Last week Nick Loosley, founder of food waste and food poverty charity Everybody Eats, was named the 2020 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year. He talked to Alex Braae about how a more sustainable approach to our food system can help feed those in need. There’s a theme of reconnection that runs through … Read more
The amount of methane emissions for which humans are responsible could be as much as 40% higher than thought. What does that mean for the fight against climate change? New international research suggests that the volume of methane emissions humans are producing is dramatically higher than previously thought. The findings, which rely on lab work … Read more
When it signed onto the Paris Climate Agreement, New Zealand pledged to increase its net greenhouse gas emissions by 10% across the 25 years to 2030. The latest government report shows with current policy settings it is on track to increase them by more than 20%. The challenge is acute and urgent, write Russel Norman … Read more
Increasingly large swathes of the country are getting bone dry, and it’s starting to cause serious problems. In today’s cheat sheet, Alex Braae looks into how bad the North Island drought is getting. What’s all this then? If you live in Auckland or further north, have you noticed how it hasn’t really rained all that … Read more
Given the escalating climate crisis and other looming environmental issues, has capitalism proven antithetical to the survival of the planet? Opportunities Party leader Geoff Simmons says no. There is no doubt: we need to change the way we live to save the environment. And we need to save the environment to have a chance of … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: First ever deployment of new Metservice warning, NZ First Foundation donor identities revealed, and economic fallout from virus spreads. Increasingly serious weather has been hammering the West Coast and Fiordland, causing major problems for several towns. A state of emergency has been declared in Fiordland, reports Stuff. Metservice … Read more
After the Zero Carbon Bill was passed into law last year, the climate change minister acclaimed Generation Zero for its critical role in the historic legislation. Today, two representatives of the young people’s organisation say the infrastructure spend announced yesterday gravely compromises those values. Following the passage of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment … Read more
After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, Cuba embarked on a rapid reorientation of its agricultural system to a self-sustaining, biointensive and essentially organic model. Nearly 30 years on, a Canterbury vegetable grower ponders whether Aotearoa could follow its lead. It’s November 2016, less than a week after the election of Donald Trump, and I’m … Read more
Ioane Teitiota may not have won this round, but the UN Human Rights Committee issued a firm warning: governments could be violating human rights if they continue to ignore the risks and consequences of climate change, writes Kate Schuetze of Amnesty International Imagine the sea was rising day after day, inexorably eating away your land … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What the UN climate refugee ruling means, Whānau Ora funding battle escalates, and what’s going on with Ihumātao? A United Nations ruling on an i-Kiribati man who sought asylum as a climate refugee in New Zealand could have global implications. Ioane Teitiota was denied asylum and deported in … Read more
Good morning, and welcome back to The Bulletin for 2020. In today’s edition: A collection of news stories you probably wisely ignored over the last month. The Bulletin is The Spinoff’s free daily newsletter of the most important news and analysis from across New Zealand. To get it in your inbox every morning, sign up … Read more
Auē author Becky Manawatu picks holes in her mahi and then starts to sew them up again, in this essay about colonialism and tikanga and the smoke in the sky. A wise woman once tweeted to me that “explaining is losing”, yet here I am. Explaining. Because when the world is on fire, we’re losing … Read more
As the world’s leading coal exporter, Australia is burning down its own house, writes environmentalist Bill McKibben. This piece was originally published in The Nation as part of Covering Climate Now, a journalistic collaboration of 400 news outlets around the world to strengthen coverage of the climate story. One way to think about the devastating fires … Read more
Last year was the fourth hottest year on record for New Zealand, and scientists say it’s only getting hotter. For the planet, and all of the people on it to survive, scientists the world over warn that we must stay within two degrees celsius of warming. Scientists and baby-faced Swedish activists alike know that the … Read more
The horrors in Australia have had left many of us feeling complacent about New Zealand’s own response to climate change. But are we doing enough, asks Adam Currie. Aotearoa New Zealand is a leader in talking about climate change. We passed the Zero Carbon Act unanimously, have a prime minister deemed the “Anti-Trump”, and shamelessly … Read more
Australia, your country is burning – the climate change emergency is here with you now, writes Michael Mann, a climate scientist visiting the country. This article originally appeared in The Guardian and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalistic collaboration to strengthen coverage of the climate story. After years studying … Read more
Bushfire season in Australia traditionally runs from December-March, but since August last year fires have been scorching the country in an unprecedented wave of destruction. We look at the fires by numbers. 480 million The estimated number of animal deaths so far, despite the best efforts of conservation and wildlife protection agencies. 160 Fires currently … Read more
Summer reissue: The government’s environmental policy is creating major tensions in farming communities. Alex Braae went to a meeting in Taumarunui to see it play out. This post was first published 15 June 2019. “We’ve got to get the government’s attention somehow. Okay, we’re not all going to jump on our tractors and drive to … Read more
There are many lessons climate scientists can learn from mātauranga Māori. Lesson one is: don’t panic. This story was made with support from the Science Journalism Fund Hank Dunn (Te Uri o Tai, Te Rarawa) has survived five shipwrecks in his lifetime. He told me this a few moments after I met him at the … Read more
Catch up on On the Rag. Based on the podcast of the same name, Alex Casey, Michele A’Court and Leonie Hayden set out to jelly wrestle with every issue under the sun. The hilarious, stressful, hidden world of menstruation Hold onto your tampon strings, the first episode of the On the Rag webseries is here! … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to the last Bulletin of 2019. Here’s a collection of some of the people and issues who will shape the news in 2020. It’s the end of another year. I’ve got a few thoughts further down the page on that, but to start with, today’s Bulletin will be about looking ahead. Like … Read more
With fast fashion impacting both feminism and the climate crisis, Alex Casey goes on the hunt for a solution in our climate emergency episode of On the Rag. Watch episode one of On the Rag: ‘Periods’ here Watch episode two of On the Rag: ‘Body hair’ here Watch episode three of On the Rag: ‘Being online’ here Watch … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government proposes hefty ETS changes, wide ranging review of road rules, and Dunedin’s stadium promises tussle with Christchurch. Everyone serious agrees that carbon emissions are too high, so how to actually go about bringing them down? The government has set out a way forward, with proposals … Read more
Most of the coal reserves on corporates’ balance sheets will never be extracted meaning they are worthless. This has implications for people’s retirement savings, writes John Berry. Westland’s mayor Bruce Smith recently rallied against proposed restrictions on West Coast coal mining, telling Radio New Zealand “coal is a critical part of how we live every … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Complainants respond to report on former Labour staffer allegations, prominent businessman arrested in Australia, and worrying new report into tourism’s environmental impacts. Complainants in the fresh inquiry into the conduct of a former Labour staffer have responded to the QC findings. The Spinoff reports that the inquiry … Read more
New Zealand’s universities have a shocking record on emissions. If they band together, however, they could make a massive difference. Shaun Hendy explains. Humour me for a minute by imagining that the University of Auckland was facing a 40% budget blowout next year. Of course, you chuckle, this would never happen. The University of Auckland … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton, $40) Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. 2 The Body: A … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Capacity constraints loom large in spending stimulus, pilot speaks out about slow Whakaari recovery efforts, and carbon monoxide levels are high. The fundamentally conservative approach of finance minister Grant Robertson has continued, even as he has moved to loosen the purse strings. The top lines of … Read more
We were in the middle of drawing up this list when Potton & Burton quietly dropped a new book – it is optimistic and surprising and all kinds of wonderful, and here is our wee rave about it. Plus, in no particular order, here are the other nine best children’s books of 2019. 1 New Zealand … Read more