Major reductions in transport are critical to achieving New Zealand's commitment of being carbon neutral by 2050 – with 42 per cent of our carbon dioxide emissions attributed to vehicles. For most New Zealanders, fossil-fuelled vehicles are the biggest source of our individual emissions, with nearly 70 per cent of all transport CO2 emissions coming from cars, SUVs, utes, vans and light trucks.

The development of the world’s largest green hydrogen production plant in Southland, New Zealand, has moved a step closer with the recent appointment of consultants Arup, Beca and Wood as Technical Advisors to the project.

The country’s biggest bank, ANZ, says it would eventually cut off business customers who do not take a serious approach to the risks of climate change as a last resort. In October, New Zealand became the first country to pass a law making financial organisations disclose, and act, on climate-related risk. The new law covers about 200 large banks, credit unions and building societies, investment schemes such as KiwiSaver, licensed insurers, and listed companies.

Transpower today announces the launch of its Green Finance Programme, Certified under the global Climate Bonds Standard. This important step reflects Transpower’s commitment to achieving a net zero carbon transmission grid and supporting Aotearoa New Zealand’s net zero carbon targets. This is the first Certification globally of a transmission grid under the newly published Electrical Grids and Storage criteria.

Parts of Christchurch will feel the impacts of sea-level rise earlier than expected because the land is sinking, according to new data. Large areas from Woodend to Lake Ellesmere, including Banks Peninsula, are subsiding up to three millimetres per year, which means an extra 30 centimetres of sea-level rise over the next 100 years. The data has come from NZ SeaRise, a five-year research programme funded by the Government involving 30 local and international experts. It has taken into account the natural rises and falls of the country’s coastline, as well as climate change and warming temperatures to project sea level rises.

Compare your emissions with benchmarks for your industry. Then identify your carbon ‘hotspots’. These are the areas of your operations that generate the most carbon.

In 2020, we entered a partnership with Sea Forest to see if using Asparagopsis seaweed as a supplement feed for dairy cows could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This trial now enters its next phase including a new agreement allowing Fonterra farmers first access to this potential new seaweed solution.

IAG, through its State, AMI and NZI brands, has launched the Wild Weather Tracker, a regular report examining insurance claims data and the costs of climate change impacts.

Ravensdown has secured government co-funding to match its investment to install a biomass combustor at its Dipton lime quarry in Southland. The project, part of Ravensdown’s plan to eliminate coal use by 2030, would mean locally supplied wood fuel would replace coal in the lime-drying process. In a statement yesterday, the co-operative said its $511,074 was being matched by funding through the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) fund.

Amanda Whiting, CEO IAG New Zealand says, “Climate change is happening. It is a critical issue for our country, and it is already having serious impacts on the lives of New Zealanders through more frequent and intense storms, floods, droughts, wildfires, and in time, rising sea levels. “As New Zealand’s largest general insurer, with a relationship with one in two households, we see first-hand the devastating impact these events have on New Zealanders and how they put people’s lives at risk.