A major new parliamentary commissioner for the environment report has just dropped, with recommendations about how tourism should be reshaped. Alex Braae spoke to Simon Upton about what he’s proposing. Last time parliamentary commissioner for the environment Simon Upton did some domestic tourism, he went to Raglan. He ate in a local restaurant, and attempted … Read more
Having recently walked much of the South Island stretch of Te Araroa, Kirsten O’Regan reflects on the magnificent landscapes and interesting characters she encountered along the way. On our 36th day of walking, we climb through the fire-blackened hills above Ohau, stopping to examine heat-disfigured trail markers. Fresh green shoots have pushed through the sooty … Read more
Summer reisssue: An anonymous Department of Conservation staff member, who wishes to be known only as the Carefree Vigilante, provides a handy guide to dealing with menstruation, and menstrual products, in the wild. First published 28 February 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by … Read more
Three decades since it first emerged on our screens, Captain Planet and the Planeteers will always be remembered as the show that introduced an entire generation to corporate greed and environmental protection. Children of the late 1980s and early 1990s had a number of iconic cartoons to choose from: Transformers, He-Man, Gummi Bears, My Little … Read more
It’s been a battle beset by fear, floods and corporate negligence. But will big business finally take responsibility for the toxic waste dumped around Southland? The Paper Mill is part of Frame, a series of short, standalone documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff. Made with support from NZ On Air. Watch more here. It … Read more
Our failures threaten the wellbeing of all of us – and our descendants, writes Mike Joy. Our failure to protect the ecosystems on which we depend on for our wellbeing is galling. A raft of recent Ministry for the Environment reports on New Zealand’s environmental performance reveal that far from improving, we are not even … Read more
In a legal first, Ngāi Tahu has lodged a statement of claim in the High Court seeking recognition of its rangatiratanga over its awa and moana, to address the ongoing degradation caused by the environmental mismanagement. Chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Lisa Tumahai, explains why it’s long overdue. We all know that something … Read more
Extracting raw materials for new technology like electric vehicles can take a terrible toll on the environment. So New Zealand company Geo40 has developed a process for sourcing strategic minerals from our abundant geothermal resources. Over four decades ago, Mike O’Sullivan, founder and COO of Geo40, did a high school project examining whether precious minerals … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistlestop tour of what parties on climate change and the environment. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Everyone wants to live in a country with a healthy environment, but how exactly do the parties plan on getting there? … Read more
We must not squander this wake-up call. We must take action now to avert a climate catastrophe, write Dr Mike Joy and Dr Catherine Knight of the Better Futures Forum. Many New Zealanders will likely be feeling very uneasy about the resurgence of the coronavirus in our community. Just when we thought we were out … Read more
New Zealand’s first commercial bioenergy facility has been lauded as a sustainable way to deal with the nation’s food waste. It’s anything but, says community composter Kate Walmsley. A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that construction was starting on Aotearoa’s first commercial bioenergy facility, owned by Ecogas. Many people might see this as … Read more
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
The chair of a watchdog group on why she’s determined to stop a new mine waste dump near Waihi on the Coromandel peninsula. Just outside the town of Waihi there are two enormous artificial mountains of toxic waste from gold mining. Now the multinational mining company wants to buy more land and build another one, leaving … Read more
It makes sense to focus on our unique selling points as a country during the post-Covid rebuild. But we also have to live the values we market to the world, writes Jessica Desmond. Earlier this week ‘future of food’ expert Rosie Bosworth wrote that to turbo-boost our Covid recovery, New Zealand should capitalise on our … Read more
Could a taiao values approach to our economy be the key to bridging the gap between protecting our environment and prospering as people? Dr Amanda Black from the Bio-Protection Research Centre explains how. Aotearoa has been economically dependent on our primary sector for generations. But in this new Covid-19-framed world, that dependence will be magnified. … Read more
Proposed reforms to the RMA would see local communities’ place in the decision-making process replaced by appointed ‘Expert Consenting Panels’. That’s a real risk when now, more than ever, we need open debate on the future of this country, argues Amanda Thomas. My bubble has been my partner and me, and our geriatric dog. Through … Read more
Our lives have been shaken over the past month, and not just in the obvious ways. Here are some of the smaller, stranger things that lockdown has brought up. When everyone withdrew into their bubbles almost four weeks ago, it was clear certain things would be different: our levels of social interaction, our incomes, and … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions over how environmentally friendly Covid-19 recovery will be, consistent daily updates of new cases, and repatriation flights from India organised. There has been an increasing amount of commentary about the state of the environment during and after the pandemic. Air quality in cities has improved dramatically, … Read more
An anonymous Department of Conservation staff member, who wishes to be known only as the Carefree Vigilante, provides a handy guide to dealing with menstruation, and menstrual products, in the wild. This post was first published on the Department of Conservation blog. I’ve got six or seven rational fears and about 900 irrational ones. On … Read more
A recent suggestion that capitalism was the only system capable of fighting climate change and environmental degradation sparked a lot of controversy. Here, long-time activist Karen Davis offers a rebuttal. There’s a tendency among beneficiaries of free market capitalism to repeat the mantra of Margaret Thatcher: There Is No Alternative. That’s especially the case when … Read more
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report is very clear – our tourism industry is contributing to serious environmental degradation in its current form. So what does that mean? What’s all this then? Tourism in this country has a huge problem. It is heavily dependent on the image of New Zealand as clean and green. … Read more
A big win for the Conservative Party ushers in another five years of the same environmental policy for Britain, and England especially, which conceives of the natural world as a collection of resources to incorporate into the economy. Aotearoa is brave enough to go another way, writes Carys Goodwin In a deafening election, a handful … Read more
Clean tech could be a man-made solution to the man-made problem of climate change. Callaghan Innovation is encouraging local innovators to develop their ideas for a lower-emissions planet, with their 2019 C-Prize challenge. In New Zealand, far away from the rest of the world, we often forget that our knack for innovation is highly regarded. … Read more
Newly launched carbon offsetting company CarbonClick want to make it easier for businesses and consumers to save the planet. CEO Dave Rouse and CPO Jan Czaplicki explain that while carbon offsetting isn’t the solution to global warming, it’s necessary. We have pumped our skies full of greenhouse gases for over 200 years, resulting in an … Read more
The outspoken parliamentary commissioner for the environment has released a tough new report about the lack of good environmental data. So why does that matter? What’s all this then? We don’t know what we don’t know, and when it comes to the environment, that’s a problem. So now the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) … Read more
Linda Jane Keegan is an environmental educator slash nature nerd – this year she heroed salps, kelp and mangroves in her excellent children’s book, Things in the Sea are Touching Me! Here, she explains what makes a functional field guide, and shares her favourites on our native flora and fauna. Every hike or wander in … Read more
The actions of New Zealanders on land are increasingly harming the ocean’s ability to sustain life. Alex Braae looks at a worrying new government paper on the marine environment. What’s all this then? A new report from the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ has sounded alarming warning about state of the massive area … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Brianne West, founder of plastic-free cosmetics company Ethique. On the podcast this week we have an amazing guest, … Read more
The loss of Antarctic ice sheets will likely cause a sea-level rise of 20 metres in coming centuries, a Victoria University-led study says. The earth is heating up and the planet has been here before. A new study into the mid-Pliocene’s climate reveals how today’s polar ice sheets may respond to climate rises expected this … Read more