Science Media Centre

The environment watchdog has proposed that New Zealand should follow the UK by putting climate change action into law. In her report Stepping stones to Paris and beyond, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright advises the Government to start thinking decades ahead to tackle climate change, and to put specific plans for how we […]

UPDATED: The Government has announced a package of changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) following a review of the system. Agriculture was not included in the scope of the review and while the ETS will be re-opened to international units, with limitations, the timeframe on this has not yet been set. The SMC asked experts to […]

The French capital is styling itself as a leader in modern ways to fight climate change and become more resilient. NZ Herald science reporter Jamie Morton looks at what Auckland can learn from Paris. Following a trip to the City of Lights, hosted by the French government, the series highlighted some of the developments in […]

After weeks of teasing, a trillion-tonne iceberg has calved off the Larsen C ice shelf into the sea. A UK scientist who has been monitoring the ice shelf cautioned that it was too early to blame the calving of the ice shelf to human-generated climate change, and the event “may simply be a rare but natural occurrence”. […]

As temperatures rise, plants head up mountainsides, with weeds spreading to higher altitudes twice as fast as their native counterparts, a new study has found. Published today in Nature Climate Change, the study examined more than 130,000 records of 1334 plant species collected over 20 years in a single range of the European Alps.  The […]

Hamilton law student Sarah Thomson has taken the Government to court this week over what she says is New Zealand’s inaction on climate change. Her case is being heard in Wellington’s High Court this week. Outside court on Monday morning, Thomson told media, “I feel a lot of people have their hopes on this, because a […]

Two environmental issues have dominated the news so far this election year, both focused on waterways, writes Massey University’s Associate Professor Ian Fuller in Hawkes Bay Today. An excerpt (read in full): Serious storms and flooding – and the resulting economic costs – have focused attention on the effects of climate change, while events like […]

In the wake of US President Donald Trump withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement, Victoria University of Wellington professors James Renwick and Marc Wilson talk about the psychology of climate change denial, and whether sceptics can be convinced otherwise. An excerpt (read in full): “There’s a very well-documented disinformation campaign,” says Victoria University’s […]

News this morning that US President Donald Trump has decided to pull the USA out of the Paris Agreement was widely anticipated. The USA was one of 195 countries to sign on to the historic agreement, which former President Barack Obama was instrumental in brokering. Trump called the agreement a deal that “hamstrings” the USA while […]

Practical changes to New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) would ensure emitters reduce their greenhouse gases quicker than the current pace, according to a discussion paper released today. Motu Economic and Public Policy Research based its proposals on a series of working papers and meetings. Research fellow Suzi Kerr told stuff.co.nz that the ETS had […]