The Bulletin: Reaction to big changes required by first emissions report

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Reaction to big changes required by first emissions report, stories swirl about managed isolation places, and UK in bid to join NZ-inclusive trade bloc. The Climate Change Commission has released a major report setting out the changes that will need to be made for New … Read more

Ruling shows the cost of state owned energy giant deliberately busting its dams

The country’s biggest electricity generator has been found to have distorted the market, costing both electricity retailers and the environment. Alex Braae reports. A furious electricity retailer says the biggest generator in the country has cut against its claims of being environmentally friendly by deliberately spilling water from hydro dams and causing fossil fuel plants … Read more

Allbirds’ Tim Brown: How Covid-19 will help us unite against the climate crisis

Business after Covid: A return to normal might seem appealing, but as Tim Brown of Allbirds writes as part of a new business series, now is the time to strive for something better. The Covid-19 crisis has yanked our freedoms out from underneath us. Our sense of safety, community, and day-to-day life is no longer … Read more

The Bulletin: Saving water becomes crucial amid drought

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Saving water becomes crucial amid drought, means testing Super back in the news, and a hard look at a Special Purpose Vehicle. Aucklanders need to get serious about saving water or restrictions will come in. Newshub reports that’s the message from Watercare, who say that it’s not … Read more

The Bulletin: ETS and the accounting of emissions

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Creative accounting around the ETS explored, Ardern goes to ground on Peters, and ACT criticised for keeping donation from extremist. Often when reporting on technical and thorny pieces of legislation, it helps to have a specialist reporter looking into it. Stuff’s Charlie Mitchell has come out with … Read more

The Bulletin: Trust in question around NZ First Foundation investigation

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ First Foundation referred to police, major campaign launched to close measles immunity gap, and emissions forecast rises again. The story around donations to the NZ First Foundation has become a lot more serious, and both the police and Serious Fraud Office will be involved. It … Read more

The Bulletin: Government proposes hefty ETS changes

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

The Bulletin: Pressure mounts on NZ First, wider government

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pressure mounts over NZ First Foundation, range of changes made to overseas investment office, and accusations of bottom trawling destroying coral. The allegations swirling around the NZ First Foundation are serious enough to warrant going back to again today. Party leader Winston Peters has angrily denied … Read more

The Bulletin: Shaw, farmers now own agriculture emissions deal 

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Reaction to the government’s agriculture emissions deal, formal apology made for Parihaka, and union fuming over unpunished trucking abuses. Agricultural organisations and the government have agreed on a plan for the industry to self-regulate on emissions reduction. Here’s a cheat sheet on the agreement, which … Read more

Cheat sheet: Agriculture continues to sidestep the Emissions Trading Scheme

The prime minister has hailed a ‘historic’ agreement between the government and farming groups. What does it amount to, and is it a substantial step forward in the climate fight, or a ‘sellout’? What’s all this then? For as long as the Emissions Trading Scheme has existed, it has been dogged by the fact that … Read more

The Bulletin: School holiday fears of measles spreading

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: School holiday fears of measles spread, pressure on Northland public health system, and logger who criticised Shane Jones goes public. The measles outbreak is approaching a potentially dangerous phase, with school holidays underway. Warnings were issued last week that cases could spread further around the country, as the … Read more

Auckland Council’s plan to reduce its emissions, from farms to fleet

From declaring a climate emergency to setting a 1.5 degree regional target, Auckland Council has repeatedly emphasised its commitment to doing its bit to tackle climate change. The question is, how exactly does it plan to do that? Acting chief sustainability officer Alec Tang explains.  The Spinoff: Tell me about the key areas Auckland Council … Read more

Wanted: A real climate change conversation

Covering Climate Now: Saying climate change is important is one thing. So why are we so incapable of having a real conversation about what actually addressing it will mean? Sam McGlennon investigates.  The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here! Up until a week ago, I often wondered … Read more

As the oceans rise, the Pacific refuses to be left behind

To give the Pacific a fighting chance Australia and NZ need to take a stand, writes a Fijian litigator and activist. Climate change is now an everyday reality for the Pacific. Its impact on our countries is undeniable. To remain within our own borders in years to come, we need radical global and collective transitions. … Read more

So, you’ve declared a climate emergency. Now what?

Six things councils can do right now to make the ’emergency’ worth more than the paper it’s written on. Councils are declaring climate emergencies across the country, but with only a decade to cut carbon emissions in half, it’s time for them to act like this is an emergency. So, what can our cities be … Read more

The Bulletin: Skifield snowmaking a sign of the future

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Skifield snowmaking a sign of the future, vaccination rates fall alarmingly, and construction industry encouraged to lower emissions. Snowmaking has saved the ski industry from disaster this year, after the weather didn’t create the desired winter wonderland. The ODT reports that South Island mountains have seen very little … Read more

The Bulletin: Agriculture nudged towards ETS inclusion

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Options for getting agriculture into ETS unveiled, leading academic savages billion trees programme, and OIO approves Westland Milk sale.   A historic day for climate change policy in New Zealand, with agriculture set to become part of the emissions trading scheme. However, the mechanism by which that … Read more

Land of coal-fired milk powder and honey: Is NZ really as ‘green’ as we think?

Will we ever really adopt electric vehicles? Should we believe oil companies that say they want to help? Clean energy expert Michael Liebreich gives his two cents. Not that long ago, the concept of “clean energy” seemed like a wildly radical idea. Few people cared or even knew about the dangers of climate change and … Read more

The Bulletin: Farewell Makhlouf, shame about the mess

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Makhlouf departs with questions hanging in the air, emissions still not moving the right way, and ministerial roles in housing reshuffled. A few months ago, you’d probably be forgiven for not knowing the name Gabriel Makhlouf. Until yesterday, he was the secretary of Treasury – an … Read more

The Bulletin: Govt’s renewable energy priorities criticised

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Report questions government’s plans for renewable energy, reshuffle confirmed by PM for later this week, and two powerful pieces about giving birth.  The government’s priorities for lowering carbon emissions are in question, in a report produced about electricity generation. Basically, the current goal is to get … Read more

The Bulletin: Why Southern Lakes airports matter for the whole country

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Focus put on airports around Southern Lakes, deal appears to have been reached on climate change law, and leadership crisis in National appears to have abated. The Southern Lakes area, including the tourist drawcards of Queenstown and Wanaka, face some huge decisions over airport infrastructure. It’s a … Read more

The Bulletin: Flashpoint looms for long-running census debacle

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Flashpoint looms for disastrous census, a deep dive on emissions from tourism, and minister promises hard look at unsafe landfills. The debacle around the 2018 census is set for a major flashpoint this week, with parliament demanding data Stats NZ doesn’t yet want to provide. Radio NZ reports … Read more