Posts Tagged ‘Environment’

Having fun while helping environment

Monday, March 4th, 2024

Dressing up in fancy clothes is just one of the perks of volunteering at an op shop. Senior pupils from Trinity Catholic College and Taieri College spent the morning helping unpack donations at Shop on Carroll as part of an Enviroschools hui yesterday. The secondary schools hui “YOUR VOICE!” focused on turning environmental ideas into Read more

Humanity is challenged to reconcile ecology and food security

Thursday, February 22nd, 2024
Food security

At a time of climate change and unprecedented demographic growth, a researcher who analyses thematic themes such as the dynamics of globalisation and human security a calls for placing food issues at the heart of our policies. “We must not forget that 735 million people are in a state of chronic hunger and more than Read more

Climate change is a religious problem, COP28 told

Thursday, December 7th, 2023
COP28

In a message to COP28 (Conference of Parties), Pope Francis stressed religious leaders’ responsibility for caring for the planet. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin read the message on Francis’s behalf on Sunday at the COP28 Faith Pavilion. He passed on Francis’s thanks to those in the new Pavilion. They included the Grand Imam of Read more

Rethinking social justice

Thursday, September 14th, 2023
Social justice

The recent Women’s Football World Cup, with its acting-out of the Enlightenment values of liberty, equality and fraternity, was a delightful patch of blue sky among more ominous dark clouds. The fires and floods in the Northern Hemisphere have emphasised the threat of climate change to people’s lives throughout the world. They foreshadow the future. Read more

Māori landowners head to UN in bid to stop ETS changes

Monday, July 17th, 2023

Māori landowners are flying to the United Nations in a last-ditch effort to stop changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme. The scheme forces polluters to offset their emissions by buying carbon credits. Planting trees creates those credits, which can then be traded. It’s led to the creation of an industry of carbon farming which many Read more

Green hydrogen – a fossil fuels game changer

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

Green hydrogen could be critical to achieving a zero-carbon world by 2050 as the global economy moves away from fossil fuels. Green hydrogen offers a solution to decarbonising “hard-to-abate” industries such as steel and fertiliser production, heavy-duty transport and shipping. Recent announcements by high-emitting countries suggest the switch to green hydrogen might be greater and Read more

‘Pa Ropata’ McGowan awarded prestigious Waikato University medal

Thursday, May 25th, 2023
Pa Ropata McGowan

A lifetime’s service to healing the land has seen Waikato University honour Tauranga Catholic, Rob McGowan with a prestigious award. Known to many as ‘Pa Ropata’, McGowan is this year’s University of Waikato Medal recipient. The award recognises community service at a local or regional level. “Rob has made a significant and sustained contribution to Read more

Coastal shipping and rail could cut NZ’s freight transport emissions

Thursday, May 11th, 2023

According to a recent study, coastal shipping produces a fifth of the carbon emissions (well-to-wheel) of road freight. Rail also performed well, with about a quarter of trucking emissions. Despite this, trucking accounts for nearly 80% of New Zealand’s heavy goods transport, and a 94.5% share of the total emissions from heavy freight transport. The Read more

The oily truth about PHEVs and EVs fuel use

Thursday, March 9th, 2023
PHEVs

Manufacturers of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) make various claims about their vehicles’ fuel use. Some say it’s very low and provide numbers to prove it. Consumer NZ, with support from Te Manatū Waka–Ministry of Transport, decided to investigate to see if these suggestions were true. They assessed fuel use in five PHEVs and five Read more

Cruise ships are coming back to NZ – should we welcome them?

Thursday, August 25th, 2022

The return this month of the first cruise ship to Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour was accompanied by the sort of fanfare normally reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries: a tug boat decked out in bunting, a circling helicopter, even the mayor on hand to welcome the ship. Coming after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic and Read more