Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: The latest on the coronavirus in NZ, political donations in the spotlight, and overhaul of fossil fuel investment in default Kiwisaver funds. To start today, an update to the story that has dominated conversations all weekend. At the time of writing, one person has been confirmed … Read more
Fossil fuels and illegal weapons get the boot as the government announces changes to default funds. What’s the news? KiwiSaver default funds are set for a major overhaul as the government rules out investments in fossil fuels and illegal weapons for future funds. It also announced it would be switching default fund settings from ‘conservative’ … 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
EVolocity is using innovation, creativity and the incoming electric vehicle revolution to encourage kids into STEM education. Madeleine Chapman talks to its founders about the how and why of their mission. If the kids make an electric vehicle that can travel faster than 50km per hour, there may have to be an intervention. That’s too … 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
OPINION: In the fifth part of the series with our partners at Flick Electric Co to help you make better energy choices, Flick’s Nikki Cockburn breaks down the sources of our electricity. So we know that regardless of which power company we’re with, the electricity we use is at the mercy of the National Grid. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Grappling with the aftermath of the Grace Millane murder trial, prisoner voting restoration proves controversial, and red meat prices way up. News broke on Friday afternoon that the man charged with murdering Grace Millane had been found guilty. He is now awaiting sentencing, and continues to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Govt makes business-friendly migrant worker changes, PM off overseas to talk trade, and the cost of Christchurch water in China revealed. A range of changes around the immigration system have been announced, reports Newshub. Among the biggest headline grabbers was the decision that low paid migrants will … Read more
Covering Climate Now: From CFCs to nuclear weapons, history has shown that the first step to eliminating a threat is to ban it, argues Thomas Nash. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to the contributions of Spinoff Members. Join The Spinoff Members to help us do more important journalism. Nuclear … Read more
This is the perfect time to announce a future ban on sales of fossil fuel cars, argues former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Now that we have got past the CGT shemozzle, we can get back to the serious policy that the prime minister says is the existential crisis of our times, climate change. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Another NZ First minister accused of using funding for votes, police refer donation complaint up to Serious Fraud Office, and Ihumātao development opponents march. Defence minister Ron Mark has appeared to pitch for votes from a veterans group, in exchange for funding he has secured … Read more
Most students at the University of Auckland have no idea that their education provider has millions invested in fossil fuels. Fossil Free UoA would be happy to tell them about it – if the university only gave them the chance, writes member Ben Martelli. Early in the morning a couple of Thursdays ago I and … Read more
Pressure is mounting on the government to halt oil and gas exploration. If New Zealand can successfully wean itself off fossil fuels, we can only accelerate action in other countries, argues James Renwick The pressure is really going on at a political level in New Zealand these days. The Green Party is pushing to introduce … Read more
Climate change is going to dramatically disfigure New Zealand’s economy, cutting up to half our GDP, according to fund manager Lance Wiggs. The good news? We have a chance to lead in a new low-carbon world – or we could do nothing and perhaps see our economy, and society, collapse. Sometimes the future is easy … Read more
From an idea floated in Rolling Stone magazine just five years ago, divestment – the withdrawal of investments in immoral industries – has grown into a global campaign. Now New Zealand businesses, government organisations and community groups are being encouraged to join the movement, writes 350 Aotearoa’s Niamh O’Flynn. A whole town evacuated, powerless in … Read more