Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are the main driving force of climate change, and all economic sectors need to internalize their costs. Food systems (including land use, production, refrigeration, food processing) account for a quarter of global GHG emissions. Agricultural exports in Asia-Pacific account for 18% of total exports, twice as …
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake has been recorded centred 15 kilometres southeast of Tokoroa in the central North Island. The earthquake had a focal depth of 199km and was recorded at 1.05pm today. The quake was felt in Wellington, Nelson and in Hamilton.
A genetically modified cow whose milk lacks a substance that causes allergic reactions in people has been created by scientists in New Zealand. In their first year of life, two or three in every hundred infants are allergic to a whey protein in milk called BLG. The researchers engineered the …
The first phase of the Kyoto Protocol's (KP) emissions offset market is drawing to a close with just over 13 billion giga tons (Gt) of surplus of emissions offset credits, more than a thousand times greater than anticipated demand of 11.5 million mega tons (Mt). The balance of supply and …
A link between European Union and Australian cap and trade schemes could inject new life into emissions trading as long as regulators take into account risks such as the impact of market intervention in one region on energy prices in the other. The European Union's executive Commission and Australian government …
The Climate Action Tracker has updated our analysis on national greenhouse gas emission reduction proposals for 2020 under the international climate negotiations. We find that governments are taking action to implement their reduction proposals, but many are set to fail in reaching those proposals. Recent highlights include the agreed link …
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced hope Friday the United States would act beyond its pledges on curbing emissions as she visited Pacific islands threatened by climate change. Clinton, the first US secretary of state to take part in the annual Pacific Islands Forum, pledged $25 million in new …
China, New Zealand and the Cook Islands announced a new partnership that will deliver an improved water mains system to the people of Rarotonga, the Cook Islands' main island. It is the first time China and New Zealand have worked together on a major development initiative in the Pacific. "This …
Two of the world's smallest countries are to place nearly 2.5 million square kilometres of south Pacific Ocean in newly created marine protected areas. The Cook Islands, nation of 20,000 people on 15 islands, formally announced on Tuesday the creation of the world's largest marine park covering nearly 1.1m sq …
Almost 50 of the world's poorest nations said pledges made by rich countries to provide funds to help them adapt to a warmer planet risk being overlooked as U.N. negotiations over a global climate pact to start in 2020 got underway in Bangkok on Wednesday. The group of mostly African …
Almost 200 countries face the tough task of agreeing a new global climate deal by a deadline of 2015, forcing all nations to curb emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Environment ministers will meet in Doha, Qatar, from November 26 for two weeks to start preparing the new accord. Countries agreed …
Abandoned Carbide factory continues to leach toxic chemicals into groundwater Even as the world prepares to witness the London Olympics starting Friday, victims and survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy have decided to pre-empt the organisers by holding a “Bhopal Special Olympics” here on Thursday. Five survivor organisations, led by …
All the staff trapped underground after a truck fire broke out at Newmont Mining Corp.'s NEM -1.43% Waihi gold mine in New Zealand's central North Island have been rescued, and operations there will likely remain suspended until at least Wednesday, company spokesman Kit Wilson said Tuesday. The company earlier said …
Successive New Zealand governments have failed to adopt effective climate change policies. A positive, albeit limited, step was taken with the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme in 2008, a scheme founded on a framework of comprehensive coverage, applying to all sectors of the economy and all Kyoto gases, addressing the …
New Zealand carbon prices hit a two-month high this week, extending gains as ongoing speculation of tighter liquidity in the European carbon market was expected to bolster the New Zealand market in the longer term. New Zealand permits for spot delivery (NZUs) rose as high as NZ$7.00, traders said, their …
Differences galore over the commitments made at the Earth Summit As the leaders met in a mountain-girdled Brazilian town for the crucial official round of discussions on the Rio+20 text, what was most noticeably missing was the kind of excitement that was witnessed two decades ago, when more than 172 …
The captain and the navigation officer of a container ship that smashed into a reef off a popular New Zealand holiday resort were jailed on Friday for causing the country's worst environmental disaster in decades. The two men, captain Mauro Balomaga and navigation officer Leonil Relon, both Filipino nationals, were …
New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch was shaken by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The government seismology agency said the quake was centred 10 kilometres east of the city at a depth of 11 kilometres. The city was devastated …
A yearly review of countries' greenhouse gas emissions cut pledges under an extension to the global climate pact the Kyoto Protocol could be a way to raise climate ambitions, the European Union's lead climate negotiator said on Wednesday. Negotiators from over 180 countries are meeting in Bonn, Germany, until Friday …
A Peruvian minister has denied claims that explosions used in oil exploration are to blame for the deaths of hundreds of dolphins. Fisheries Minister Gladys Triveno said a government investigation showed that natural causes were to blame. She contradicted a study by an environmental group which suggested that explosions had …
The Asia-Pacific region may be home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies including China, Japan, India and Indonesia. But, last year at least, it also was the most vulnerable to natural disasters that hampered expansion and disrupted trade. The United Nations Economic and Social Survey of the Asia …
