Countries that signed up to the Paris agreement promised to review their efforts every five years, but already New Zealand has stumbled, writes Bronwyn Hayward. Saturday marked five years since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed. That agreement was the moment that the world’s governments (196 countries) finally agreed climate change was real, was happening … Read more
Joe Biden’s victory presents an opportunity to reset the White House agenda and put it on a different course. Three scholars discuss what a Biden presidency may have in store in three key areas: race, the Supreme Court and foreign policy. Racism, policing and Black Lives Matter protests Brian Purnell, Bowdoin College The next four … Read more
A group of 60 CEOs from companies including Air New Zealand, Spark, Fonterra and Vector have formed the Climate Leaders Coalition, with the purpose of reducing the country’s emissions. But what does this actually mean? Jihee Junn talks to the coalition convenor, Z Energy CEO Mike Bennetts In 2016, New Zealand ratified the landmark Paris … Read more
The latest inventory of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions shows a 20% increase in emissions from 1990 to 2016. The Science Media Centre has collected commentary from the experts Climate change minister James Shaw announced the result of the inventory this morning a few hours after Jacinda Ardern declared that the government would not hand out any new offshore … Read more
Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. The Spinoff is devoting a week of coverage to the issue, its advocates, complexities, and solutions. Today, The Morgan Foundation’s Paul Young looks at the data and uncovers some dirty secrets about New Zealand’s emissions. Aotearoa New Zealand – clean and green, principled and progressive. So … Read more
Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. The Spinoff is devoting a week of coverage to the issue, its advocates, complexities, and solutions. Climate Change Week at The Spinoff is brought to you by An Inconvenient Sequel, Al Gore’s new movie and, says Simon Wilson, it’s not entirely what you might expect. Al … Read more
I realised that politicians can’t always be trusted to act in the best interests of the people or the planet, and felt compelled by an irresistible force to do something, writes Sarah Thomson, ahead of a date at the High Court in Wellington this month The day it really hit home was when I listened to James Hansen … Read more
As emitter-in-chief Donald Trump pulls out of the Paris Climate Accord, the time has come for a top-down approach to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Jack Close explains. Environmentalists are quick to sing out about New Zealand’s excessive greenhouse gas emissions – and rightly so. In the large part, we are a gas-guzzling, river-polluting, plastic-bag-wasting … Read more