway of the capital city's airport jostles for space among the homes crammed around it, which themselves make way for two of the largest buildings the nation's parliament and the Princess Margaret Hospital both ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Congestion on Hewletts Rd is a common sight but there are hopes it could die down with a Carless Wednesdays challenge. Photo / NZME A climate change project that involves people finding an alternative to us...

The storm swell pushes onto the road at Waihi Beach on May 27 this year. Photo / Malcolm Mathers Hauraki District Council has been congratulated for its climate actions, while it required a High Court order to compel Thames Coromandel District Council to consult with its communi...

A man watches as wildfires approach Kochyli beach near Limni village on the island of Evia, Greece on August 6, 2021. Photo / AP ANALYSIS: On Monday night, an extremely important report on the physical science of climate change will be released to the world. Produced by the Inte...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. OPINION I'm sure we all noticed the icy blast making its way up the country. Snow fell on Mt Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty, high winds caused multiple power outages and a large tree caused traffic havoc aft...

Tiana Jakicevich of Te Ara Whatu. Photo / Instagram By RNZ Indigenous knowledge holds the solutions to address climate change but having a seat at a table won't be enough, says rangatahi climate change activist Tiana Jakicevich. The UN climate panel has sounded a dire warning, s...

A lone man watches on as wildfires rage near Limni, 160km north of Athens, this month. A new UN report warns that these events are growing more frequent under climate change. Photo / AP A symbolic climate change threshold that's formed the focus of New Zealand's latest policy st...

A man watches the flames as a wildfire approaches Kochyli beach near Limni village on the Greek island of Evia. Photo / AP Earth is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent, according ...

The flurry of natural disasters has focused attention on the complex work towards establishing a direct link to global warming. When floods swept through parts of China's Henan province last month, killing at least 302 people, a group of scientists who specialise in analysing th...

Photo / File Climate change could lead to greater crop yields at high latitudes, although this may be offset by an increased risk of crop infection by pathogens, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change . Food security is a continuous concern as the global populat...

A wellbeing impact analysis for dishing out $199 million in subsidies to filmmakers has found it to be better for the Government's budget priorities than money for public housing and climate change, and gives it roughly the same impact rating as $296m investment in clean water. ...

National Party Kaikoura MP and climate change spokesman Stuart Smith. Photo / LDR/Adam Burns National Party MP Stuart Smith has described a Government climate change plan as the "science of bull****" during a talk in Ashburton this week. The Kaikoura MP floated suggestions that ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A man rides a bicycle through a flooded intersection in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province. Photo / AP It began on July 13. A stationary cutoff low, trapped between two highs, dumped more than 150m...

Karen Silk is GM Experience Hub and Transformation at Westpac NZ. Photo / Supplied Karen Silk is a trailblazer when it comes to New Zealand businesses taking action to combat climate change and build a more sustainable future. As lead for Westpac's NZ Climate Change Action Group...

Photos taken a decade and a half apart show the change in snow in California. Photo / NASA Nasa Earth has released a series of satellite photographs showing the transformation of one of the most famous mountain ranges on Earth. The comparison photographs taken over the past 15 y...

If you're trying to reach Lorde, you'll likely find her outside. The artist appeared in a 73 Questions interview with Vogue while strolling through New York's Botanical Garden - and she revealed while she missed "literally every single thing" about New Zealand, she misses the ou...

By RNZ The wild weather in the Buller and Marlborough regions last weekend resulted in the third major flooding event in New Zealand this year. Questions are being asked about "one-in-100-year" events that seem to be happening more and more often. But climate scientists have bee...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Rod Carr, chair of the Climate Change Commission. Photo / Michael Craig, File OPINION The NZ Climate Change Commission has just released its report. Four hundred pages; 15,000 submissions considered; hundre...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Climate Change Minister James Shaw. Photo / Greg Bowker Action on climate change needs to be equity-based and avoid causing social unrest such as seen in the "yellow vest" protests in France, Climate Change Minister James Shaw says. In a speech ...

More older Kiwis have accepted the scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused by humans, shows a new research that's tracked beliefs over a decade. Photo / Nathan Edwards More older Kiwis have accepted the scientific consensus that climate change is real and cau...

It's been 53 months since New Zealand saw one with a below-average temperature - and now Niwa climate scientists are redefining what's "normal" weather in a warming world. Photo / Brett Phibbs It's been 53 months since New Zealand saw one with a below-average temperature and no...

A group of lawyers is suing the Climate Change Commission, alleging its advice to the Government on carbon reductions contains substantial mathematical errors. On Thursday, Lawyers for Climate Action NZ, an incorporated group which says it represents more than 300 lawyers, filed...

A new report has pointed to an overlooked menace hampering New Zealand's big climate change goals - possums and deer. Photo / Supplied A new report has pointed to an overlooked menace hampering New Zealand's big climate change goals possums and deer. An analysis by Forest and B...

The Act Party is calling the Government hypocrites for trying to push the public into electric cars when its own car fleet is just 1.9 per cent electric itself. The Government says in response the main point is it is "making the transition, rather than focusing on where we are s...

Three quarters of Kiwis think New Zealand isn't moving fast enough to tackle climate change, a just-released poll shows. Photo / Paul Taylor Fewer than a quarter of Kiwis think New Zealand is moving fast enough to tackle climate change, a just-released poll shows. The fourth ann...

The coal burned for electricity production in New Zealand more than doubled in the January-March 2021 quarter, making it the highest quarter since 2012. Above, the Huntly Power Station. Photo / Doug Sherring New Zealand burned more coal for electricity production in the first qu...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Climate Change Minister James Shaw arrive for their press conference after the release of the Climate Change Commission's blueprint. Photo / Mark Mitchell EDITORIAL: When i...

Electric cars and planes, denser housing, fewer cows and no new LPG connections from 2035 are part of the vision laid out for New Zealand to meet its climate change obligations. The Climate Change Commission unveiled its long-awaited final report today, which lays out three path...

OPINION: Of the many challenges we face, the climate crisis is the one that will shape the lives of our children and grandchildren the most. On Wednesday I will release advice from the independent, science-led Climate Change Commission on the total amount of global warming pollu...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. To meet 2050 targets, it will take more than changes in policy making and behaviour. Photo / NZME OPINION: Innovation must play an important role in New Zealand's climate change mission. In May, the Climate...

MAIN POINTS: $300 million to accelerate investment in low-carbon technology. $67.4m to implement the Carbon Neutral Government Programme, including a significant boost of $19.5m to the successful State Sector Decarbonisation Fund, and $41.8m for leasing low-emissions vehicles....

Cutting vehicle emissions is a major focus of this Budget's spending on climate change issues. Photo / Alex Burton The Government's new climate spending has been slammed as "loose change" - but minister James Shaw claims Budget 2021 actually targets close to $2.3 billion at slas...

New Zealand's sheep and beef farm profits could be halved by the century's end if global greenhouse emissions keep soaring unabated, a new analysis suggests. Dairy farms, meanwhile, could take an average 20 per cent hit as a result of drier soils. The new study, which comes as f...

Hawke's Bay sheep and beef farmers face an increasingly uncertain future with Niwa climate forecasts predicting the risk of severe drought will increase to one every five years by 2028. Photo / NZME Hawke's Bay's sheep population has dropped by 346,000 in a single year. Farming ...

The Government says it wants a "national conversation" about transport changes. Photo / Alex Burton By RNZ The Transport Ministry has again floated the banning of importing petrol and diesel cars by 2035 so New Zealand does not become a dumping ground for old cars. It is part of...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Africa has caused very little historical climate change but is likely to be vulnerable to any residual impacts caused mainly by wealthy countries. Photo / Dean Taylor, File OPINION The international communi...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Nikki Armstrong at home on the Haumoana sea front with Buster. The stretch of the Haumoana coastline may soon be protected by a rock sea wall. Photo/Warren Buckland A 100-metre coastal rock wall in Haumoana...

Most Kiwis generally back the Climate Change Commission's bold recommendations to put New Zealand back on track toward emissions targets, new survey data suggests. Last year, Massey University researchers polled Kiwis to find that seven out of 10 supported a Covid-19 recovery th...

Ioane Teitiota and his wife fought for years to stay in New Zealand as refugees, arguing that rising sea levels caused by climate change threaten the very existence of the tiny Pacific island nation they fled, one of the lowest-lying countries on Earth. While New Zealand's court...

It will be only a matter of time before the Paris Agreement will include the accounting of our marine emissions into the atmosphere, Dr Jim Salinger says. Photo / Greenpeace OPINION New Zealand has a huge Exclusive Economic Zone - spanning four million sq km - which is 15 times ...

The bountiful hauls of kaimoana integral to East Cape iwi have long been the envy of those inland. When manuhiri would arrive from across the motu they'd be treated to hakari (feasts) of kina, koura (crayfish), kakahi (mussels), paua, kahawai - the list goes on. "That was the ex...

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, left, with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong in Seoul on April 17. Photo / AP The United States and China, the world's two biggest carbon polluters, have agreed to cooperate with other countries to curb climate cha...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity at the moment. Photo / Getty Images They have already upturned industries including global technology and retail and earned a fortune in the p...

Efeso Collins raised eyebrows in 2018 when he opposed Auckland's regional fuel tax, designed to not only fund low and zero-carbon public transport but slash emissions. After all, the Manukau ward councillor is a strong believer in taking action to address climate change. But his...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Agriculture groups say Climate Change Commission too optimistic on potential for cuts. Photo / File OPINION: "Unfeasible and unfair" that pretty much sums up the reaction of pastoral farming sector groups ...

New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions have shot up by more than a quarter in the past three decades and the latest annual stocktake shows they're still not coming down. In response to the Ministry for the Environment's just-released inventory , Climate Change Minister James Sh...

Thousands of students gathered at Wellington's Civic Square this morning before marching to Parliament, demanding more urgent action on climate change. Held for the first time since 2019, the protest is part of a nationwide movement of school students called School Strike 4 Clim...

The emptying of New Zealand roads amid lockdown put a slight dent in greenhouse gas emissions last year, just-released statistics show. Photo / Michael Craig The empty New Zealand roads amid lockdown put a slight dent in greenhouse gas emissions last year, just-released statisti...

Auckland councillor Chris Darby says both central and local government have to back up the commitments that they've made on climate change. Photo / Alden Williams Auckland councillor Chirs Darby says a legal challenge against the $1.4 billion Mill Rd project by climate change ad...

Masterton district councillor Chris Peterson speaking at schools strike for climate in 2018. Photo / Wairarapa Times-Age Local councils re finding holes in central government's "adaptation armour" and are looking for ways to make short term change. Masterton district councillor ...

China and the United States are the world's No. 1 and No. 2 carbon polluters. Photo / AP The world's hopes for curbing climate change hinge on action by two giant nations whose relations are deteriorating: China and the United States. The two countries both say they are intent o...

Nations will have to face the "security impacts of climate change", the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned. Photo / AP British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned world leaders that climate change is a threat to security of all nations and sharply criticised people acros...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Rod Carr, chair of the Climate Change Commission. Photo / Supplied OPINION: At the end of January New Zealand's newly formed Climate Change Commission dropped a draft report of seismic proportions. The suit...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The "technical" amendment to the Climate Change Response (Auction Price) Amendment Bill will turn the ETS into a revenue raising tax. Photo / File OPINION: While we are focused on another lockdown the Gover...

Photo / File Pastoral farms occupy almost 40 per cent of New Zealand's landscape and the farming sector underpins the nation's economy. So when the Climate Change Commission suggested in its draft advice fewer animals on farms could be required to meet our greenhouse gas emissio...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The ETS isn't technology, sector or fuel-specific. It doesn't pick any winners. Photo / 123RF OPINION: The fact that we have a non-political Climate Change Commission is a good thing and deserves to be wide...

DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassadors chair Fraser McGougan. Photo / Supplied Content brought to you to by DairyNZ. Award-winning dairy farmer Fraser McGougan has been appointed chair of the DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassadors. Climate Change Ambassadors are leaders for climate chan...

Transport made up 24 per cent of the Whanganui District's total emissions in 2019. Photo / File Submissions on Whanganui District Council's draft Climate Change Strategy/Te Rautaki Huringa Ahuarangi close on Sunday. The council wants to know residents' views about the proposed r...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Aviva's divestment threat is aimed at industries such as coal mining and oil exploration. Photo / Getty Images One of Britain's top asset managers has warned it will use the "ultimate sanction" and ditch st...

Photo / File If the government was serious about climate change it would curb tourism rather than agriculture, rural commentator Jim Hopkins says. "They would say tourism's off the table. Not for 12 months, but for 12 years or longer - until the planet's cooled down and we're a...

By RNZ The energy sector has largely shown support for the Climate Change Commission's plan to decarbonise the economy and slash emissions. Draft advice from the independent commission calls for the electrification of the transport fleet and of those industries that rely on foss...

By Nick Truebridge for RNZ Small businesses like restaurants and cafes could be impacted after the Climate Change Commission released its first report, with a raft of targets proposed to cut New Zealand's emissions. The commission has found the government needs to do more to mee...

New Zealand would need to heavily cut cow numbers, stop conventional car imports, decarbonise the energy sector and get most Kiwis into electric vehicles - all within 14 years - to hit ambitious greenhouse gas targets. A long-awaited emissions analysis - arguably the most import...

New Zealand must ban the import of petrol and diesel cars by 2032 in order to reach its climate change targets and decarbonise the economy, new advice recommends. And Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government "will not hold back" on taking action and committed to setting...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Climate Change Minister James Shaw say the Climate Change"Commission's recommendations are "affordable and achievable". Photo / Getty Images The Government is calling the Climate Change Commission's draft advice on what New Zealand needs to do t...

US President Joe Biden's executive orders aim to transform the nation's heavily fossil-fuel powered economy into a clean-burning one. Photo / AP In the most ambitious US effort to stave off the worst of climate change, President Joe Biden has signed a number of executive orders ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Up to 120,000 coastal homes and buildings located across New Zealand today would be at extreme risk of climate impacts, like higher seas, storms and flooding, by the century's end. Photo / Paul Taylor A lea...

Prince Charles has unveiled an action plan for companies to reduce their carbon footprint. Photo / Getty Images Prince Charles has sent an "urgent appeal" to businesses to support an initiative to encourage sustainable practices. The 72-year-old royal has launched the Terra Cart...

President-elect Joe Biden announces his climate and energy team nominees and appointees at The Queen Theatre in Wilmington Delaware on Saturday, December 19, 2020. Photo / AP Just as the United States has needed a unified, national response to Covid-19, it needs one for dealing ...

The Prime Minister has responded to Greta Thunberg's criticism of the Government. The Prime Minister has responded to Greta Thunberg's criticism of the Government by pointing out there has been more done in New Zealand's climate change space than the teen activist might realise....

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Renewable energy generation keeps becoming cheaper. Photo / Getty Images In 2008 the UK Climate Change Committee, which I then chaired, estimated that reducing Britain's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per c...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrive for a media conference at an EU summit. Photo / AP European Union leaders reached a hard-fought deal Friday (local time) to cut the bloc's net greenhouse gas emissions by at lea...

Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Daran Ponter. Photo / Mark Mitchell Greater Wellington Regional Council says the expectation for action against climate change and other cost pressures will likely lead to a rates increase of more than 13 per cent next year. It comes ...

Climate change didn't disappear when the pandemic hit. Photo / Getty Images Throughout the pandemic, HP country manager Oliver Hill says his company never lost sight of its sustainability goals. "We are going to defeat Covid-19," Hill recounted to the Herald. "That's going to be...

Storm front moves over Auckland City during a wet weekend in June, 2020. Photo / Dean Purcell. OPINION Scenes of crumbling sea walls, one in 100-year floods ripping through towns, water rationing from the one in 200-year Auckland drought, hillsides slipping, sending houses crash...

The Duke of Sussex gave an impassioned speech, but a huge hypocrisy has been pointed out. Photo / Supplied COMMENT: "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me," F. Scott Fitzgerald once said and there is no more perfect illustration of how true his ...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern moving a motion in the House to declare a climate change emergency. Photo / Mark Mitchell Parliament has officially declared a climate emergency in New Zealand a move Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called an "acknowledgement of the next generation"....

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during her speech in Parliament, Wellington. 26 November, 2020. NZ Herald photograph by Mark Mitchell Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will this afternoon personally move a motion in the House to declare a climate change emergency in New Zealand. The m...

Wildfires like that which blazed through Canterbury's Port Hills in 2017 are predicted to become more frequent in a New Zealand warmed by climate change. Photo / Alan Gibson. New Zealand is expected to declare a climate change emergency tomorrow. What does that mean exactly? Sci...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has donated hundreds of millions to green charities. Photo / AP Amazon founder is donating US$791 million to green charities but it will take more than money to help the planet. If...

Parliament will next week debate if a climate emergency in New Zealand should be declared, Leader of the House Chris Hipkins has told MPs. Speaking in the House after the Speech from the Throne, Hipkins said that the motion will be debated next Tuesday. Prime Minister Jacinda Ar...

Can climate change influence earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? It may seem an unlikely question, but it's one scientists are intensely interested in, given links have been proposed but not conclusively proven. New Zealand researchers now aim to get a clearer picture in a major...

Andrew Bashford. Andrew Bashford When we're talking about infrastructure, it's not just about building and designing new stuff. Clearly, it's modifying what we've already got, but actually, probably more importantly, it's about how can you use infrastructure to support decarboni...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Auckland Transport could exhaust efforts to reduce emissions while making very little headway, chef executive Shane Ellison says. Photo / Alex Burton OPINION As we stand here at the end of 2020 it is clear ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Inside a Vivos bunker. Photo / Vivos Wealthy individuals and concerned businesses are preparing to protect themselves from climate change and any new health emergency by tapping an increasingly bespoke rang...

Rotorua Lakes Council and Te Arawa Lakes Trust are working together to reduce the impact of climate change on the Rotorua region. "We've been doing a lot of work as a council in this space for quite some time, and many of our partners too, have also been doing work in this area,...

The sky turns red over Bodalla, Australia in January, 2020, as bush fires rage. Photo / Getty Images Australia is experiencing climate change now, and it's only going to get worse. According to a new, sobering report from the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, the nation will be b...

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Kiwi PM Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Pool Scott Morrison has attacked New Zealand's climate change policy in response to questions about Australia setting a net-zero emissions target. Australia's prime minister faces growing pressure to se...

The Paris pact was designed unify nations in the fight against climate change. Photo / Getty Images The United States on Wednesday formally left the Paris Agreement, a global pact it helped forge five years ago to avert the threat of catastrophic climate change. The move, long t...

Tania Te Rangingangana Simpson. Photo / Supplied Sustainable business is our future and sustainable finance has a significant part to play, but this will require us to think differently and this thinking is being driven both by our younger generations and by Maori. There is incr...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Aucklanders can worry that plenty of hellishly humid days could be on the way this summer, thanks to the strongest La Nina system in nearly a decade. Photo / Doug Sherring Plenty of hellishly humid days cou...

More than half the region's population is prepared to pay more rates if it helps in the fight against climate change. Photo /NZME More than half the region's population is prepared to pay more in rates to minimise the impact of climate change, a new survey has revealed. The Clim...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. There is no basis to claim that the coal sector seeks "business as usual". Photo / 123RF OPINION: Tim Jones of Coal Action Network Aotearoa, along with his fellow protestors, is worried about climate change...

Climate change is predicted to increasingly bring more extreme weather and flooding to New Zealand this century. Photo / Michael Craig There's now overwhelming scientific evidence to show our climate is changing - so why do some people still refuse to accept the consensus? New Z...

The devastation at Lake Ohau has given us a glimpse of the damage wildfires can do - and climate projections tell us that's only going to get worse. Photo / Otago Daily Times Climate change isn't just a crisis of our future, but our present - and that's been made unequivocally c...

Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern is brushing off Judith Collins' claim that the Labour leader lied over Covid-19 testing at the border. And Ardern has fired some verbal barbs of her own, calling the National Party leader "morally wrong" on climate change, "desperate" with her ...

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent time with Sir David Attenborough earlier this month. Photo / Instagram Prince William, Duke of Cambridge has spoken about climate change and global warming in a new virtual talk, where he discussed how the world has a decade to fix everyth...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Labour leader Jacinda Ardern at the first Labour Party rally since Covid-19 returned in August. Photo / Derek Cheng COMMENT: It seemed apt for Jacinda Ardern to release Labour's climate policy in Dunedin to...

Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says it's good that Labour has a climate change policy, as not all parties do. Photo / Supplied Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson says Labour's climate action pledges are too weak to meet the Paris target of limiting warming to below 1.5C. An...

Climate change has already made summer longer in some parts of the country, where heat extremes have been playing out in ways more typical of the Mediterranean. That's according to a just published analysis that's used a new measure to document previously unobserved changes - an...

David Attenborough has now racked up two million followers on Instagram. Photo / Getty Images Famed naturalist David Attenborough has released another impassioned plea to save the world, and in the process shattered a record set by star actor Jennifer Aniston. Attenborough, 94, ...

Sir David Attenborough has joined the social media platform to communicate about climate change. Photo / Supplied Sir David Attenborough has joined Instagram. The naturalist, 94, has created a profile on the social media app as another means to communicate the urgency of saving ...

Rotorua school strike for climate change in March 2019. Photo / File A plan for climate change, and a pathway for homes and thriving communities will be on the agenda for a Rotorua Lakes Council meeting tomorrow. The morning meeting will decide whether the council's Climate Acti...

Whanganui residents Athol Steward and Jill Burdett want action on climate change. Photo / Lewis Gardner The Election Roadshow for Climate Change has passed through Whanganui, attracting a small group of supporters to hear its message. Sunday's event was organised by Extinction R...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Polar bear numbers have actually been going up - from roughly 15,000 in 1970 to about 26,500 today, according to estimates by the Polar Bear Specialist Group. Photo / 123RF There was a time not long ago whe...

The fires in California have devastated thousands of acres of land. Photo / AP COMMENT: What is driving the wildfires that are ravaging California, Oregon and Washington? US President Donald Trump and state officials have offered sharply different views. Trump asserts that Weste...

The huge chunk of ice has broken away in Greenland. Photo / AP An enormous chunk of Greenland's ice cap has broken off in the far northeastern Arctic, a development that scientists say is evidence of rapid climate change. The glacier section has an area of 110km sq. It came off ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Organic farmers selling produce in a local market. Small-scale mixed farming is better positioned for the extremes of weather caused by the atmosphere warming, says Vaughan Gunson. Photo / File "It never ra...

Regional conversations on climate change to begin. Horizons Regional Council is asking for feedback on what community values people consider to be at risk due to climate change through an engagement campaign which will help inform a regional risk assessment. The project is being...

Buildings could be among the items people value in Horizons Regional Council's consultation on climate change. Photo / Supplied The heads of the Horizons region's eight councils are to form a Climate Action Committee that will work across the region. Horizons region councillors ...

The biggest snowfall this year came on the first day of spring, as seen here in Naseby on Tuesday. Photo / Otago Daily Times If you felt like the big chill never arrived this year you'd be correct; according to Niwa, it's been New Zealand's hottest winter on record. Seven of the...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Students all over New Zealand rallied together in 2019 to call on councils to declare a climate change emergency. Now, BOPRC is resetting its stance on their response. Photo / File The people in charge of t...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. John Paul College head girl Orla Walsh and head boy Adam Wong-Toi say their generation could change the world for the better. Photo / Ben Fraser Kids of today spending too much time in front of a screen is ...

Fast-charging stations for electric vehicles at Pak'n'Save in Kapiti. Photo / Rosalie Willis It is time for an electric push Our response to Covid-19 needs replicating to tackle climate change. Come on Jacinda, with relentless nagging by Greens, create initiatives for electric v...

The lockdown caused a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas and air pollutants. Photo / Alex Burton Covid-19 lockdowns slashed emissions across the globe but researchers warn climate benefits will be negligible, unless governments seize opportunities for "green" recoveries. Polic...

Act Party leader David Seymour speaking in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell The Act Party has proposed a significant shake-up when it comes to which days MPs work at Parliament in a bid to reduce climate change. His party's proposal, released this evening as part of Act's "no-n...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A bushfire burns at the Apple Fire in Banning, California. Photo / AP On August 20 at the launch of the 2017 election campaign, Jacinda Ardern declared that climate change was "my generation's nuclear-free ...

New Zealand's buildings, water supplies and population in general have been deemed at "extreme risk" of climate change impacts this century, which could come with 3C of temperature rise and seas nearly 70cm higher. The Government today released a sweeping national risk assessmen...

Fox Glacier on the West Coast. New Zealand's glaciers have shrunk by about a third in volume since the late 1970s. Photo / Miles Holden. NZH 09Jun20 - Kiwi scientists have just drawn one of the first direct links between climate change and glacier melt, with a new study suggesti...

Photo / Supplied Many hands are making light work of improving water quality in the Manawatu-Wanganui region, with landowners and local communities chipping in to re-forest hill country as climate change's impact is felt. Despite delays caused by the Covid-19 lockdown, this wint...

Humanity is not doomed, not now or even in a worst-case scenario in 2030. But avoiding doom - either the end or widespread collapse of civilisation - is setting a pretty low bar. We can aim much higher than that without shying away from reality. It's right to focus on global war...

More Kiwis are worried about climate change because of Covid-19 and fear the pandemic will delay a crucial time for curbing future warming, a new poll finds. The third annual poll commissioned by insurer IAG also found most Kiwis think New Zealand is heading in the right direct...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Photo / Getty Images As 2020 kicked off, Dan Gocher at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, a shareholder advocacy organisation, was feeling "pretty optimistic" about its plans to force big...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Artist's impression of Te Haa o Te Ao, a climate change-themed sculpture designed by Kerikeri's Chris Booth. Photo / supplied Momentum is growing for a climate change sculpture designed by a renowned Kerike...

By RNZ Climate change is the likely cause of Northland's extreme weather woes, climate and weather researcher James Renwick says. The Far North was shut off after heavy rain caused multiple slips, flooding and chaos as people were forced to leave their homes over the weekend. Pr...

The world hit another new record high for heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, despite reduced emissions because of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists announced in June. Photo / AP file Rich Americans produce nearly 25 per cent more heat-trapping gases than poorer p...

A 30C temperature recorded on June 21 in Verkhoyansk, Russia. Photo / AP file Nearly impossible without man-made global warming, this year's freak Siberian heatwave is producing climate change's most flagrant footprint of extreme weather, a new flash study says. International sc...

To help tackle climate change, the Burger King brand in the US has partnered with top scientists to develop and test a new diet for cows. Photo / 123RF Burger King is staging an intervention with its cows. In the US, the chain has rebalanced the diet of some of the cows by addin...

T&G Global is set to trial and commercialise the first climate-change resistant apple variety at six sites worldwide. Photo / Supplied T&G Global is set to trial the world's first 'climate-change resistant' apple variety at six sites worldwide, including at an orchard in Hawke's...

Photo / File Comment: Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard takes a look at the positives and negatives of the Government's primary sector plan, "Fit for a Better World". This week the Government announced what it described as "a bold primary sector plan to boost economic r...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Transport Minister Phil Twyford: A port report to make him happy? Photo / Mark Mitchell COMMENT: So we still can't decide what to do with the Auckland port. I have an idea, which I offer here for free, alth...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Transpower says it could cost up to $600 million to build its network to shift excess power at the bottom of the South Island further north. The grid operator says it will "continue to work with its custome...

Political task forces recommended today that United States presidential candidate Joe Biden embrace major proposals to combat climate change and institutional racism while expanding healthcare coverage and rebuilding a coronavirus-ravaged economy. The former Vice-President forme...

Pharmac will be removing most of NZ's medicine dispensing restrictions. Photo / File Most of the temporary restrictions put on dispensing Government-funded medicine will be removed from midnight on July 31. Restrictions were put in place on March 27 as part of Pharmac's response...

New Zealand is now seeing five more extra-hot days than it was in 1950. By 2080, the summer heatwave the country saw in 2018 could be the norm, a climate scientist says. Photo / Doug Sherring New Zealand is having five more hot days than it was 70 years ago as the number of fro...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The Facebook boycott is unlikely to drive change. Photo / Getty Images COMMENT: The latest boycott of Facebook, now more than 800 brands strong, has some people asking whether this will be the movement to f...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The Covid-19 fight is a real game of two halves - tough at the start; even harder in the final 40 minutes. Photo / Brett Phibbs COMMENT: In the second of a three-part series commissioned by investment firm ...

Labour MPs Stuart Nash and Kieran McAnulty say any conversion of highly productive farmland into forestry will need a resource consent. Labour MPs say they will require any conversion of highly productive farmland into forestry to have a resource consent to ensure rural communit...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Long Mile Rd Visitor Centre design concept by Lockwood Group Limited. Image / Supplied One of Rotorua's "iconic" destinations will soon have a new place to welcome visitors, designed by a local business. Th...

Maclean Trust's Chris Maclean, centre, with Wellington Regional councillors Penny Gaylor and Prue Lamason. The third and final wave of planting is about to go ahead in a conservation project that will transform 25 hectares of Queen Elizabeth Park from highly modified peat land i...

Climate change is already bringing massive changes to the waters around Aotearoa. Photo / File Snapper caught in Otago, tropical species making New Zealand home and mussels shrinking due to more acidic waters - these are all climate change impacts, and all happening now. But acc...

The driver appeared to get stuck on the tracks after the barrier arms came down, police said. Photo / Peter Meecham Auckland trains have been halted after a vehicle drove onto the tracks between the Avondale and New Lynn stations. The vehicle has driven along the rail line after...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. COMMENT There are hands-off ministers and hands-on ministers. Judging by the border bungle and the failure to test people in managed isolation when they should have been tested, David Clark appeared to be t...

A $100 million fund to clean up the Kaipara Harbour - including at Tinopai, above - has been welcomed by organisations from around the largest harbour in the Southern Hemisphere. A $100 million fund to clean up the Kaipara Harbour has been welcomed by organisations from around w...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Paul Harris (with hat) and David Morgan talk visitors through the Rwandan coffee production process. Photo / Bevan Conley Two Whanganui baristas - The Village Snob's Paul Harris and David Morgan from Origin...

Police were called to the disorder incident at Super Liquor Oamaru. Photo / File A Mataura woman who trashed an Oamaru liquor store on Sunday before returning to unleash a tirade of abuse at staff had drunk more than four litres of cider, police say. Officers were called to the ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The James Cook statue in Marton, recently subject of controversy. Living on top of Bastia Hill in Whanganui, on a fine still winter's day I can see the mountains of the Central Plateau to the north-east, Mt...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Vicky Ngo Ngocis on course to graduate with a double degree at the age of 14 - but has been told there is no pathway for her to become a Kiwi. Photo / Dean Purcell. A young child maths prodigy who was adopt...

Wellington apartment owner Michael Cummins is facing a $400,000 earthquake strengthening bill effectively "wiping out" his retirement plan. His situation is echoed across the capital as hundreds face sleepless nights, losing their home, and are on the brink of "financial disaste...

By Jordan Bond of RNZ Auckland's drinking water pipes are leaking at least 50 million litres a day, far more than Aucklanders have been asked to save during the most severe shortage in decades. The city's water managers also don't know how much water has leaked over the past fiv...

A cold snap that plunged temperatures well into the negatives and snow across the country this week is moving on, but a dose of heavy rain is close behind. This morning, temperatures rose slightly from yesterday, which for many was the coldest of the year. In Auckland, some spot...

There are no new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, for the second day running. Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield is delivering today's update in Wellington. There are now 1178 cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. More than 400,000 tests have been completed since te...

Steven Joyce. Photo / NZ Herald. On this week's podcast: He is an ex-Finance Minister but his profile is on the rise. Steven Joyce joins us for an update on his April 15 podcast interview . It is a very insightful discussion. Semi-retired investment banker Jonathon Urlich review...

Zachary Yarwood was a driven young man who had a collection of medals including the NZSOM, NZGSM and NZDSM. Photo / Supplied The New Zealand Defence Force has appeared in court over the death of Napier sailor Zachary Yarwood during a dive exercise in 2019. Navy able communicatio...

Photo / File New Zealand's agribusiness sector has exciting opportunities if initiatives such as a national food strategy, regenerative land use and new ocean-based sunrise industries can get momentum. The Aotearoa Circle's Fenwick Forum, a virtual meeting of some 75 corporate a...

Twelve projects announced today as part of the Government's latest post-Covid infrastructure spend include everything from social housing, to an inland port development and a hydrogen-blend sewage treatment project. The projects could employ more than 1700 people and account for...

Part of a large apple orchard will be removed to make way for the port project. Photo / Supplied The Government is set to spend $20 million to build an inland port at Whakatu. It's the first announcement in a planned $130 million spend in Hawke's Bay as part of the Covid Respons...

A convicted paedophile was contracted to work on kids' TV show What Now, giving him access to at least 10 schools. Photo / File A convicted paedophile who worked on children's TV show What Now kept girls' underwear, school uniforms and whips in his bedroom, and had amassed thous...

United States House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Photo / AP file House Democrats unveiled a plan to address climate change that would set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It is pushes renewable energy such as wind and solar power and addressing env...

Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle at the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox game at London Stadium on June 29 2019. Photo / Getty Images It was the baby gift that was heard around the world. Tiny and white with black stripes, with the lucky recipient's name emblazoned across ...

David Seymour announces the Act Party list The Act party has placed a gun lobbyist and a climate change sceptic school teacher at third and fourth place on its parliamentary list for the September 19 election. On the most recently published public polling, this week's One News-C...

Hawke's Bay Regional Council chairman Rex Graham says a "do nothing" approach to water security isn't an option. Photo / File A "do nothing" approach to water security under climate change could see the primary sector in parts of Hawke's Bay significantly impacted and some land ...

Climate activist Greta Thunberg during a radio statement at the 'Sveriges Radio' in Stockholm, Sweden, June 14, 2020. Photo / AP Preparing for her appearance before the UN General Assembly last fall, Greta Thunberg found herself constantly interrupted by world leaders, including...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Researchers who spent six months in the Arctic have arrived back to a changed world. Photo / 123RF Imagine that you left earth before coronavirus and returned this week. That is pretty much what has happene...

The draft Climate Change Action Plan will be presented to the Environment Committee meeting next month. Photo / Hamilton City Council Hamilton City Council's Climate Change Action Plan will include a city-wide partnership between businesses, organisations and community groups to...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A clear blue sky on the last day of level 4 lockdown in Auckland with a view from Narrowneck beach of the Hauraki Gulf and Rangitoto. Photo / Penelope Venuto Experts say that now is likely to be our best po...

East Coast iwi are calling for funding to support their restoration project in the dying Raukumara Conservation Park, which they say will boost the amount of carbon it stores. Photo / Alan Gibson New Zealand could be upping the ante in its global efforts to combat climate change...

New Zealand is already paying heavily for climate change - about $800 million from droughts and $140 million from floods in the last decade, say scientists. In this article written for the Herald's contribution to this week's international media campaign Covering Climate Now, th...

Humanity has only recently become accustomed to a stable climate. For most of its history, long ice ages punctuated with hot spells alternated with short warm periods. Transitions from cold to warm climates were especially chaotic. Then, about 10,000 years ago, the Earth suddenl...

The lockdown has seen air quality dramatically improve across New Zealand with most cars off the roads. Photo / File Big cuts are needed in transport emissions say climate change experts as the latest data shows New Zealand continuing to rely on forestry rather than actual reduc...

The Climate Change Commission is calling for the Covid-19 economic recovery not to deepen the climate crisis with high emissions investments. Photo / File The Climate Change Commission is warning the Government not to "lock" New Zealand into a high-emissions future and "compound...

The impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems are already evident. Poleward shifts in the geographic distributions of species, catastrophic forest fires and mass bleaching of coral reefs all bear the fingerprints of climate change. But what will the world's biodiversit...

The Government's request for "shovel ready" projects to create jobs once the country is out of lockdown has hit a snag in Auckland. Several Auckland councillors are calling for projects that pass a climate-change test, while other councillors want employment and jobs to be the o...

Every aspect of our lives has been affected by the coronavirus. The global economy has slowed, people have retreated to their homes and thousands have died or become seriously ill. At this frightening stage of the crisis, it's difficult to focus on anything else. But as the Inte...

The trend for utes becoming popular town cars is typified by the Ford Ranger ute, which has been the highest-selling new passenger vehicle in New Zealand since 2015. Photo / File Promoting hefty utes and SUVs as macho status symbols could be linked to climate change, according t...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Polar bears are spending more time on land as the sea ice melts due to climate change. Photo / file If, like me, you are concerned about global heating there is one very simple and effective thing we can do...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Environmental and community groups hand in a 140,000 signature-strong petition, calling for the Government to abandon its fossil fuels agenda in favour of a clean energy future. Photo / file A truly wonderf...

Student Climate Strike march on Queen St, Auckland, May 2019. Photo / Annabel Reid Auckland will have to cut carbon emissions by 50 per cent over the next 10 years, according to a new proposal adopted by Auckland Council. The decision came in a meeting of the new Environment and...

Photo / File More than half of the world's population faces a looming threat to the quality and availability of their drinking water because climate change and urbanisation are expected to cause an increase in groundwater organic carbon, a new University of New South Wales (UNSW...

The struggle of Antarctica's animals to adapt to global warming holds lessons for us all. Steve Forrest is trying to count penguins but progress is slow. Snow is falling in thick, sticky flakes and his target colony is disappearing. Cold waves splash across our boat as the wind ...

On September 27 2019, the day of Aotearoa's School Strike for Climate, the atmosphere throughout the country was electric. One of the key people responsible for organising the nationwide event, one of several in 2019, was Wellington-based climate activist Sophie Handford who, at ...

Greenhouse gas emissions in China, the world's largest current contributor to climate change, are down 25 per cent in recent weeks because of a massive shutdown to deal with the coronovirus outbreak. Photo / File Humans have seemed unable to get a handle on climate change, and g...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Photo / 123RF A High Court judge has allowed a climate activist's case against seven corporates and relating to responsibility for climate change to proceed to trial. While striking out two out of three cla...

New Zealand's gradually melting glaciers have fared slightly better this summer, despite receiving a dusting of ash from Australia's bushfires. But scientists say the comparative increase in snow should only be seen as a temporary break, rather than any good news on the climate ...

Photo / File Comment: Veganism is a distraction from the major climate change issues of increase in population and lifestyle, including travel, writes Dr Jacqueline Rowarth. Farmers cannot grow whatever food they like. READ MORE Dr Jacqueline Rowarth: Why food in New Zealand is...

Flooding in Gore on February 5 this year. Researchers have projected that EQC could be paying out up to a quarter more in severe weather-related claims by the century's end. Photo / Otago Daily Times Government insurance payouts to homeowners whose properties are damaged in weat...

Photo / File New Zealand food and fibre producers are used to making tactical adjustments to a variable climate, but a new report suggests long-term strategies to adapt to a changing climate must be adopted at a faster pace across all primary sectors. A research partnership betw...

Amid one of the biggest dry spells in New Zealand history, many people have been asking whether we're seeing climate change in action. Photo / NZME Amid one of the biggest dry spells in New Zealand history, many people have been asking whether we're seeing climate change in acti...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. At what population level will laid-back, friendly Whanganui cease to be a lovely place to live? Dave Hill (Letters, 12 February) notes that I opined in this journal that we were "all going to die" as a resu...

Climate change is throwing beech forests out of synch - a new finding that could have big implications for pest-fuelling "mast seeds" in New Zealand. Photo / File Climate change is throwing beech forests out of synch a new finding that could have big implications for pest-fuell...

Scientists declare they have had enough following one of Australia's wildest and deadly bushfire seasons. Photo / AP Experts specialising in fields including climate, fire and weather science have written an open letter to Australia's leaders demanding urgent and immediate actio...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been criticised for planning to use 27.7 million tonnes of carry-over credits from a successful 2012 target. Photo / Mark Mitchell Australian politician Barnaby Joyce, who has dual New Zealand citizenship, has accused Jacinda Ardern of "climate ...

Extreme heat may make spell the end for some wine regions as grape varieties become untenable. Photo / File Vintners and oenophiles love a good reason to whine, but this one is serious. Climate change predictions show that over half the world's wine growing regions will be wiped...

The Reserve Bank of Australia has been urged to 'mobilise all forces' to save the economy from a disaster induced by climate change. Photo / AP The Reserve Bank of Australia has been urged to "mobilise all forces" to save the economy from a disaster induced by climate change. Th...

Sean Plunket has engaged in a war of words with Black Caps cricketer Jimmy Neesham. Photo / NZ Herald Controversial radio host Sean Plunket has engaged in a war of words with Black Caps cricketer Jimmy Neesham following an interview on climate change. MagicTalk's Plunket hit out...

Melissa Pappas is a marine biologist whose work on the reef has illustrated the risks of climate change. Photo / Supplied Melissa Pappas has long imagined that she would start a family some day. But over the past year or so, the 27-year-old has felt increasingly unsettled by the...

El Nino climate events have caused devastating droughts in the past. Photo / File As part of five-part series on major new Kiwi research projects, science reporter Jamie Morton speaks with the University of Auckland mathematician Professor Bernd Krauskopf about an effort to unra...

A suggestion that Kiwi kids could take action on climate change by eating less meat and more vegetables has left the meat industry displeased. Photo / File A recommendation that students eat less meat and dairy to take action on climate change has raised the ire of New Zealand's...

Auckland protesters marched down Queen Street demanding global leaders take measures to address the climate crisis. Photo / Getty Images COMMENT: The three major Australian banks, which own three of New Zealand's largest banks, undoubtedly had much more pressing scandals to addr...

Students crammed onto Parliament's front lawn during a climate change protest in March last year. Photo / Mark Mitchell Introducing school children to the science underpinning climate change is positive and worthwhile but great care will be needed to ensure there is balance, say...

She said she has spoken to people disappointed with Mr Morrison's lack of action. Photo / Channel 9 Pauline Hanson has backed a royal commission into the Australian bushfire crisis but in the same breath said to "throw bloody climate change out the window". The One Nation leader...

Roger Federer and Greta Thunberg. Photos / Getty Images With a single retweet, environmental activist Greta Thunberg dragged tennis superstar Roger Federer into unfamiliar territory. One of the most loved and revered sportsmen in the world has arrived in Melbourne to chase a rec...

Wanaka CBD was flooded by heavy rain in December last year. Photo / Mike Scott By Hamish MacLean of the ODT Parts of Otago could experience mega-floods, up to 40 more days over 30degC a year, and up to 40 fewer frosts a year by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions ...

A heat map of Australia from Saturday when Penrith was the hottest place on earth. Photo / BSCH The rest of the world is still transfixed by Australia's bushfire crisis. The fires were mentioned multiple times during the Golden Globes today, with the likes of Pierce Brosnan, Ell...

December 2019 was our 35th straight month of above-average temperatures, Niwa says. Photo / NZ Herald December 2019 will go down as New Zealand's 35th straight month of above-average temperatures a record run that's been put down to climate change. And while we won't know until...

Wildfires such as those that hit the Tasman area in February are expected to increase with climate change. Photo / File The latest greenhouse gas emission projections show New Zealand making small progress but still falling woefully short of international commitments. It comes a...

Kera Sherwood-O'Regan (Ngai Tahu) with Janene Yazzie (International Indian Treaty Council), Greta Thunberg and Michael Charles (SustainUS). Photo / Supplied As scores of adult reporters crowded around Danish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, a group of indigenous leaders ...

Renowned Kiwi climate scientist Professor James Renwick is joining New Zealand's new Climate Change Commission. Photo / Supplied Some of our leading authorities on climate change have been named as members of a new state watchdog to help guide governments through a warming futur...

Comment: Melting ice is stressing our planet. Sea levels are shifting. Volcanoes and fault lines are stirring. The Earth's axis is tipping. We could be in for a rough ride ahead, reports Jamie Seidel for news.com.au . "All over the world, evidence is stacking up that changes in ...

Photo / File One of the first studies to examine the effects of climate change on multiple food systems instead of one food system alone reveals that about 90 per cent of the world's human population (7.2 billion people) may lose food production in both agriculture and marine ...

A rare Narwhal tusk found in an Ayrshire country house. Photo / Getty Images For centuries Europeans sought out the "unicorn horn" - the long and straight tusk of the arctic-dwelling narwhal whale - for its perceived magical and curative capabilities. On Friday, the tusk did ind...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Events across the Tasman have brought climate change into sharp focus. Photo / Australian Red Cross I was in Australia recently, where I was pleased to see lots of media coverage of climate change. This is ...

Bob Bingham, Carbon Neutral NZ Trust. Picture / Supplied Climate change is a huge subject, but its importance is related to how it will affect our lives, so this article is aimed at people who are young adults today and will live till almost the end of the century. Most people a...

Tim Clark said unless there was a united approach to tackling the climate change issue, it wouldn't work. Photo / Supplied The boss of one of the world's largest airlines says the world has received a "wake-up call" over climate change. Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said the ...

A small group picketed outside Northland Regional Council yesterday to encourage the council to declare a climate change emergency. And while NRC chairwoman Penny Smart said the council has not actively considered making such a declaration, at yesterday'sfull council meeting in ...

Wellington City Councillor Sean Rush says he has never denied man-made climate change exists. Photo / WCC. The battle over who'll be Wellington City Council's transport portfolio leader has come to an end following accusations the new mayor's original pick is a climate-change de...

This morning, National Leader Simon Bridges confirmed National would be voting with the Government on the Zero Carbon bill's second reading. Photo / Paul Taylor The National Party will vote in favour of two sizable pieces of climate-change fighting legislation but will continue ...

An abandoned building teeters over an eroding cliff on Cape Palliser Rd, Wairarapa. Photo / Neville Peat COMMENT: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned world leaders not to bother bringing patsy speeches to the Climate Change Summit in New York in September...

Christian Hawkesby and Rob Everett talk climate change and sustainable finance at Infinz. Photo / Garry Brandon Part of our job is to make sure it does what it says on the tin, says FMA chief. Financial Markets Authority CEO Rob Everett says the FMA is sceptical about the number...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw will later today announce that he plans to introduce legislation to Parliament to make climate-change disclosures law. Photo / Dean Purcell Listed New Zealand companies could soon be required by law to make any climate change-related risks to t...

Daniel Kalderimis. Photo / Supplied It is a truism that you get what you measure, or more broadly, our actions are guided by what we consider. As Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said, climate change and how best to respond is the defining issue of our time. This is an issue re...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Students Strike 4 climate COMMENT When you look around and take in some of the complexity of global warming and set that among the other problems we're all facing on a daily basis, it's easy to feel overwhe...

COMMENT: Last week, amid the cacophony of reactions to Greta Thunberg's appearance before the United Nations Climate Action Summit, a group of self-proclaimed "prominent scientists" sent a registered letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The letter, headed "There is n...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Rotorua students rally for the Strike 4 Climate march. Photo / File I am saddened and uncomfortable after reading John Smale's letter to the editor regarding student strikes against climate change (Daily Po...

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg addresses the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. Photo / AP Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg has taken aim at a new target after her emotional plea on the need for action on climate change made ...

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg has shared her support for Kiwis who have been protesting for climate change around the country today. Thousands of school students have defied Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters by marching in climate change strikes nationwide. More than ...

Hundreds of school students came out in droves on Friday throughout Hawke's Bay, along with the rest of the country, in the fight against Climate Change. Many students took time off schools to take part in the event. Protesters in Napier gathered to show their support, with hund...

By RNZ and Jason Walls An estimated 170,000 people - most of them school students - have defied Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters by marching in climate change strikes nationwide. More than 40 events are being held across the country, as part of an international movement spar...

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg, of Sweden, addresses the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations General Assembly at UN. headquarters. Photo / AP Teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg is standing up to the haters, telling her millions of supporters to not waste ...

Northland's youth is set to join the global strike to battle climate change tomorrow with several events happening around the region. Young activists in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas took their outrage over lacking action to combat emissions to the streets last week in t...

The world's oceans have already absorbed an astonishing 90 per cent of the extra heat in the Earth's atmosphere. Photo / NZ Herald Rising, warming, acidifying oceans and melting ice could be affecting more than a billion people by as soon as 2050, warns a dire, sweeping new clim...

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters said young people can learn all they need to know about climate change by "seeing what the Government is doing". Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters wants children who are thinking about participating in climate change marches on Friday to s...

Scientists are taking a deeper look at how hard New Zealand will be hit by one of climate change's most frightening calling cards. Professor Dave Frame, of Victoria University's Climate Change Research Institute, said extreme weather was already beginning to affect our daily liv...

The Australian Youth Coal Coalition accused the climate change protesters of leaving rubbish behind at Hyde Park in Sydney. Photo / Facebook Tens of thousands of Australians marched against climate change - now one image has gone viral, for all the wrong reasons. Australia was o...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate change protest march in Wellington in March. Photo / Mark Mitchell If you get the feeling that debate about climate change policy has been going on for years and years, that's because it has for som...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Fires burning the Amazon rainforest. Photo / File COMMENT Jonathan Franzen has finally seen the light. Unfortunately, it has blinded him. The distinguished American novelist and essayist has a piece in the ...

Data Editor and Head of Data Journalism, NZ Herald Climate change is daunting, partly because of the huge numbers and insider jargon to confuse the average person. So, as part of the Covering Climate Now series, this week the New Zealand Herald has created a daily quiz for you t...

As those thousands of protesting school children reminded us this year, we must acknowledge that this warming world isn't normal. Photo / NZME Today, the Herald launches a podcast series as part of Covering Climate Now a week-long, climate change-focused initiative bringing tog...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate change is projected to increase fire danger in almost all parts of the country - and push the average fire season length out by about 70 per cent within just two decades. Photo / NZ Herald Heatwaves...

School Strike 4 Climate national coordinator Sophie Handford leads students in a march to Parliament in Wellington on March this year. Photo / Supplied More Kiwis are worried about climate change. What's been driving that concern? And why do some of us still refuse to accept the...

Rescuers brave flooding caused by Hurricane Dorian in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Photo / AP A group of leaders from business, politics and science have called for a massive investment in adapting to climate change in the next decade, arguing it would reap significant returns as cou...

New Zealand forestry policy requires re-evaluation to increase the proportion of land that is being regenerated to natural forest, Jim Salinger and Jose Fuentes say. Photo / File The story of the climate consequences of human activities animal husbandry being responsible for me...

Sponsored by Meridian Energy Mike Roan. Photo / Supplied Sponsored by Meridian Energy By Mike Roan Four letters T, C, F and D could spell the difference between apathy and action on climate change among major New Zealand businesses. TCFD is a model being adopted by leading bus...

Northland MP Matt King. Photo / file Northland MP Matt King says he's no climate change denier despite sharing a Facebook post stating that climate change is natural. The post, originally published by former Act MP Muriel Newman's NZ Centre for Political Research, unleashed a ba...

Horizons Regional Council has an office in Marton. Photo file / Bevan Conley. [A_011015WCBRCMarSt04.JPG] Horizons Regional Council has an office in Marton. Photo / file Laurel Stowell laurel.stowell@whanganuichronicle.co.nz Business as usual will not be able to continue under cl...

Ryan Longley says we need to share more facts on climate change. Photo / Supplied I recently emailed the editor to discuss an issue regarding the coverage of the climate crisis. A crisis which is still treated with apathy among some at Hawke's Bay Today , even since the regional...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Climate change action plans should now be made, writes Bryan Gould. Photo / Supplied COMMENT: Only those who close their eyes and minds to the evidence can still be in any doubt that we are facing a climate...

Humans are deeply vulnerable to reductions in the nutrient content of staple food crops. Photo / File Feeding a planet inhabited by 10 billion people by mid-century - already a daunting task - is getting harder due to a little-known impact of global warming: the decline of essen...

Farming, forestry and other land-use activities combined account for 23 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Photo / NZ Herald A just-released major UN report on climate change has big implications for agricultural New Zealand, scientists and researchers say. After two y...

Rising temperatures and wind shear in the upper atmosphere have made flying more terrifying than ever. Photo / Getty Images Air turbulence is getting worse on flights because of climate change, with the jetstream becoming choppier since the end of 1970s, scientists have found. T...

The call for action on climate change has never been louder. In late July this year, Dr James Renwick, head of Victoria University School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, shared his knowledge about climate change with an audience which packed-out the Davis Theatre a...

Photo / File Comment: The only way to achieve our zero-carbon target and survive is to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels both urban and rural, writes Federated Farmers' Gavin Forrest As a society, we should be making the most of the two election cycles in which we find ours...

Rabobank is also looking for a long-term outlook from its farming clients and it is happy to help them with this. Photo / Brett Phibbs Financier Rabobank is urging farmers to have their say on climate change legislation. The Dutch multinational Rabobank, a global leader in food ...

Low-lying areas of Whangarei's harbour and the coast should be better protected under the district council's climate change adaption strategy. Photo / File The decision by Whangarei's council to declare a climate change emergency is more than a symbolic gesture considering much ...

Peak in peril: The Matterhorn is slowly disintergrating. Photo / Getty Images Hold on to your Toblerone, Switzerland's Matterhorn is at dire risk from rising temperatures and thawing permafrost. The iconic Swiss mountain near Zermatt which inspired the triangular chocolate may b...

Under present projections, the sea level around New Zealand is expected to rise between 30cm and 100cm this century. Photo / NZ Herald More Kiwis are worried about facing a warmer, wilder future yet just a third think the Government will be able to lessen the impact climate cha...

"From small businesses to large, every action on climate change counts and collectively our actions can be mighty," SkyCity boss Graeme Stephens says. Photo / NZ Herald A coalition of companies making up nearly two thirds of New Zealand's gross emissions has upped its pledge to ...

Environment Minister David Parker this morning launched a "comprehensive overhaul" of the RMA, which for years has been failing to deliver its intended outcomes. Photo / Mark Mitchell The Government has officially begun the process of delivering the biggest shake-up to the Resou...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. "I think that what's really happening is not just a shift in who has a voice, but a shift in what the general public are willing to hear," climate researcher Dr David Hall says. Photo / NZ Herald As the Gov...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. A proper market signal about the environmental costs of fertiliser would help ensure it is used wisely. Photo / File The supposed end of the 20-year standoff between environmentalists and farmers was announ...

A view of the Earth appears over the Lunar horizon as the Apollo 11 Command Module comes into view of the Moon. Photo / Nasa It was the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing on Saturday. The moon missions gave us some images of Earth which really opened our eyes, or should ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. National leader Simon Bridges (right) with his new best friend, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Photo / Supplied OPINION The past two weeks have exposed the biggest climate change problem in this ...

Tamaki Makaurau Tumahai after flooding at the Okahu Bay church and urupa in 2017. Coastal Maori communities will be hit hard by climate change impacts. Photo / File An iwi leader is suing the Government over its "failure" to protect Maori from climate change and wants the courts...

Macaulay Jones, Federated Farmers policy advisor climate change and trade. Photo / Supplied Comment: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is definitely important, but we must not ignore world poverty and zero hunger, writes Macaulay Jones, Federated Farmers policy advisor climate c...

A 20-year standoff with farmers over charging for emissions is about to end, with sector leaders today signalling support for a new system as soon as 2025. But the industry is still against a more immediate proposal for processors to be hauled into the Emissions Trading Scheme (...

Wellington's climate will be like Auckland's by 2050 - and Auckland's will be like Sydney, a new analysis shows. Photo / NZ Herald Wellington's 2050 climate will resemble Auckland's today while Auckland will feel more like Sydney, scientists say. Researchers have illustrated ho...

Dr James Renwick is a climate scientist and contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Photo / supplied Climate scientist James Renwick says the declaration of a "climate emergency" by some councils only matters if it is followed by action. Renwick, who...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government is keen to declare a climate-change emergency but work needs to be done to get more MPs onboard. "I don't see why there should be any reasons why members of Parliament wouldn't want to demonstrate that this is a matter of urgency...

Councils' calls for Government help to meet a potential $14b climate change threat have been backed by the Productivity Commission. Photo / File Councils' calls for Government help to meet a potential $14b climate change threat have been backed by the Productivity Commission. Ju...

"Flygskam" is the feeling of being embarrassed or ashamed to take the plane because of the environmental impact. Photo / File COMMENT: My mother has returned from visiting my brothers who live in England. To make that trip, she was responsible for contributing more than three to...

The time is now to act on climate change, Bay of Plenty leaders told. Photo / File Bay of Plenty Regional councillors received a standing ovation from community members after deciding to recommend the council declares a climate emergency. A regional council committee today voted...

Cattle are part of the backbone of NZ's rural economy. Photo / File COMMENT: We only get one chance to get climate change response right and we all need to do our share, says Jeremy Baker, but is more being expected of farmers than anyone else? Climate change is one of the bigge...

Members of Hawke's Bay's Hohepa community who have been forced to move following threat of climate change. Photo / Hohepa Hawke's Bay. The Hohepa community in Hawke's Bay is shifting inland, its more than 60 intellectually disabled residents forced to move because of the threat ...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. The Waiho River bridge between between Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier was washed out amid heavy rains this year. Photo / File Scientists have confirmed what many people in rain-soaked regions have long...

Hamilton students delivered a petition to Hamilton City Council this morning. From left: Joanne Nightingale, Timi Barabas, Paula Southgate, Bridie Case-Miller, and Monica Lim. Photo / Tom Rowland Hamilton City Council is not rushing to declare a climate change emergency, despite...

Broadcaster Leighton Smith. Photo / File OPINION: This week's podcast is a special edition. Some weeks ago I promised a climate devoted program. Many have let me know how much they have been anticipating it. Some with how frustrated they are in the waiting. This podcast is not w...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Peter Whitmore says a wind farm planned for the hills near Huntly, would alone be able to supply up to half the power the Huntly power station can. File photo / Doug Sherring COMMENT Chris Baker's recent op...

Research suggests food waste in landfills has one of the largest impacts on climate change. Photo / File The impact of climate change is very real to us in the Hastings District, and along with other councils in Hawke's Bay we have been taking steps to address the issue for many...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. About 300,000 tonnes of coal is consumed each year at the Huntly Power Station - and that level is unlikely to change for years to come. Photo / Christine Cornege COMMENT: It's not often both protesters and...

There's a new generation gaining traction for their passionate commitment to climate change. And three months after the global student protests, local primary and secondary school students took part in a climate change workshop organised by Rotorua Lakes Council. Areta Pakinga o...

Auckland Council environment and community committee chair Penny Hulse said it was joining a number of cities globally who recognised urgent action was needed to address climate change. Photo / File Auckland Council is taking urgent action to tackle climate change in an attempt ...

Photo / File Setting stringent climate change targets without understanding their cost or feasibility risks placing an unfair burden on some sectors, climate change professor David Frame says. Moving New Zealand to a net-zero carbon economy will have benefits but also real costs...

In the past week, the world has experienced chaotic weather phenomena, from deathly Indian heatwaves to snow inundating parts of Queensland. Now, the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Change has issued a report predicting the end of human civilisation as we know it. The r...

Photo / File Comment: Climate change is more about burning fossil fuels than the farming of animals, writes Federated Farmers climate change spokesman Andrew Hoggard. To borrow the words of climate champion Al Gore, the "inconvenient truth" about climate change is that it's more...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Homes were being swept into the flooded Mississippi last week, while another super-season for tornadoes ripped its way through the American Midwest. Oklahoma seemed to be underwater. The good news for Oklah...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Deforestation has not helped our planet. Photo / 123RF COMMENT: It's Mother's Day, hopefully being enjoyed by mothers everywhere. Well, most of them. Not Mother Earth, obviously. According to the United Nat...

The Government will today introduce the much-anticipated Zero Carbon legislation to Parliament, setting targets that could mean huge changes to New Zealand's agriculture sector. It commits to what is called a "split target" aiming to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions, aside f...

Today on The Country, Jamie Mackay talked to one of New Zealand's leading sheep breeders, Derek Daniell on his thought-provoking document about climate change, Inconvenient Truths . On with the show: Derek Daniell - Part One: We talk to one of New Zealand's leading farmers about...

Climate change has many devastating effects on all animals but one of those has just been highlighted in a heartbreaking segment of a new Netflix show. Netflix's recently released show Our Planet , narrated by David Attenborough, highlights the plight of the walrus, increasingly...

Bangladeshi children sit on garbage piled up by the river Buriganga in Hazaribagh area in Dhaka. Photo / AP The lives and futures of more than 19 million Bangladeshi children are at risk from the colossal impact of devastating floods, cyclones and other environmental disasters l...

The recent proposal to ring-fence off forestry plantings to offset agricultural emissions amounts to geo-engineering the landscape, two scientists argue. Photo / File COMMENT: In the past month there has been much discussion around methane, involving baskets, agricultural emissi...

COMMENT: I know exactly how the Thames-Coromandel District Council feels. I too am surrounded by virtuous young people with a strong will and a desire to change the world. In Thames they voted against the Local Government NZ declaration on climate change , it was the third time ...

Kerikeri firefighters extinguish a blaze next to State Highway 10 at Bulls Gorge in the Far North last month. Photo / File New Zealand just sweltered through its second hottest March on record prompting scientists to highlight the looming hand of climate change. According to Ni...

Whanganui students gather at the Virginia Lake punchbowl to protest climate inaction. Photo / Stuart Munro The students' strike for climate change was an inspiration for those of us who have been struggling for years trying to get governments to understand how serious climate ch...

COMMENT: For too long, climate policy in New Zealand has been entangled in the net of "net" emissions. And the Government's swift rejection this week of a key recommendation from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, suggests we will remain so ensnared...

Biological emissions from farms - nitrous oxide, and methane belched from livestock - make up about half of New Zealand's total greenhouse gas emissions. Photo / Supplied The Government should crack down harder on carbon dioxide than methane and other biological emissions from f...

A sweeping, first-of-its-kind assessment, released during a three-day city symposium this week, has laid bare Auckland's possible future under climate change. Photo / File Aucklanders could be suffering an equivalent of three months of extra-hot days within only a century's time...

The Te Apiti Wind Farm near Palmerston North. Photo / File This is not about whether climate change caused by human activity is a reality. I have read plenty on the topic. I have made the effort to understand the physics at the quantum level and the climate science at a macrosco...

Students from around Hawke's Bay were part of a global movement on Friday, swapping pens for placards to march for action on climate change. More than 100 students and some adults descended on Napier's Clive Square Gardens, despite many schools around the country warning that ab...

Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles. Photo / File Why should students strike over climate change tomorrow ? Here, 22 of New Zealand's leading scientists and academics explain. Professor Tim Naish, Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University I'll be marching in Wellington in su...

Thousands of Kiwi pupils have today swapped pens for placards as they march the streets for action on climate change. Protests are underway in city centres around New Zealand - and the globe - despite many schools warning that absent students will be marked as truants and could ...

Smoke from the Tasman fires seen from Simon Vincent's farm. Photo / Supplied This year's Tasman fires and last year's Cyclone Gita are giving the New Zealand public a taste of what could be coming as our climate changes. That is part of the message that Dr Judy Lawrence, Senior ...

Logan Park High School pupils used a bit of wordplay in their effort. Photo/Otago Daily Times. Kiwi kids around the country have been tinkering away at poster designs in preparation for today's march in support action over global warming. The movement is part of a global strike ...

Professor Myles Allen is coming to Whangarei to talk about climate change. A distinguished climate change scientist will be in Whangarei talking about sheep burping, cows farting, the effects of methane production and its place in a zero carbon future. Professor Myles Allen, fro...

Professor James Renwick won the award for his work on climate change communication. Photo / Supplied A Wellington professor studying climate change has won the 2018 Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize. Victoria University of Wellington's professor James Renwick was awar...

Climate change and global warming are now undeniably with us, writes Bryan Gould. Photo/Getty Images. Climate change and global warming are now undeniably with us. The evidence for them is overwhelming and even former "deniers" now concede that something significant (and unwelco...

In an interview with the Herald last week , Climate Change Minister James Shaw said adults had failed our young "comprehensively" over the past three decades. He understood "completely" why teenagers concerned about inaction on climate change would want to leave their classrooms...

The adults have had their turn so secondary school students will stand up and be heard on climate change at a strike on March 15. Photo / Stuart Munro The young folk of Whanganui have a message for the rest of us - wake up, climate change is real and we need to do more than we a...

Who is going to be responsible for the enormous costs that we are accumulating due to delays in addressing climate change? Jamie Morton (News, March 4) talks about hesitant and denialist attitudes to climate change, in the context of a multitude of evidence of widespread disrupt...

Oklahoma state Sen. David Bullard says climate change 'alternatives' should be taught in classrooms. Photo / AP A Connecticut lawmaker wants to strike climate change from state science standards. A Virginia legislator worries teachers are indoctrinating students with their perso...

Perhaps the real point about school strikes is that we should be supporting the next generation to have a voice. Photo / Getty Images COMMENT: What are acceptable reasons to "wag" school in New Zealand? Royal visits? Definitely okay. Trips to Fiji with your family, or the last d...

Students will have their voices heard as part of a worldwide day of action against global warming on March 15. Photo / File Some MPs say school students have a right to go on "strike" over global warming, but not all of them agree. Thousands of New Zealand school students plan t...

The Nelson-Tasman region just sweltered through one of its most brutally dry summers on record, which created conditions for a major bush fire. Photo / File New Zealand again just experienced one of its warmest summers on record, meteorologists will announce this week. It will s...

A student holds up a placard as she demonstrates with others to draw more attention to fighting climate change, in Paris, France. Photo / AP The White House plans to create an ad hoc group of select federal scientists to reassess the government's analysis of climate science and ...

Alexandria skips school on Friday morning to strike in front of the UN. Photo / Getty Images On the ninth Friday of her strike, 13-year-old Alexandria Villasenor wakes to a dozen emails, scores of Twitter notifications, and good news from the other side of the planet: Students i...

A worker toils in Hawke's Bay's Bridgeman Vineyard in December 2017. In Marlborough, the grape harvest came three weeks early during the hottest summer on record. Photo / File A new study led New Zealand's top climate scientists has explored last year's record-hot summer and wh...

A team led by Otago University's Associate Professor David Prior have spent the past three weeks camping out at remote Terra Nova Bay for an intriguing research project. Photo / Supplied New Zealand scientists have detonated explosives to help reveal how Antarctica's ice shelves...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. New Zealand's little blue penguins will be hard hit by climate change. Photo / File New Zealand's species have endured sweeping transformations brought by humans and the pests we've introduced. Scientists s...

While we must all weather the climate change storm, Todd Muller says "we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that ultimately it will be decisions made in Washington, Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi that determine the level of warming we will see over coming centuries". Photo / File C...

Photo / File West Coast Regional Council chairman Andrew Robb says his council's stance on the proposed Zero Carbon Bill is not embarrassing for the region, and he has had e-mails in support. The council said in its submission on the Government's mooted Zero Carbon Bill that it ...

Boys jump into Napier's Pandora Pond in January 2018. Scientists say last summer's record warmth - on land and sea - a taste of what might come this century. Photo / File A freak marine heatwave and record-hot temperatures that warmed up New Zealand last summer is a taste of our...

When Jacinda Ardern spoke at a town hall meeting 10 years ago as a fresh, young MP and talked about climate change, she was roundly booed - even from members of her own family. Ardern shared the anecdote this morning (NZT) while on the Safeguarding Our Planet panel, alongside br...

The latest internet craze is the #10YearChallenge, which is seeing people post side-by-side photos of themselves in 2009 and 2019 for goodness knows what reason. Everyone, from your next door neighbour (maybe) to the biggest Hollywood celebrities, is jumping on the bandwagon, de...

The effects of climate change are being felt by winegrowers across New Zealand. The effects of climate change are being felt by winegrowers across New Zealand, posing challenges for the industry, which boasted export earnings of $1.7 billion in 2018. Tom Filmer examines likely f...

Dr Doug Edmeades. Photo / Supplied Year in Review: The Country kicked off 2018 with this controversial opinion piece from Dr Doug Edmeades that proved to be one of the most popular articles of the year. OPINION: The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has recently said that she would ...

Sorry, you can't blame Trump. Photo / Getty Images Analysis by Joe Hildebrand The United Kingdom, a nation that once ruled over a quarter of the world's population in an empire so vast the sun never set upon it, is now so utterly impotent it cannot even manage to stay in or leav...

Climate Change Minister James Shaw: "The Paris agreement said what we wanted to do, it didn't say a great deal about how we wanted to do it." Photo / Mark Mitchell Delegates from almost 200 countries have agreed to a global climate change rulebook which would put the landmark Pa...

Federated Farmers dairy chairperson, Andrew Hoggard. Photo / Supplied Science and practicality should underpin the climate change discussion but sometimes that's de-railed by politics writes Federated Farmers dairy chairperson, Andrew Hoggard. Debate about how New Zealand will h...

Defence Minister Ron Mark says the links between climate change and conflict are indirect, but they are clear. Each weekday The Front Page keeps you up to date with the biggest news in New Zealand. Today it's a warning climate change threatens our security, a New Zealander who's...

Climate change is hard to combat, but easier if we work for good outcomes. Photo / Supplied COMMENT: Even Sir David Attenborough did his thing. "If we don't take climate action," he told assembled world leaders in Poland this week, "the collapse of our civilisations and the exti...

Defence Minister Ron Mark said the report's assessment is a "necessary first step" photo / Mark Mitchell Climate change has been identified as one of the "most significant security threats of our time", according to a new report by the Ministry of Defence. It said climate change...

COMMENT: Your planet needs you. We must do better. Recycle more. Take public transport. Use hemp bags when we go shopping. Drive less. Have fewer children. Buy electric cars. Haven't you heard? Climate change is our nuclear-free moment! All of these platitudes are lovely but unt...

Harry Shepherd helped stranded motorists on a flooded road near Kawakawa in July 2014. It was among few storms scientists have studied for direct links to climate change. Photo / File It's a fact our insurance data is now making uncomfortably clear: climate change isn't just a p...

Photo / Alan Gibson A new report suggests New Zealand is not well-prepared to cope with a future involving more drought in some areas, and it may well have the single most significant future impact on the New Zealand economy. Authors of the Drought and Climate Change Adaptation:...

A sweeping new report has highlighted the enormous impact climate change is already having on the world's health and wellbeing. Photo / AP A sweeping new report has highlighted the enormous impact climate change is already having on our health and wellbeing. The report, just pub...

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Fences stand underwater on farmland near the flood ravaged township of Edgecumbe. COMMENT: Should taxpayers subsidise people who choose not to insure their homes? This was the burning question that arose at...

Dairy cattle. Photo / Supplied New Zealand is a world leader in research into mitigating greenhouse gases from agriculture and adapting to climate change, according to a recent review. The independent review of the Ministry for Primary Industries' Sustainable Land Management and...

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THIS STORY This study has been updated by the researchers involved since this story was published. They had claimed that the oceans were warming much faster than previously thought. But researchers now say they can't necessarily make that claim. - To read...

Climate change has become a factor in climbers' decisions about when to venture into the Southern Alps. While climbing in spring risks avalanches, climate change is - more frequently than in the past - presenting another obstacle for climbers who wait for summer. Owner of Wanaka...

President Donald Trump pauses while speaking at a rally at Alumni Coliseum in Richmond on Saturday. Photo / AP President Donald Trump is backing off his claim that climate change is a hoax but says he doesn't know if it's manmade and suggests that the climate will "change back a...

Is Jacinda Ardern putting voters' short-term economic interests ahead of the planet? Photo / Bloomberg COMMENT: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern describes her goal of New Zealand achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 as "my generation's nuclear-free moment". Mon...

Allowing the trajectory to climb on its path toward 3C and beyond would mean our descendants inherit a hell of wildfires, killer heatwaves, extreme drought and storms. Photo / CCC COMMENT : We've become familiar, perhaps too much so, with scientists' increasingly ominous warning...

"If the world goes down we go too, regardless of how effective our local policies have been," Dr Geoff Bertram says. Photo / File A landmark UN report has warned the world has just a decade to limit global warming to 1.5C and little longer to keep within the Paris Agreement's a...

Glaciologist Keith Nicholls, from the British Antarctic Survey, at work on Greenland's Petermann Glacier whose ice shelf has lost 23 miles of its length, reaching a record low size. Photo / Getty Climate change and the end of civilisation was the dramatic title of the latest Wha...

Flooding is expected to be more frequent and severe as climate change impacts Whanganui. A plan to deal with the impact and causes of climate change, including severe flooding, will be developed by the Whanganui District Council. The strategy will likely cover all council activi...

Another study has warned NZ's climate could revert to a tropical state seen 50 million years ago. Photo / File New Zealand's climate could revert to a hot, tropical state if the world's emissions aren't reined in, scientists have warned. While one paper published this month outl...

The average season length with "very high and extreme" climatic fire risk could almost double under climate change by 2090. Photo / File A warming New Zealand could help its pine forests grow - but not without extreme fire risk almost doubling by the end of the century. Scion re...

Firefighters and volunteers try to extinguish flames during a wildfire at the village of Kineta, near Athens. Photo / AP COMMENT This is Armageddon Summer in the northern hemisphere: out-of-control wildfires all around the Arctic Circle (not to mention California and Greece), we...

The Southern Ocean sucks up 40 per cent of the CO2 that humans send in to the atmosphere - but for how much longer? Photo / File The gigantic carbon sink below New Zealand that is the Southern Ocean might come to quicken the effects of climate change, due to a worrying feedback ...

People sunbathing at the mixed bathing pond on Hampstead Heath, London, as heatwave conditions continue across much of England. Photo / Getty Images In the town of Sodankyla, Finland, the thermometer on July 17 registered a record-breaking 32C, a remarkable figure given that Sod...

Public meeting on the Zero Carbon Bill, Ministry for the Environment Climate Change Director Janine Smith. Photo / Andrew Warner COMMENT: Submissions winging their way to Wellington on the Zero Carbon Bill will focus on C02 and methane emissions but fly over the biggest challeng...

The report found climate change would cause increased risks to Auckland's electricity network, mainly from weather-related causes, and we should prepare now. Photo / Mark Mitchell COMMENT: New Zealand has $200 billion of assets at risk from climate change and we're not doing eno...

The devastating effect of Hurricane Harvey in Houston last year, when reports said the United States had never experienced such a large amount of rainfall across such a vast area since records began. Photo / AP The fact is, climate change is happening ... It has from the beginni...

A polar bear climbs out of the water in the Arctic, which has suffered dramatic sea ice loss in recent years, with climate change also producing a melting Greenland ice sheet, receding glaciers and thawing permafrost. Photo / AP Here are two interesting facts: One is that the wi...

On average, fish are venturing into new territories at 69km per decade, a pace expected to continue and accelerate. Fish don't follow international boundaries or understand economic trade agreements. Different species live in regions all over the globe. If that wasn't complicate...

Better planning, resourcing, and leadership have been urgently called for by a top-level panel helping New Zealand prepare for a warmer, wetter and wilder future. Months after it declared New Zealand didn't have a strategy to adapt to the effects of a transformed atmosphere, the...

"Decarbonisation is essential to reduce potential health impacts," says ESR's Dr Annette Bolton. Photo / File Climate change isn't just a threat to our coastal communities: it's also a threat to our health. After publishing a report into the ways a warming world could cause a he...

New Zealand's crops could be hit by more - and more serious - disease as climate change brings harsher, longer droughts. Photo / File New Zealand's crops could be hit by more - and more serious - disease as climate change brings harsher, longer droughts. A team of Kiwi scientist...

Picture // Supplied SPONSORED Kiwi supermarket giant Foodstuffs has reduced energy use and carbon emissions at 200 of its stores through what it calls "an environmental silver bullet". The company says it has slashed its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45 per cent in its new a...

Scores of dead little blue penguins that have washed up on northern beaches this year probably died of starvation in extreme sea conditions, researchers say. And they warn that climate change and its big storms could mean many more mass deaths of cherished bird and other vulnera...

Minister for Climate Change and the Green Party co-leader James Shaw. Photo / Stuart Munro A new Interim Climate Change Committee was announced this week to assist in the Government's goal to get New Zealand to a net zero emissions economy by 2050. Climate Change Minister James ...