News

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With approximately 22,000 students, Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington is its own small city in the heart of the capital.

As a sustainability engagement coordinator, or kaitaupua toitū, Andrea Marsden is one of a small team whose goal is to change the habits of that number for the better, from worm farms to reusable coffee cups.

The world’s climate is changing; the latest IPCC report says there is still time left to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. That means changing behaviours drastically.

Eight New Zealand companies will share a fleet of four hydrogen-powered cars in what is being described as the first commercial application of hydrogen fuel cell technology in New Zealand.

Toyota will provide The Warehouse, Air New Zealand, Saatchi and Saatchi, TVNZ, Beca, Westpac, Spark and Z Energy with Mirai cars which run off green hydrogen (hydrogen produced from renewable energy).

Opinion: It’s time to examine hydrogen-powered opportunities for Kiwis, says Neeraj Lala – chief executive officer, Toyota New Zealand

Hydrogen has the potential to play a key role as we transition to a low carbon economy and this includes a wide range of sectors, not just transport.