Podcasts about climate change minister

The Government says it's reinstating confidence in the Emissions Trading Scheme. It comes as the Climate Commission's calls for carbon credits to stay the same price, to maintain stability. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts told Mike Hosking while some carbon credit auctions haven't taken off, things are improving on other years. He says the previous Government was getting too involved and causing volatility, but he's turning things around. He says the Commission's told the Government its changes are working well, and it can keep its hand off the tiller. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has revealed the New Zealand Green Investment Finance will stop making new investments - and will wind down its' existing portfolio. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says it has invested almost $400 million into various projects, with 'limited' results. Watts says there's no need for the Government to be involved in this particular market going forward. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group of aid agencies have penned an open letter to the Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, and Climate Change Minister - calling for an increase in funding for Pacific nations to help them with the effects of climate change. The Council for International Development executive director Peter Rudd spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Sam Fricker sits down with the Hon Chris Bowen on Diving Deep!In this must-listen episode, Olympian, entrepreneur, and social media creator Sam Fricker welcomes one of Australia's most experienced political leaders, the Hon Chris Bowen, to Diving Deep. With the country heading into an election, it's an especially pivotal time in politics, and there's no better guest to unpack the challenges and opportunities ahead.Chris Bowen has dedicated decades to public service, holding key roles including Treasurer, Minister for Immigration, Minister for Financial Services, and now, Minister for Climate Change and Energy. He's played a major role in shaping Australia's economic and energy policies, navigating everything from financial reforms to climate initiatives.This episode goes beyond politics—it's a deep dive into leadership, decision-making at the highest levels, and the future of Australia's energy landscape. Get a rare, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be a leader in today's world.Tune in now for an insightful and engaging conversation! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A former Climate Change Minister says it would be a mistake to withdraw from a global climate deal. ACT Leader David Seymour's floated the idea of New Zealand leaving the agreement, saying it's perhaps a discussion for a future election. Labour's calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to recommit to the deal. Nick Smith told Mike Hosking it would be great if we could hold a consistent stance on this. He says the problem with an issue like climate change is if Government policy is flip-flopping all the time, you're not going to make any progress. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Climate Change Minister says their latest plan could get us to our net zero 2050 target six years early. The Government's released its second Emissions Reduction Plan. Key policies include planting trees on Crown-owned land and introducing both a network of 10,000 EV charging points and agricultural emissions pricing by 2030. Simon Watts told Heather du Plessis-Allan this gives us a path to hit the goal as early as 2044. He says we need a plan that's practical and achievable, and they've been very conservative in some of their estimates. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand has pledged $10 million to a global fund to help developing countries respond to climate change damage. Minister-in-charge, Simon Watts has made the commitment at the UN Climate Change Summit in Azerbaijan. Watts says the contribution will help deliver effective support to help people in the most-affected regions build stronger communities. He explained that this will come out of New Zealand's overseas aid budget. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest carbon credit auction found little success, but the Climate Change Minister says there's still some positives.  The Government's auction attracted no bidders, increasing the chances of millions of tonnes of permits going up in smoke come December.  The Government has announced measures to address the issue, shrinking the number of permits available over the next five years in an effort to flush out surplus credits.  Minister Simon Watts said that there is demand for the credits, as there is an active secondary market that is trading with good liquidity.  He said that the function of the government's market is to introduce supply to the market if necessary, and the purpose of the credits is to reduce emissions, not generate revenue for the government.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Climate Change Minister believes slashing 24 million carbon credits will fix the struggling Emissions Trading Scheme. Companies buy the credits in quarterly auctions - to offset their pollution output. Repeated failures to sell credits triggered the Climate Change Commission to advise there are too many cheap units available, in order to drive down emissions. Minister Simon Watts says it's a simple supply and demand fix, but he can't speculate on the price implications. "What we've done here today is make sure we've put some credibility back into this market - which hasn't been the case in the past." Changes to unit numbers kick in from 2025. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast, Dom talks with Game Animal Council General Manager Tim Gale about a private member's bill which would give hunters and anglers representation on the NZ Conservation Authority... He talks with Alex Gorringe from her family farm in Kawhatau Valley about its historic shearing quarters accommodation, Italian racing cars, gold and horses... And REX Producer Jo Grigg catches up with Climate Change Minister Simon Watts during his recent visit to her Marlborough farm, Tempello. Tune in daily for the latest and greatest REX rural content on your favourite streaming platform, visit rexonline.co.nz and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts was on Q&A discussing emissions, agriculture, and whether New Zealand will meet its climate targets, EV sales and more ==================================== Come support the work we're doing by becoming a Patron of ⁠⁠#BHN⁠⁠ www.patreon.com/BigHairyNews⁠ Merch available at www.BHNShop.nz Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/BigHairyNews Follow us on Twitter. @patbrittenden @Chewie_NZ

“Pines are one of the most flammable plants on the planet.”  That's a quote from a plant ecologist at Victoria University, Dr Nicola Day.  And it's why some Christchurch councils went to the Government wanting a change to the forestry rules, to try and stop pine forests being re-planted on the Port Hills after the big fire earlier this year.  The second big fire on the Port Hills in less than 10 years. And the Government has said no. Which I get. It's saying to the councils that it's not prepared to change the forestry rules just to suit Christchurch. So I get that.  But, at the same time, it's nuts that more can't be done to try and make sure we don't have another big fire in another seven years.  So, what happened is Christchurch and Selwyn mayors Phil Mauger and Sam Broughton, acting Environment Canterbury chair Craig Pauling and another ECAN councillor, wrote a letter to the Minister of Forestry Todd McClay.  And they pointed-out to him that, after the first fire in 2017, there was no way they could stop pines being re-planted. Which meant, of course, that when the second fire broke out on Valentine's Day this year the pines were back again and, bingo, we know where things went from there.  And within days there were Port Hills residents coming out and saying how crazy it was that the pines had been re-planted after the 2017 fire and asking, you know, when will we learn?  Since then, the councils have gone as far as they can go - and there are some changes proposed to what's known as the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement.   But the forestry rules, as they stand, get in the way of anything further. Because they allow anyone who has existing rights to have a forestry plantation on the Port Hills to replace it like-for-like if it's damaged or destroyed by fire.  The adventure park is a case in point. After 2017, the pines were re-planted there because the landowner had an existing right to plant them. There was nothing that could be done to stop that. This is what these local councils are trying to change. But the Government has said no.  When the fire was happening back in February, a director of McVicar Timber Group —which owns the land where the adventure park is— was quoted in media reports saying that planting native trees costs 10-times more than planting pine trees.   He also said that he didn't think native trees would survive in the Port Hills because the area is dry and rocky.  At the time, there weren't many —if any— Port Hills residents agreeing with him.  Such as Hannah Miller, who said: “Seven years ago was the perfect opportunity to re-plant in natives. I'm no expert on fires, but we've seen what burns in the Port Hills and what doesn't burn, and the native vegetation does a pretty damn good job of stopping it.”  She went on to say: “What on earth are we doing planting pines right up there? That's utterly ridiculous.”  And I'm not going to argue with that. Because it was utterly ridiculous that pines were allowed to be re-planted after the 2017 fire and it's utterly ridiculous that the forestry rules —as they stand at the moment— allow the same mistake to be made again.  But the Government has said “no”. So where do we go with this now?  If the councils here in Christchurch have had no joy with the Minister of Forestry, they need to be contacting his Cabinet colleague Simon Watts - who is the Climate Change Minister.  Because climate change —and more extreme weather— are part of the picture here.  Just over two weeks ago, Simon Watts released the Government's five-point climate strategy. And one of those five points - under the heading “Nature-based solutions to address climate change” says the Government wants homes and communities better protected against climate change through restored habitats and ecosystems. It also wants more native forests.  So that's where I think these councils should go next.  I can see why the Government doesn't want to tinker with the forestry rules just because of what we've been through here in Christchurch with two big fires on the Port Hills in seven years. But something has to be done to try and make sure we don't have to go through the same thing all over again. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Climate Change Minister is defending his emissions reduction plan after revealing it's no longer on track to meet its third emissions budget.  This is despite being on track under the policies of the last government.  Projections published at the end of 2023 based on policies from the last Government, showed the country hitting its first three emissions budgets. Under new projections published today, which incorporate decisions the new Government has made to bin a host of Labour-era policies like decarbonising heavy industry and subsidies for EVs, the government will sail 17 Mt CO2-e above that third budget, which runs from 2031–35.   The government is on track to meet its current budget, emissions budget 1, and the second emissions budget.   An emissions reduction plan is a document the Government releases under the Zero Carbon Act. It is meant to set out policies that will help the Government to meet its emissions budgets on the way to hit the Government's ultimate goal of net zero emissions for long-lived gasses in 2050. The Government has one more emissions budget to deploy to hit its third budget.   The Government released its draft plan today for consultation. A final plan will be published before the end of the year.  The new reduction plan includes investing in electric car chargers, waste minimisation, and planting thousands of hectares of pine and native trees.  Climate Change Minister Simon Watts told Mike Hosking this plan has a short-term focus.  He says the initiatives will support the struggling economy while also still hitting the first two targets.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has unveiled a five-point strategy to deal with climate change. It focuses on infrastructure and community preparedness, clean energy, tech and nature-based solutions.  Some climate advocacy groups are calling it a kick in the guts, meaningless and contradictory.  Minister Simon Watts told Andrew Dickens that the strategy is more vague because it's focusing on the big dots they want to focus on as a country, and the detailed plan will be coming in the next two weeks.  He said they'll be measuring their success via two targets, one being the end of next year, the other being the end of 2030.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Climate Change Minister says plans to reduce agricultural emissions must be balanced with maintaining New Zealand's production. The Government plans to change the law in order to to stop farming being charged with credit offsets through the Emissions Trading Scheme. It was the fallback plan if partnership group He Waka Eka Noa couldn't find an alternative way to charge agriculture. He Waka Eke Noa will be replaced and Simon Watts says he's committed to pricing agricultural emissions by 2030. "We want that to be industry and farmer-led, because our farmers are some of the most carbon-efficient farmers in the world." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

​On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 11 June 2024, Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley gives an update on his homicide investigation following the death of a Te Kuiti baby. The Climate Change Minister tells Heather why farmers shouldn't be paying for their emissions and will definitely be excluded from the Emissions Trading Scheme. The Commerce Commission has revealed the fuel price trick that costs motorists millions every year. Plus, the Huddle debates whether it's time we stopped paying politicians an accommodation allowance if they own the place they're staying in. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Climate Change Minister, Simon Watts, has just announced a cross party inquiry will be conducted by the Finance and Expenditure Committee into climate adaptation.

Last week on Shared Lunch James Shaw, former Climate Change Minister, joined Pattrick Smellie to talk climate investment. In this quick bite he shares how he sees the global transition to sustainable technologies as one of the most significant investment opportunities we've faced, spanning infrastructure, housing, transport, energy, waste management, agriculture, and more. Check out the full episode: 'Ride the wave or be the wave–James Shaw' For more or to watch on youtube—check out http://linktr.ee/sharedlunch Brought to you by Sharesies, with BusinessDesk. Appearance on Shared Lunch is not an endorsement by Sharesies of the views of the presenters, guests, or the entities they represent. Their views are their own. Shared Lunch is not financial advice. We recommend talking to a licensed financial adviser. You should review relevant product disclosure documents before deciding to invest. Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. Content is current at the time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With James Shaw and Colin Keating

When it comes to climate investing: where are we? Where do we need to be? How will we get there?  We ask former Climate Change Minister and co-leader of the Green Party, James Shaw, before he leaves Parliament on May 1. Shaw explains that while much of his job was telling the truth about a bleak subject, he's buoyed by the ‘astonishing' amount of money that's going into so-called green finance globally. And he  believes the transition from fossil fuels is the greatest investment opportunity of a lifetime. You'll learn why climate reporting by listed companies is a gamechanger, the likely fate of forestry, why the carbon markets are failing, and what's misunderstood about methane. For more or to watch on youtube—check out http://linktr.ee/sharedlunch Brought to you by Sharesies, with BusinessDesk. Appearance on Shared Lunch is not an endorsement by Sharesies of the views of the presenters, guests, or the entities they represent. Their views are their own. Shared Lunch is not financial advice. We recommend talking to a licensed financial adviser. You should review relevant product disclosure documents before deciding to invest. Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. Content is current at the time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've heard time and time again how important climate change is to our audience. So, we decided to interview the Climate Change Minister, Chris Bowen, about what the Australian Government is doing to accelerate action. Plus, we talked about the exact timeline for when the Government expects young people to be able to afford an electric vehicle. Hosts: Billi FitzSimons and Sam KoslowskiGuest: Chris Bowen, Climate Change MinisterAudio producer: Emmeline Peterson Do you have feedback for the podcast? Share your thoughts via our survey!Subscribe to The Daily Aus newsletterBuy our book No Silly Questions  Today's episode is sponsored by Kttipay. Head to KttiPay.com and download KttiPay. Splitting expenses not headaches.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Sunday, after nine years as Green Party co-leader, including a five year stint as Climate Change Minister, James Shaw is stepping down. He's joining Susie to talk about everything other than politics and share some favourite music.

The Climate Change Minister, says the draft text of the COP28 summit agreement does not go far enough. The current text refers to reducing the consumption and production of fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner. The Minister Simon Watts is attending the COP summit in Dubai. He told Morning Report the wording in the draft text does not make a firm commitment to transition away from fossil fuels.

New Zealand's climate change minister says the commitment to "phase out fossil fuels" is primarily about coal, rather than gas. The International Energy Agency says current emissions reductions pledges are only one-third of what's needed by 2030 if implemented in full. Negotiations for a climate agreement are entering their last days at the UN's climate conference in Dubai. At the summit, the Minister Simon Watts expressed New Zealand's commitment to a future based on renewable fuels. He spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss from Dubai.

New Zealand has won the first Fossil of the Day award at COP-28 in Dubai. It's been awarded for the National-led Government's campaign promise it'll revoke the last Government's ban on offshore oil exploration. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says Labour got the same award last year. He says it's just a distraction from the summit's real business. "We're focused on the things that really matter, and that's engaging with our national partners when we get over there on the ground. It's something that happens, but it's in the background." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new Climate Change Minister, Simon Watts, may have a tricky time defending the Government if he goes to the global climate summit starting on Wednesday. Scientists and lobby groups say it's crucial he attends. Climate change correspondent Eloise Gibson reports.

The coalition Government says it will repeal the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration. That's despite the United Nations saying the world is on track to produce around 110-percent more fossil fuels in 2030 than are needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The extractive energy industry in New Zealand says fossil gas is needed to help the transition away from coal in energy plants. Minister of Climate Change Simon Watts spoke to Corin Dann.

Green Party co-leader and Climate Change Minister. Has he given up any hope of being in the next government? And has Labour's dark cloud offered the Greens a bit of a silver lining?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Green Party co-leader and Climate Change Minister has his chance to talk about his party's Ag policy, another failed carbon auction, the dirtiest election campaign ever and whether he's been misleading us about his academic career.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister has apologised to the Climate Change Minister for failing to flag he was slashing millions of dollars for climate policies. The Labour government yesterday revealed nearly $4 billion in savings across the public service over the next four years. It comes on the eve of National's long-awaited tax plan, which will be funded through four new taxes. Here's our political reporter, Katie Scotcher. Gareth Hughes is a political commentator and a former Green Party MP. He spoke to Lisa Owen. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6335827684112

We ask the Climate Change Minister if the Government reset of the ETS (with a new floor price of $60/tonne) will stabilise the carbon market. It tanked after settings were tightened in Dec 2022, from $88 to just $33, with no credits traded in the first two auctions of 2023. And if the ideal scenario is eventually a carbon price of zero, where does that leave the carbon farmers currently planting trees?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has done a U-turn on the settings of the Emissions Trading Scheme. The change is following an order from the High Court to Climate Change Minister James Shaw to reconsider the original settings, due to a collapse in carbon prices. Climate change minister and Green Party co-leader James Shaw talked to Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An agriculture advisory firm says the Emissions Trading scheme should be left untouched. Lewis Tucker & Co have penned an open letter to the Climate Change Minister asking that the ETS be left alone ahead of an upcoming review. Executive director Colin Jacobs is concerned the Government's creating uncertainty and potentially destabilising the ETS. "They're destabilising the ETS carbon markets and the forestry sector, which is not going to be pulled through anyone as we're looking to de-carbonise our economy." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If polling out today is anything to go by, the Maori Party are going to be a force at this election. The Roy Morgan poll has the Party at 7 percent. Which is huge, it's the highest level of support the Party has ever registered. But that's not the thing that's convinced me they'll do well. What's convinced me is the movement of the voters in the poll. You can see clearly see voters moving from the Greens to the Maori Party. Greens down 2.5 percent, Maori Party up 2.5 percent. This is the very thing we've been warning about on the show for the last few weeks. The Maori Party is basically what the Green Party used to be. Radical, environmental, campaigners against poverty. They're doing the Greens, just better than the Greens. They're the ones standing outside the Oranga Tamariki facility at the weekend painting the boys demanding KFC on the roof as victims, planning to introduce a ghost house tax of 2 percent, introducing a failed bill to ban seabed mining and slamming the Government for failing to deal to climate change. The Greens can't do this stuff anymore. First, because they're part of the go-slow Government. And also because they're deliberately trying to tone it down so they don't freak out swing voters who know Labour comes with the Greens attached. But what it means is they're a watered-down version of themselves. Their wealth tax released last month was still kooky to me and you, but it was a lot less kooky than the plan they released last election to tax any wealth over $1 million- which is just a stock standard Auckland house. Marama Davidson's done bugger all to fix the housing crisis as the Associate Minister, James Shaw has failed to tax the farmers as Climate Change Minister and nothing is a bottom line ahead of this election. So far, there are literally no points of principal that are important enough for the Greens to give up the chance of being in Government. So that explains 2.5 percent of voters moving from them to their copy cats who are doing a better job of being the Greens. Now I don't think the Maori Party will be kingmakers at the election, but I reckon there's a good chance they will at least double their two MPs. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We ask the Climate Change Minister about ag emissions from our major trading partners and whether that has any relevance (as per Act's policy). Also, we ask who is left to run the country and whether the Prime Minister may have to second some more Greens to be Cabinet Ministers!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is seeking to fix the Emissions Trading Scheme to stop it going bust down the line. The Climate Change Commission warns it's not working as intended, and four new options are now on the table. One includes taking forestry out of the scheme altogether to stop businesses planting trees rather than cutting carbon. Climate Change Minister James Shaw says there's a risk of creating a glut of forestry units in the 2030s. "That will cause a price crash that'll mean polluting companies will just be able to buy cheap forestry offsets. But it's also really bad for land owners who've invested in forestry on the assumption of a stable price." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Climate Change Minister, and Green Party co-leader, says He Waka Eke Noa is not dead - in fact, it's “still breathing” and “very much alive”. He's also “pleasantly surprised” by the warm reception from the Fieldays crowd.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government have walked back empty-handed from the latest carbon auction- creating a $500 million shortfall. Polluters had the option to purchase the 'rights' to produce units to offset their emissions. The Government could have earned $512 million by selling the 8.95m carbon units on offer, double the usual amount after losing the March auction. Climate Change Minister James Shaw explained that there wasn't enough demand at a price they were willing to sell. "There's a lot of over-supply in the system at the moment, and I think that the last auction failed to clear that- volume got added to today's auction, which essentially doubled the size of today's auction." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A plan to price the country's agricultural emissions may be put out to pasture before it gets going, as National backs away from supporting it. A farmer and grower-led group - called He Waka Eke Noa - was set up in 2019 to work with the Government to develop a world-first pricing scheme. The Opposition has now declared the plan dead - the Climate Change Minister argues that puts New Zealand's ability to meet its climate targets in jeopardy. Political reporter Anneke Smith reports.

The Green Party co-leader and Climate Change Minister comments on the prospect of a fertiliser tax to replace a “mind-bogglingly complex” He Waka Eke Noa.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Top stories for 22 May 2023 It's the largest ever initiative to reduce carbon emissions, - a clean electric furnace at the Glenbrook Steel Mill in South Auckland . We'll speak to the company, Contact Energy, and the Climate Change Minister about the move Work to bring in stronger fire protections for high density housing was withdrawn just days before Wellington's fatal Loafers Lodge fire

There are hopes that decarbonisation efforts at New Zealand Steel can be extended to other industries. The company will be given 140-million dollars to help them switch half of their coal to electricity at their Glenbrook site. Climate Change Minister James Shaw says there are talks with other firms for investment to get emissions down. He told Mike Hosking that the Government is committed to the effort. Shaw says 67 projects have been funded through the Government fund. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Climate Change Commission is warning decision makers that we can't plant our way out of trouble. It's released draft recommendations to the Government for the next Emissions Reduction Plan, and wants the focus shifted away from forestry as the default method. Instead, it wants the Government to pick up the pace on policies which directly cut emissions, such as renewable energy and electric vehicle infrastructure, cycleway development, and public transport investment. Climate Change Minister James Shaw spoke to Corin Dann.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has burned several more schemes on his policy bonfire and splashed more cash in a welfare boost as his popularity continues to increase in the latest poll. However, Hipkins' second big policy reprioritisation, particularly in the transport sector, has ruffled the feathers of their political ally the Green Party, which claims it will only make the country's future climate targets harder to achieve. Several policies have either been cut, refocused or delayed to help free up the capital for the Government's aim to reduce the cost of living, and Hipkins isn't ruling out more former priorities being torched. Hipkins told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking today that he was not trying to buy the election. “It is not at all what I have said.” As a Government, cost of living and recovering from the recent floods and cyclone was the top priority. Inflation had risen globally and New Zealand was not immune to this, Hipkins said. “I am not accepting Government spending is the primary driver of inflation.” However he conceded tax cuts and other decisions by the Government could have an impact on it. Hipkins said he did not want people on low income and superannuation “to go backwards” with the cost of living increase. “Government had to do something to bring inflation down. Interest rates will start to have an effect now.” A recent forecast from most bank economists showed inflation starting to come down from next year, Hipkins said. “Inflation is starting to trend down internationally.” Asked about retail crime, Hipkins said there needed to be more work to be done to combat it. He said the area of retail crime which had seen an increase was for shoplifting of amounts valued at under $500. “There has been a much higher level of reporting since 2017.” The fact that those businesses had reported more crime, gives police more tools to tackle it. “There was good progress made last year to tackle more serious retail offending such as aggravated robbery and ram raids. “We saw a spike last year. We made good progress, ram raiders were identified as repeat offenders, and we got them out of circulation. About 500 of those young people have been prosecuted.” Hipkins said Cabinet would receive more information on Three Waters in the next few weeks. Clean car scheme among several dumped policies Yesterday Hipkins tossed the $568 million clean car upgrade scheme that allowed people to scrap old cars to gain a grant for a more environmentally friendly vehicle, staggered the rollout of Auckland light rail, narrowed the speed reduction programme, stopped the social leasing car scheme and refocused public transport goals in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch. Hipkins said today that the removal of a couple of policies the Government had previously been investigating - including the old vehicle scrappage scheme and the social leasing scheme - was due to the fact that they would have made a very small contribution to our overall emissions budgets. There were other things the Government was doing that were proving to be more successful and had the potential to reduce the emissions by a much greater amount. ”This is about looking across the work programme and saying: ‘Okay, what's actually going to deliver the sort of change that we need? What's actually going to help New Zealanders with the cost of living?' And making sure that we're investing in and focusing in those things,” he told TVNZ. Asked if investing in those now old policies had been a waste of time, Hipkins said looking at the vehicle scrappage scheme and the social leasing scheme, the advice that he had received that both were going to prove to be “quite difficult” to implement in the time frame concerned. Between both of them, they were looking at something like 7000 tonnes of emissions reduction period. Contrasting that with the clean car upgrade scheme and the industrial carbonisation programmes, they are talking about millions of tonnes of carbon reduced within a similar time period for a lesser cost, Hipkins said. Hipkins rises in latest political poll Yesterday's bonfire came as the latest 1 News-Kantar poll on Monday led to Hipkins rising four percentage points to 27 per cent as the preferred PM, while National's Christopher Luxon dropped five points to 17 per cent - his lowest since taking on the role at the end of 2021. Labour dropped two points to 36 per cent while National fell three points to 34 per cent. The Greens and Act were both on 11 per cent, however, only the Left could form a government on those numbers - provided they were supported by Te Pāti Māori. Speaking to reporters at his post-Cabinet press conference, Hipkins defended his policy shift, saying the initiatives weren't sizeable or highly efficient contributors to the Government's efforts to reduce emissions and that more policies would be announced in due course that would help New Zealand meet its climate targets. Greens co-leader and Climate Change Minister James Shaw says he would have argued against cutting back on climate actions that would assist low-income families. “The Clean Car Upgrade would have provided households with more low-emissions choices about how to get around,” he said. “This doesn't sit well on top of the previous extension to the fossil fuel subsidies, which we know benefits the highest earners most.” Climate Change Minister and Greens co-leader James Shaw. Photo / Mark Mitchell He believed climate action was a “bread and butter issue” for many, especially those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. “Every time we kick climate action into the future, we make it harder for ourselves to meet those targets.” The National Party's deputy leader, Nicola Willis, says it is well past time that the Government inflation-adjusted tax threshold and reduce the tax that working people pay. Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Kate Hawkesby this morning, Willis said the Government had sworn black and blue that they could not afford to do that. ”Well, actually, turns out there's a lot of fat in the system, they've found a lot of money down the back of the couch - so it's time to get its priorities straight and reduce the tax that New Zealanders pay.” On benefit top-ups and getting rid of what Hawkesby called “the hated policies”, Willis said they actually agreed with those changes. ”What they're doing is correcting their own mistake. They change the way that superannuation and other benefits were calculated. “Instead of those being tagged to inflation - as they have been in the past - they tagged them to average wages. Of course, the problem is over these past few years under Labour, average wages aren't keeping up with prices - aren't keeping up with inflation.” Willis said they were pleased to see superannuants getting the payments they deserve. But what was needed as a country was a plan to get inflation under control - something that had yet to be seen from the Government, Willis said. ”What we need to see is reductions in wasteful spending elsewhere, so that we can prioritise money to the places where it counts.” National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday cited rising food prices and high inflation in his criticism of the Government's reprioritisation, while restating his call for inflation-adjusted tax thresholds. “My message to Chris Hipkins is, stop spending and cut taxes,” he said. “[Yesterday's] moves are no more than a rounding error - pocket change in Labour's grand scheme to spend, spend, spend with nothing to show for it except Kiwis struggling to feed their families with food prices spiralling.” Act leader David Seymour also doubted the value of the Government's policy shift. “New Zealanders need real change, [Chris] Hipkins U-turning on a tiny handful of policies isn't fooling anyone.” Outside of transport, Cabinet also agreed to delay advice on alcohol pricing, sponsorship and advertising reform to April next year, chose not to introduce legislation to lower the voting age to 16 for general elections, deferred work on the container return scheme and pushed back public consultation on a new test to determine the difference between a contractor and an employee. This tranche of reprioritisation, along with Hipkins' first round of cuts, would give the Government more than $1 billion to be redirected to measures to reduce the cost of living. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins during his post-Cabinet press conference at Parliament in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell Auckland's light rail survived the cut but would be staged. The first stage was expected to be confirmed by the middle of the year. “Staging the rollout will align it with other critical transport investments, particularly the second Waitematā Harbour Crossing,” Hipkins said. Speed limit changes, which had been intended to apply to 20-30 per cent of state highways in the next five years, would now be focused on the most dangerous 1 per cent of roads and where local communities supported the change. Neither the Prime Minister nor Waka Kotahi could provide the Herald with a list of what roads would be chosen, the latter saying its state highway speed management plan would be reviewed in light of today's announcement. Alongside the policy reprioritisation, Hipkins announced the annual adjustment of benefits, superannuation and other financial support in a $2b package that would see the incomes of about 1.4 million New Zealanders stay in line with inflation. The annual adjustments included an extra $311m to be spent over the next four years that allowed main benefits to be increased in line with inflation - 7.22 per cent - rather than the average wage rise as previously planned, which was costed at about $1.7b. - Adam Pearse, NZHSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climate change activists are furious with the government's changes to the Agricultural Emissions Pricing Plan. Despite advice from the Climate Change Commission to base behavioural change on the rising price of carbon, farmers will be charged the lowest levvies possible. More trees will also be counted in offsetting emissions. Climate activist David Tong says it's a humiliating move for a Green party co-leader to be the Climate Change Minister at the time of this decision. James Shaw has declined to be interviewed on Morning Report, as has the Minister of Agriculture, Damien O'Connor. Tong spoke to Gyles Beckford.

Hear why environmentalists say it's inappropriate for the Climate Change Minister Tim Halman to use the federal carbon tax as a political fundraising tool. Plus, we ask Minister Halman why the provincial PCs failed to meet the federal government's deadline to come up with a plan for carbon pricing on consumer fuels.

Top stories for 18 November A Dutch court has convicted three men of mass murder for their roles in the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Arlines flight MH17. Two New Zealanders were aboard the flight. Backlash grows against National's proposal for boot camps for recidivists youths. we speak to the Climate Change Minister from Eygpt as COP 27 winds up.

The UN climate conference COP27 will soon be wrapping up after two weeks of talks and there's a possibility there may be no consensus reached. One focus has been compensating developing countries experiencing severe loss and damage from climate change, and New Zealand has committed $15m to this. Negotiators are still working to reach settlements on issues including climate finance, adaptation, and carbon markets. James Shaw spoke to Corin Dann from Egypt.

Climate experts are not holding their breath for major breakthroughs in this year's annual UN climate conference. More than 45-thousand people including world leaders and our own Climate Change Minister are to descend on Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt for COP27. The meeting starts Sunday evening New Zealand time, but other significant global problems will complicate already difficult negotiations. Climate reporter Hamish Cardwell has more.

The climate change minister is promising a historic shift in climate policy will be central to the Budget. And Minister James Shaw says the detail of the government's long-awaited comprehensive plan to slash emissions will be revealed next week. Our Climate Reporter Hamish Cardwell has the story.