Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants.
Environmental finance is a field within finance that employs market-based environmental policy instruments to improve the ecological impact of investment strategies. The primary objective of environmental finance is to regress the negative impacts of climate change through pricing and trading schemes. The field of environmental finance was established in response to the poor management of economic crises by government bodies globally. Environmental finance aims to reallocate a businesses resources to improve the sustainability of investments whilst also retaining profit margins.
There is a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific organizations, many of which explicitly agree with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) synthesis reports.
The agricultural emissions research levy was a controversial tax proposal in New Zealand. It was first proposed in 2003 and would collect an estimated $8.4 million annually from livestock farmers, and which would have been used to fund research on the livestock industry's emissions of greenhouse gases, to further the nation's compliance with the Kyoto Protocol.
Climate change mitigation consists of actions to limit global warming and its related effects. This involves reductions in human emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) as well as activities that reduce their concentrations in the atmosphere.
Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its making until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when testing the environmental impact of food, such as the carbon footprint of the food.
Carbon accounting or greenhouse gas accounting refers to processes used to measure how much carbon dioxide equivalents an organization emits. It is used by states, corporations, and individuals to create the carbon credit commodity traded on carbon markets. Examples of products based on forms of carbon accounting may be found in national inventories, corporate environmental reports, and carbon footprint calculators.
The carboNZero programme and CEMARS programme are the world’s first internationally accredited greenhouse gas (GHG) certification schemes under ISO 14065. They provide tools for organisations, products, services and events to measure and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and optionally offset it. The programmes are owned and operated by Enviro-Mark Solutions Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Landcare Research.
A low-carbon diet refers to making lifestyle choices related to food consumption to reduce resulting greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe). Choosing a low carbon diet is one facet of developing sustainable diets which increase the long-term sustainability of humanity.
AgResearch Ltd is one of New Zealand's largest Crown Research Institutes with over 700 staff and revenue of NZ$160.7 million in the year to June 2014.
Climate change in New Zealand refers to changes in the climate of New Zealand in relation to global climate change. In 2014, New Zealand contributed 0.17% to the world's total greenhouse gas emissions. However, on a per capita basis, New Zealand is a significant emitter – the 21st highest contributor in the world and fifth highest within the OECD.
The Livestock Emissions and Abatement Research Network is an international research network focused on improving the understanding of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock agriculture.
In New Zealand, agriculture is the largest sector of the tradable economy. The country exported NZ$46.4 billion worth of agricultural products in the 12 months to June 2019, 79.6% of the country's total exported goods. The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector directly contributed $12,653 million of the national GDP in the 12 months to September 2020, and employed 143,000 people, 5.9% of New Zealand's workforce, as of the 2018 census.
The environmental impact of agriculture is the effect that different farming practices have on the ecosystems around them, and how those effects can be traced back to those practices. The environmental impact of agriculture varies widely based on practices employed by farmers and by the scale of practice. Farming communities that try to reduce environmental impacts through modifying their practices will adopt sustainable agriculture practices. Though some pastoralism is environmentally positive, modern animal agriculture practices tend to be more environmentally destructive than agricultural practices focused on fruits, vegetables and other biomass.
The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme is a partial-coverage all-free allocation uncapped highly internationally linked emissions trading scheme. The NZ ETS was first legislated in the Climate Change Response Amendment Act 2008 in September 2008 under the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand and then amended in November 2009 and in November 2012 by the Fifth National Government of New Zealand.
David Stuart Wratt is a New Zealand climate scientist who specialises in meteorology and the science and impact of climate change. He is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute at Victoria University of Wellington, and has had many roles at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research(NIWA), including six years as Chief Scientist Climate. His current position at NIWA is Emeritus Scientist (Climate). Wratt is a companion of the Royal Society of New Zealand and was the Chair of the Society's New Zealand Climate Committee. He has had advisory roles for the New Zealand Government, including Science Advisor at the Ministry for the Environment, and is currently a member of the Science Board for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. He has had input into assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), notably, contributing to its award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize through his contributions to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. Wratt has worked in the United States and Australia as well as New Zealand.
Pollution is an environmental issue in New Zealand with a number of measures being taken to reduce its severity. New Zealand is sometimes viewed as being "clean and green" but this can be refuted due to pollution levels, among other factors. New Zealand does have a relatively low air pollution level, but some areas have high levels of plastic pollution.
The Climate Change Response Amendment Act 2008 was a statute enacted in September 2008 by the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand that established the first version of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, a national all-sectors all-greenhouse gases uncapped and highly internationally linked emissions trading scheme.
Approximately 40% of primary energy is from renewable energy sources in New Zealand. Approximately 80% of electricity comes from renewable energy, primarily hydropower and geothermal power.
Roderick Marshall Carr is a New Zealand businessman and administrator. He retired from his position as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canterbury in 2019 and has been a chairman of the board of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and a director of Lyttelton Port Company, Taranaki Investment Management and Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, Carr was appointed as Chair-designate for the Climate Change Commission and has been confirmed in that role for five years following the passing of the Climate Change Response Amendment Act. Carr has been partially sighted and legally blind since birth.
