New Zealanders losing ambition on climate change: Ipsos
Wed 20 May 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealanders’ belief that their government has a plan to combat climate change has taken another serious hit in the latest poll of 31 countries by global research firm Ipsos.
Pacific voice on climate at the UN
Wed 20 May 2026
A New Zealand-based researcher has told a United Nations forum that rising sea levels are already reshaping life across the Pacific and climate change is causing irreversible impacts on water supplies, food security and cultural identity.
NZTA rejects covering $145m of Wellington public transport projects
Wed 20 May 2026
By Justin Wong, Local Democracy Reporter | More than $145 million of Wellington public transport projects - including new bus spines along the harbour quays and the redevelopment of ageing Waterloo station - never made it into the Government’s $32.9 billion national land transport plan.
NZ Govt’s move to halt climate litigation under international scrutiny
Tue 19 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | Local and international NGOs have signed an open letter calling on the Government to reconsider its decision to shield major emitters from legal liability for climate-related harm.
Hipkins pans LNG plan as ‘massive step backwards’
Tue 19 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | Labour leader Chris Hipkins has told a Queenstown audience that a Government he leads would not proceed with a planned LNG import terminal, if elected at November’s election.
CARBON PRICE
Wed 20 May 2026
Exclusively for subscribers, the Carbon News NZU Index tracks daily movements in the compliance carbon market across multiple trading platforms.
Govt unveils long-awaited voluntary carbon market guidance
Fri 15 May 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government has released long-awaited guidance for New Zealand’s voluntary carbon and nature markets, as questions continue for the sector despite ministers signalling support for its growth.
Carbon News updates forward curve
13 May 2026
Carbon News has updated its ten-year NZU forward curve, following a recent rise in spot market prices, with NZUs rallying from about $34 in January to nearly $54 in early May.
Conservation land open for voluntary carbon market schemes
12 May 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | The government is to open up the Crown-owned conservation estate to private investment in voluntary carbon market projects.
Australian operator to run NZ ETS auctions
11 May 2026
The Government has appointed an Australian company to run its Emissions Trading Scheme auctions, taking over from NZX, which has operated the ETS auctions since they began in 2021.
Māori climate risk worsened by colonisation, report finds
Wed 20 May 2026
A sweeping national climate assessment argues that exclusion from decision-making has amplified Indigenous vulnerability to floods, storms, and erosion.
The worst climate future is less likely, but the best one is slipping away, scientists say
Wed 20 May 2026
Scientists are jettisoning their worst and best case scenarios for a warming world as no longer plausible. That shows how modest gains in the fight to curb climate change have dialled back the most catastrophic of future heating but also confirmed that there’s no chance to limit warming to the international goal set in 2015.
US and Iran are the world’s only major emitters without net-zero targets
Wed 20 May 2026
Many right-leaning figures have tried to push the idea that the UK is an outlier on net-zero.
Germany set to miss 2030 climate goals, independent body warns
Wed 20 May 2026
Germany is expected to miss its 2030 climate goals and likely emit more carbon dioxide than previously thought, an independent advisory body said on Monday, contradicting the findings of the government's main climate authority.
Amazon deforestation at eight-year low, report shows
Wed 20 May 2026
Despite a drop in the size of deforested areas, the number of wildfires in the region increased by more than 30 percent.
NZ energy leaders heading to Hawke’s Bay for business energy summit
Wed 20 May 2026
Media release: Hawkes Bay Chamber of Commerce | Some of New Zealand’s most senior energy sector leaders are heading to Hawke’s Bay next month for a business summit focused on the energy transition and what it means for regional industry.
CLIMATE CALENDAR
Wed 20 May 2026
The Carbon News calendar of talks, events, conferences, consultations, and petitions related to climate change.
Greenpeace's new fuel crisis scorecard: Coalition flunks, Labour offers few commitments
Tue 19 May 2026
Media release | As fuel prices remain high and the Budget looms closer, Greenpeace Aotearoa has released a scorecard ranking political parties on practical solutions to cut dependence on imported fossil fuels and shield households from oil and gas price shocks.
Fourth petroleum permit application enters competitive process
Fri 15 May 2026
Media release: New Zealand Government | The fourth petroleum exploration permit application since the removal of the exploration ban late last year has entered the open market competitive process, an encouraging signal of renewed confidence in investing in the country’s sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says.
Combined climate extremes may prompt carbon budget rethink
14 May 2026
Media release: Springer Nature | Combined extreme climate events are likely to become more common in the future if carbon emissions continue to rise, a paper in Nature suggests.
