Robert McLachlan • Aug 27, 2021 •
Let me introduce you to the good life. Climate solutions are often judged not just by whether they work – that is, by whether they reduce emissions – but also by whether they support a “just transition”. As Sam Huggard of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions writes, “the costs of the necessary changes that deliver all of us … Read More
Robert McLachlan • Jul 07, 2021 •
New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission is facing its first legal hurdle, as a group of 300 climate-concerned lawyers seek judicial review of the processes it used to calculate carbon budgets in its recently released advice to government. Carbon budgets are a cornerstone of New Zealand’s climate change response under the Zero Carbon Act and lie at … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 22, 2021 •
Basil Sharp, University of Auckland New Zealand faces two enormous challenges if it is to meet its international climate change commitments under the Paris Agreement: biogenic methane emissions from agriculture, and carbon emissions from industry and transport. For now, there seems little prospect of significantly reducing agricultural emissions, short of reducing actual livestock numbers, because the technology is … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 21, 2021 •
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz Could biofuels replace all fossil fuels in New Zealand? What are the economic and climate benefits and … Read More
Robert McLachlan • Mar 25, 2021 •
Yes, it’s time to submit to the Climate Change Commission on their draft advice to the government, if you haven’t done so already. Submissions close on 28 March 2021. Rod Carr / Portrait of Leo Tolstoy by Ilya Repin @NZAHParallels pic.twitter.com/enU91wnhVJ — Robert McLachlan (@nzcpe) February 28, 2021 Actually, Tolstoy can … Read More
Guest Author • Dec 15, 2020 •
Jim Missen Jiangcungou is home to a 700,00 square metre landfill, with the ability to hold 49 million cubic metres of municipal waste. Of China’s 1.4 billion populace it serves a mere 8 million and has reached its capacity 25 years early. The landfill in question is located in Shaanxi province and its sole user is the city of … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 31, 2020 •
Janet Stephenson, University of Otago A proposed multibillion-dollar project to build a pumped hydro storage plant could make New Zealand’s electricity grid 100% renewable, but expensive new infrastructure may not be the best way to achieve this. New Zealand’s electricity generation is already around 80% renewable, with just over half of that provided by hydro power. The … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 03, 2020 •
James Higham, University of Otago Unprecedented border closures and the domestic lockdown have paralysed New Zealand’s $40.9 billion a year tourism industry. In the process, the vulnerability of the sector to external shocks and the tenuous nature of tourism employment have been exposed. While New Zealand’s handling of the pandemic has been hailed as a global masterclass, and the … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 03, 2020 •
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz Do you think the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown will slow or possibly reverse the effects of climate change (due … Read More
Robert McLachlan • Dec 18, 2019 •
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz Which countries in the world have met or bettered their Paris Agreement targets? Robert McLachlan, Massey University The … Read More