Two Victoria University of Wellington-led projects are using dust and lake sediment to track past and present changes in the Earth’s climate and environment.

New Zealand’s local government sector stands on the front line in the fight against climate change, according to the initial findings of a new report, which shows that billions of dollars of roading, water, and public transport infrastructure are at risk from as little as a half a metre sea level rise.

Few organisations are equipped to respond to the challenge of reducing their emissions when the new Zero Carbon Bill becomes law, says a Carbon and Energy Management specialist who is helping the country’s largest organisations build capacity by training a new breed of managers for the changes ahead.

The Productivity Commission's final report reflects Local Government New Zealand's submission that good quality compact urban form, combined with good public transport, can contribute to the reduction of emissions.

The Productivity Commission's final report reflects Local Government New Zealand's submission that good quality compact urban form, combined with good public transport, can contribute to the reduction of emissions.

Britain has pledged to champion Climate Risk and Resilience at next year’s UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, and has confirmed that its three missions in Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu will all be free of avoidable single-use plastics.

The opening of a new multi-million dollar production line in Waikato will see a significant proportion of the New Zealand’s still bottled water packaged in recycled plastic bottles, according to manufacturers.

The Productivity Commission today released its final report on how New Zealand can transition to a low-emissions economy.

“The time for talking is now over and it is now time to take action” Brian Cox, Executive Officer for the Bioenergy Association says in a review of the report from the Productivity Commission into a low- emissions economy. “The Productivity Commission has set out in a very clear manner the main opportunity areas for taking action to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. It has also identified key policy areas which should be addressed. We now need to act on these and many are low cost and easy to achieve.”

Mark Field, Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will travel to Nauru for the three-day (3-6 September) Pacific Islands Forum where climate change is top of the agenda.