Last year was among the hottest on record, as the world’s “addiction” to fossil fuels continues to drive global warming, new data shows.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirmed the average global temperature last year was 1.43°C warmer than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.

2024 remains the hottest year on record, but 2025 was the second- or third-hottest, across the nine major global datasets.

The organisation said the global climate was more out of balance than at any other time in observed history, as greenhouse gas concentrations reached their highest levels in at least 800,000 years.

Most of the trapped heat was stored in the ocean, which is warming at an accelerating pace.

Together with melting sea ice and glaciers, that was driving global sea level rise – which projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show will continue for centuries.

Arctic sea-ice hit a record low in some satellite datasets last year.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the planet was being pushed beyond its limits.

“Every key climate indicator is flashing red.”

Current major conflicts were exposing another truth, Guterres said.

“Our addiction to fossil fuels is destabilising both the climate and global security.”

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, after the country was attacked by Israel and the US, has spiked oil and gas prices and prompted fears of global inflation.

The WMO’s State of the Climate report said increasingly severe weather, driven by climate change, was already affecting agricultural production and displacing people from their homes.

“The cascading and compounding impacts of multiple, sequential disasters severely limit the ability of communities to prepare for, recover from and adapt to shocks,” the report said.

That was especially true in places that were already experiencing conflict or other types of insecurity.

In New Zealand, inflation-adjusted data published by the Insurance Council showed that since 2019, insurance companies had paid out nearly $6 billion for extreme weather-related events in New Zealand.

That did not include pay-outs for severe weather at the beginning of this year, which killed six people in a landslide at Mount Maunganui, cut off entire communities, and closed major roads.

Victoria University professor of climate science James Renwick said the science of climate change had been understood for a century or more now.

“We know what we have to do to stop it,” he said. “Stop burning fossil fuels.”

Policymakers had been given that message for decades but emissions just kept increasing, he said.

He hoped the latest report “moves the dial”.

“The costs of inaction are already astronomical, let’s not make them overwhelming.”

Last week, the High Court in Wellington heard a case taken by two environmental NGOs against the government over its emissions reductions plans, which the organisations argued were risky and unlawful.

The Environmental Law Initiative and Lawyers for Climate Action told the court that the government broke the law when it dismantled dozens of climate policies soon after the election, before it had consulted the public.

The current plan relied overwhelmingly on offsetting emissions by planting forestry, rather than tackling emissions at their sources, the organisations said.

The court has reserved its decision.

Similar cases in the UK succeeded in forcing the government there to re-write its own emissions plans.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo will visit New Zealand this week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced. 

“We share a warm and close partnership with Tuvalu, underpinned by strong development, cultural, economic, and people to people links,” Mr Luxon says.

“I look forward to discussing how we can deliver on our shared ambitions and regional priorities, and hearing about the Pre-COP31 Leaders’ Event Tuvalu is hosting in October.”

New Zealand has a long-standing development partnership with Tuvalu, including support for education, health, economic development and coastal resilience. 

While in New Zealand, Prime Minister Teo will meet Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Pacific Peoples Minister Dr Shane Reti and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts. He will also attend community events and engage with the Tuvaluan diaspora.

Prime Minister Teo’s visit to New Zealand will be his first official visit since he was elected Prime Minister in 2024. He will be accompanied by Tuvalu Foreign Minister Paulson Panapa and Tuvalu Minister for Transport, Energy, Communication and Innovation Simon Kofe.

MIL OSI

Explainer – With the Iran war leaving supply chains choked off, pain at the pump is rising, but you still need to drive. How can you get the most out of your tank? Here’s some options.

The price of 91 petrol has now heading towards $4 a litre in some parts of the country, the government is mulling weighing in and some have begun to hoard petrol ahead of possible shortages.

Feeling uncertain? Get used to it, for now.

“Nobody has a clue about future petrol, diesel and aviation fuel supplies and their costs,” Massey University Emeritus Professor in Climate Mitigation and Sustainable Energy Ralph Sims said.

There are plenty of other options – public transport, biking or walking if you can, pivoting to electric vehicles – but not everyone can easily take up those alternatives.

If you’re looking to ‘fuelmaxx’ your efficiency, here is more of what experts suggest:

Combine your errands

NZTA estimates that short trips use 20 percent more fuel when your engine is cold.

So if you can manage to tie together things like school runs with the grocery shop and a run to the chemist, you can save your overall petrol consumption, AA fuel spokesperson and former general manager of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Terry Collins told RNZ’s Afternoons.

“Do it all in one trip when the car’s warm – save the fuel, tick off all those little jobs, instead of making them independent trips every time.”

Steady on the acceleration, mate

Sims said that the majority of drivers can save up to 20 percent of fuel use with a few simple changes.

“Most people don’t understand how to drive a car efficiently,” he told RNZ recently.

“I see people accelerate to a red light and then brake heavily, and if you’re running on low tyre pressures, it consumes much more fuel.”

Collins said a lot of it boils down to how you’re driving.

“When we hop in a car what we really want is momentum – movement. So what we do is we use the fuel to gather momentum, but I see every day people wasting that momentum by braking unnecessarily.

“They’re not anticipating the traffic in rush hour, so they’re driving up behind the next car and putting the brakes on. If they could look ahead a number of cars and see that everybody already had their brakes on, they could just drift up behind the other car very slowly and brake.

“Every time you put your foot on the brake, you have lost that momentum for the fuel that you’ve paid for. So think that every time I put my foot on the brake, I’m spending money.”

It’s worth watching your speed on highways, too – Sims said that typically a car at 110km/h uses 10 percent more fuel per kilometre than when travelling at 90 km/h due to greater air friction.

Once upon a time, manual or stick shifts were typically more fuel efficient than automatic transmission vehicles, but thanks to improved technology that’s changing and modern automatics are often as good or slightly better than manuals.

The more you carry, the more you use

Carrying heavy loads will obviously slow your car down, but there are also smaller drags to be aware of.

Modern cars are carefully designed and put through wind tunnels to get the most aerodynamic shape possible, Collins said.

Even leaving roof racks on your car that you never use can add to the drag.

“The moment you put those roof racks on you’re disturbing all that air flow.

“People think ah, they’re OK, but you’d be surprised how much that aerodynamic change affects your fuel consumption.”

Keep up your maintenance

Don’t just think about car services as a way to get your next Warrant of Fitness ticked off. Regular care for your vehicle’s systems can save you money in the long run.

“One of the things we often overlook is just the simple thing of checking your tyres,” Collins said.

Under-inflated tyres can add 10 to 12 percent to your fuel bill, he said.

“You’re just adding drag. … It’s working harder to get that momentum I was talking about earlier.”

Your tyre’s correct pressure should be listed on the vehicle label inside the door or in the handbook. It’s best to check the pressure when the tyres are cold to see how yours are looking.

A dirty air filter or fuel filter can also compromise your efficiency, while old and worn spark plugs may mean you’re not getting enough ignition.

“Just that simple servicing on a regular basis to make sure those jobs are done are going to save you in the vicinity of 10 to 20 percent of your fuel bill,” Collins said.

To A/C, or not to A/C?

This is one of the great existential questions of driving – is it better to wind down your windows or pump up the air con? Studies have had conflicting results and ultimately it’s better to be flexible.

“While it’s more fuel efficient to have it on at 100km/h than it is to have the windows down creating drag, the air con can use around 10 percent more fuel,” the AA’s website states. “You may need to find that balance of comfort and economy.”

A lot may depend on how old your car is and how well maintained the engine and air con systems are.

It’s best to mix and match if you can – windows down and air con off when you’re at town speeds and windows up and air con on if you’re on the motorway.

In general any other unnecessary widgets on your car may also be creating a drag – such as leaving your rear window defroster on long after it’s done the job, or those heated seats when there’s no need to.

Use the technology if you’ve got it

Many newer vehicles are equipped with Auto Stop-Start systems which automatically shut off the engine when a vehicle is in congestion or at traffic lights. As soon as you take your foot off the brake, the engine restarts without delay, Ford NZ explains on its website.

“Your climate control fan, audio system, and headlamps still work while your engine is off for your comfort,” Ford noted.

Collins said some people turn off these features on their vehicles, but it’s counterproductive if you want to save money.

“Some people find that annoying – it’s there for a reason. It’s because those cars have to meet energy efficiency standards. … So every time you turn (that feature) off, you’re actually defeating the purpose of saving fuel.”

Collins said he often commutes over a hill, and said there’s many tricks you can use to avoid consuming excess fuel. Gravity can help to be your brake when going up a hill, and going down, other methods can help keep your foot off the accelerator – such as using those other driving modes you may often ignore on the gear shift.

“I have an automatic but I put it in sports mode, which holds it in gear longer. That acts as an engine brake, so I don’t really need to brake on a lot of the corners. I just go through them smoothly, not touching, and my fuel consumption’s on zero.”

And if you can, avoid rush hour

Sitting idling in traffic will waste significant fuel, so – if your job allows it – consider off-peak travel to avoid those long queues, or working from home certain days a week if your employer permits.

Sims said that many of these steps are easy, but changing habits is harder.

“It’s all pretty basic and the science is well understood for cars, trucks, and buses. But to change human behaviour is always the challenge.”

He called for the government to step up fuel conservation messaging.

“What the government needs to do urgently is to run a national education campaign (similar to what was accomplished during Covid times using all media opportunities) to inform drivers how they can save both fuel and money.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The number of electric vehicle (EV) public chargers around New Zealand will more than double thanks to $52.7 million in zero-interest loans from the Government and co-investment from ChargeNet and Meridian, Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Energy & Climate Change Minister Simon Watts say.

“Many New Zealanders have thought about getting an EV, even before the fuel challenges we’re currently facing. But research shows that the lack of public chargers is holding many back from making the switch to an EV,” Mr Bishop says.

“The private sector is reluctant to invest in charging infrastructure until there’s sufficient demand, but demand won’t grow until the lack of public chargers stops putting buyers off. Just as the previous National-led Government did with the ultrafast broadband network rollout, we’re taking action to break that deadlock.”

ChargeNet and Meridian Energy were selected through a contestable, value-for-money bid process. Both companies are co-investing a combined $60 million of their own capital alongside the Government loans, taking the total investment to over $110 million.

“Concessionary loans bring forward private investment in public EV charging infrastructure by lowering the cost of capital, while keeping the taxpayer’s contribution to a minimum,” Mr Bishop says.

“In this case, the average loan per charge point is $20,000, but once repayments are factored in, the net cost to the Crown is around $10,000 per charger, roughly a quarter of what a direct grant would cost.

“We’re also changing our planning rules to make the installation of public EV chargers a permitted activity under the RMA, meaning in most cases no consent is required – another factor that will help to speed up delivery.”

The 2,574 new charge points include 1,374 DC fast chargers and 1,200 AC chargers. DC fast chargers deliver power directly to the battery and can charge a car in 20 to 60 minutes, making them suited to highways and destinations where people stop briefly. AC chargers are slower and better suited to places where cars are parked for longer periods, like shopping centres, workplaces, and residential areas.

“About half the new chargers will be spread across Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, the Wellington region, Christchurch, and Dunedin, with the other half throughout the regions, so drivers outside the main centres will benefit too,” Mr Bishop says.

“New Zealand currently has a bit over 1,800 public charge points, which is among the lowest charger-to-EV ratios in the OECD. Another 161 charge points are also in progress. Combined with the investment being announced today, the national total will be around 4,550. The Government is working towards 10,000 charge points by 2030, roughly one for every 40 EVs.”

“Owning an EV in New Zealand already makes strong financial sense. Electricity is cheaper than petrol and almost entirely generated from renewable sources like wind, geothermal, solar, and hydro,” Mr Watts says. 

“Kiwis are already making the shift to electric vehicles as a cost-of-living choice, and we have seen uptake grow. In February 2026, EV sales were up 10.5 per cent on the same month last year – and anecdotal evidence suggests even greater interest over the past couple of weeks as conflict in the Middle East has seen fuel prices increase.

“At a time when global fuel markets are volatile, that matters. 

“A better charging network means more New Zealanders can take advantage of it, and that’s good for household budgets and our emissions profile alike. EVs produce at least 60 percent fewer lifecycle emissions than petrol vehicles.”

Notes to editor: 

• Concessionary loans are loans at below-market interest rates (in this case, zero-interest) which incentivise charge point operators to invest in charging infrastructure ahead of demand. The repaid capital can be used for new loans if co-investment is still required or allocated to other initiatives.
• The loans are administered by National Infrastructure Funding and Financing (NIFFCo), the successor organisation to Crown Infrastructure Partners (which delivered Ultra-Fast Broadband). EECA will provide assistance as required.
• The Government has allocated $66.145m of capital funding for concessionary loans.
• The concessionary loans will fund up to 50 percent of project capital costs, have a zero percent interest rate, and a maximum tenure of 13 years. The loans have been awarded through a contestable co-investment bid process.
• Applications were assessed against value-for-money criteria to ensure loans are awarded to projects of greatest benefit and that New Zealand’s EV charging network grows at pace.
• Consumer monitoring by EECA consistently shows that some of the main perceived disadvantages of EVs include that the driving range is not suitable for long distance travel, and that there are not enough public chargers available. Increasing the availability of public charging infrastructure gives drivers the confidence to switch to an electric vehicle. See EECA’s EV Charging research October 2025 update – EV Charging Research 

MIL OSI

Winston Peters will make his State of the Nation address in Tauranga on Sunday.

It comes off the back of heavy questioning by the New Zealand First leader about the previous government’s decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic, following the release of the second phase of the royal commission of inquiry.

NZ First is trending upward in the polls. In the latest RNZ Reid Research poll it sat at 9.8 percent, enough for 12 seats in Parliament – four more than it currently holds.

Peters was third in the preferred prime minister ranking at 12.6 percent. Labour’s Chris Hipkins was at 21.1 percent, with Christopher Luxon on 19.4 percent.

Last year, Peters faced disruptions from hecklers during his State of the Nation speech to a packed crowd on a range of topics, including the “war on woke”, diversity targets, water fluoridation and the Paris Climate Agreement.

This year, it was expected Peters would address the cost of living and the state of the economy, as well as make an election policy announcement.

Peters’ speech is scheduled to begin at 2pm – watch it live here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Winston Peters will be making his State of the Nation address in Tauranga on Sunday, purposely timed after the release of the quarterly GDP figures.

It also comes off the back of heavy questioning by the New Zealand First leader about the previous Labour government’s decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic, following the release of the second phase of the royal commission of inquiry.

Peters has been accusing Labour ministers of not passing on critical vaccine information to the public, which Labour strongly denies.

Currently, NZ First is trending upward in the polls. In the latest RNZ Reid Research poll, the party sat at 9.8 percent in the party vote, which would result in 12 seats in parliament – four more than what it currently holds.

Peters was third in the preferred prime minister ranking, at 12.6 percent. Labour’s Chris Hipkins was at 21.1 percent, with Christopher Luxon on 19.4 percent.

Last year, Peters faced disruptions from hecklers during his State of the Nation speech to a packed crowd on a range of topics, including the “war on woke”, diversity targets, water fluoridation and the Paris Climate Agreement.

This year, it was expected Peters would address the cost of living and the state of the economy, as well as make an election policy announcement.

Recently at Parliament, he said he would not make his State of the Nation speech until after the GDP figures were released. He noted other party leaders were premature making their speeches before this information was available.

On Thursday, Stats NZ data showed gross domestic product (GDP), the broad measure of economic growth, rose an anaemic 0.2 percent in the three months ended December, to be 1.3 percent higher than a year ago. On an annual average basis, the economy grew 0.2 percent over the year.

Expectations were for quarterly growth in a range of 0.2 to 0.5 percent, although the growth of the previous quarter was revised lower to 0.9 percent from 1.1 percent.

Late last year, Peters signalled he was willing to criticise his coalition partners after he savaged National’s suggestion of asset sales as a “tawdry silly argument”, which he said it was falling back on after having failed to fix the economy fast enough.

“Because they’ve failed to run the economy properly, they want to go to the assets of a time when the country was run properly, when we were number two in the world and built up by our forefathers and to start to flog those off … to so-called balance their books,” Peters said.

The recent attack on Iran by the United States and Israel had the government monitoring developments, along with how fuel and supply chains could be disrupted in New Zealand.

And last week the finance minister indicated the worst-case scenario Treasury had outlined was a rise in inflation to 3.7 percent.

Peters will likely address the global instability, and how that will impact New Zealanders.

He will also likely take a swipe at the opposition. In 2024, Peters used roughly half of his State of the Nation speech to criticise the previous Labour government, along with the media and the Green Party, before outlining New Zealand First’s plans for the country.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Former All Blacks assistant coach Jason Holland will take charge of the Blues on a three-year Super Rugby Pacific deal starting next year, after finishing up as an assistant at the Hurricanes.

Holland has been appointed Blues head coach in place of Vern Cotter, who will leave at the end of this season to take up the equivalent role with Queensland’s Reds, replacing the Wallabies head coach-in-waiting, Les Kiss.

It is the latest move in an 18-year professional coaching career for 53-year-old Holland.

He has held assistant posts with Munster in Ireland and the Crusaders and Hurricanes in Super Rugby, before four seasons as Hurricanes head coach.

A promotion followed in 2024, as an assistant to the newly appointed All Blacks coach Scott Robertston.

However, Holland announced late last year he wouldn’t renew his two-year contract with the national team, becoming the second assistant to leave the post after Leon MacDonald.

Robertson was subsequently sacked earlier this year by New Zealand Rugby following mixed results, and has been replaced by Dave Rennie.

Holland said his initial focus would be on his current role, having rejoined the competition-leading Hurricanes this year as an assistant.

“It’s meant a lot to me to return to the club this season after a few years away,” Holland said.

“While I’m excited about what lies ahead at the Blues, my focus remains solely on doing everything I can to bring the Super Rugby Pacific title to the Hurricanes.

“The opportunity to join the Blues from 2027 is incredibly exciting. It’s a club with a proud history and I see huge potential to add to that legacy.”

Blues chairman Don Mackinnon said the appointment represents a “significant step forward”.

“His experience at both Super Rugby and international level, including with the All Blacks, makes him an exceptional candidate to lead the Blues into our next chapter.

“Just as importantly, this appointment provides long-term certainty and stability for our club, our players, and our fans.”

Interim Hurricanes chief executive Tony Philp acknowledged Holland’s contributions this season and reinforced his commitment to the club throughout the remainder of the campaign.

“We are proud of Alfie and all he has done for our club, and we look forward to his efforts during the rest of the 2026 season,” Philp said.

“He has the utmost integrity and will do all he can for the Hurricanes in our pursuit of winning the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific title.

“He will always be a Hurricane, and we look forward to doing battle with him in the coming seasons.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The Hurricanes have kicked clear at the top of the Super Rugby standings after hammering the Highlanders 50-7 in Dunedin.

A hat-trick for Fehi Fineanganofo and a brace for Cam Roigard saw the Hurricanes romp to a 10th straight win over the Southerners.

The Highlanders would strike first through Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens as the fullback sliced through untouched to score beside the bar.

But that would be as good as it got for the home side as the Hurricanes went on a 50-point unanswered scoring spree.

Roigard’s first came as he threw an audacious dummy just a metre from the chalk and launched himself over.

Next was from a quick tap, Roigard catching the Highlanders napping from a scrum penalty.

The Cane’s stretched their advantage courtesy of a pinpoint, flat cross kick by Ruben Love which landed perfectly in the arms of Fineanganofo.

The tries kept coming after the break, the best of the night coming shortly after sparked by a Ruben Love break.

Some beautiful interchange between the Hurricanes putting Devan Flanders over to cap a 60-metre scorcher.

The wheels well and truly fell off the hosts as replacement Bailyn Sullivan cruised over the chalk with Fineanganofo completing his trio.

The half century came through Peter Lakai as he lunged over from close range, mercifully ending the desiccation.

Follow how the action unfolded:

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Climate change, increasing costs, fussier consumers and changing rules have researchers and breeders working hard to develop a sheep that will not only be economic to farm but good for the planet.

Kapiro Farm in Northland is five years into a seven-year project to breed the sheep of the future.

The Sheep of the Future programme is a $10.5 million collaboration between the Ministry for Primary Industries, Pāmu and its subsidiary Focus Genetics.

How well the sheep grow on the feed they’re given in Northland’s warm and sticky climate, which other regions will likely increasingly experience, is being measured.

The animals that do best are the ones to breed from, and there are other traits to balance too, including the animal’s resilience to disease like facial eczema and the amount of methane it emits.

Reducing costs for the farmer within a struggling wool industry has been a big consideration for the breeders.

“With the way the world’s heading with global warming and whatnot, [we’re also aiming for] an animal that is easy care, that has an element of shedding about it,” Kapiro Farm manager Ian Leaf told Country Life.

“An easy care sheep of the future that can handle what the future has in store for us.”

With wool prices strengthening of late Leaf said there was not as hard a focus on 100 percent shedding ability, ” more like 30 percent.”

Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts.

The fifth generation of ewes culled from the original 2000-strong flock of Romney sheep are being mated now.

Over the programme, at least 12 different breeds have been mated with the Romneys, including Dorper sires, Damaras, Exlanas and Wiltshires. They “basically chucked every shedding or no wool sire into the paddock,” Leaf said.

The Damara from Namibia, known for its hardiness in arid climates and maternal instincts, was the first breed to be culled out, as much for its looks as anything, Leaf said, pointing out the final sheep must be acceptable to the market.

“They resemble a lot a goat. They have a lot of goat traits. They grow horns. They’re a bit bit more slender of a build. They hold their fat stores in their tail.”

“Moving forward, there’s always a visual aspect that you look to adhere to. A lot of people are going to have their own impressions and judgements visually before looking at data. So just cleaning that up and getting a nice uniformed animal that everyone’s used to seeing.”

The main breeds coming through now include the Wiltshire “definitely for the shedding ability,” UltraWhites and Exlanas, low maintenance sheep developed in Australia and the UK respectively.

“We’ve had our struggles with the Wiltshire with their feet. They don’t tend to have very good feet, so just making sure we’re mixing them in the right volumes of Wiltshire.”

They also want to end up with an animal that “gives you a decent lamb at weaning.”

“There’s a little bit of Texel in there … for the meat and carcass production.”

The ram lambs are methane-tested every year.

“That all has a huge impact on the selection process.”

So will there be a perfect sheep of the future at the end of the programme in two years’ time?

Lesf said they were starting to see a “nice, uniformed animal now … that is growing, well, growing at competitive rates to where we were as a Romney-based flock.”

He was interested to find out what the animals could do further south ” in the land of milk and honey”, saying there’s always room for improvement.

“What [the programme] is bringing is insurance on the data. The data is there. We now know exactly how much these guys emit in methane. We know exactly how much feed they take to convert into a kilo of carcass.

“What this Sheep of the Future has done is it’s given you actual facts, ‘what is’ not ‘what ifs’.”

Learn more:

• Learn more about the Sheep of the Future project here

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Follow all the Super Rugby Pacific action as the Hurricanes take on the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

A blockbuster derby awaits as the competition leaders head under the roof in Dunedin to meet the Highlanders. The game will see a plethora of mouth-watering matchups including Jordie Barrett against Timoci Tavatavanawai, Peter Lakai squaring off with the rising Lucas Casey and two of the competition’s form wingers in Caleb Tangitau and Fehi Fineanganofo. Expect a slobberknocker in the deep south.

Kick-off is 7.05pm.

Team lists:

Highlanders:

1. Ethan de Groot 2. Jack Taylor 3. Angus Ta’avao 4. Oliver Haig 5. Te Kamaka Howden 6. Sean Withy 7. Lucas Casey 8. Hugh Renton (cc) 9. Folau Fakatava 10. Reesjan Pasitoa 11. Jona Nareki 12. Timoci Tavatavanawai (cc) 13. Jonah Lowe 14. Caleb Tangitau 15. Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens

Bench: 16. Soane Vikena 17. Josh Bartlett 18. Sosefo Kautai 19. Tai Cribb 20. Veveni Lasaqa 21. Adam Lennox 22. Andrew Knewstubb (debut) 23. Tanielu Tele’a

“Every game that we play is a real arm wrestle for us, if we can play our best rugby then we are in with a chance.” – Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph.

Hurricanes:

1. Xavier Numia 2. Asafo Aumua 3. Pasilio Tosi 4. Caleb Delany 5. Warner Dearns 6. Devan Flanders 7. Peter Lakai 8. Brayden Iose 9. Cam Roigard 10. Ruben Love 11. Fehi Fineanganofo 12. Jordie Barrett (c) 13. Billy Proctor 14. Josh Moorby 15. Callum Harkin

Bench: 16. Vernon Bason (debut) 17. Siale Lauaki 18. Tevita Mafileo 19. Hugo Plummer 20. Brad Shields 21. Du’Plessis Kirifi 22. Ereatara Enari 23. Bailyn Sullivan

“We’re really excited to go down to Dunedin for our first Kiwi derby.” – Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

In Auckland, we’ve seen how natural hazards like flooding, coastal erosion and landslides can impact people, homes and businesses.

We’re also seeing more Aucklanders interested in knowing about their flood risk including when they’re looking to purchase property or move into a new rental property. This includes checking the flood hazard maps on Auckland Council’s Flood Viewer or Geomaps beforehand, or by purchasing a Land Information Memorandum (LIM) report.

Here is some useful information on how and why we publish these maps, and what they mean.

Why does Auckland Council publish flood maps?

Auckland Council is required to maintain hazard information that is publicly available – including flooding. This publicly available flood information, including flood plains, flood prone areas, and overland flow paths are free to view and published online on Flood Viewer and Geomaps websites.

The maps are produced for a whole catchment, group of catchments or at a regional level to show how water moves across the landscape. They’re not site specific (based on individual property data) and don’t include flood mitigations to a building.

What else are these maps used for?

In addition to informing the public, these flood maps are underpinned by detailed hydrological and hydraulic modelling that Auckland Council uses to analyse catchments and understand how flooding occurs.

This modelling helps the council design, upgrade, and prioritise stormwater infrastructure across the region. It is also used by the transport sector when designing roads, culverts, and associated assets, ensuring they are resilient to flooding.

Property developers rely on the same information to understand stormwater requirements for new developments and to ensure their proposals appropriately manage flood risk.

Why is this information on LIM reports?

A LIM report provides a high-level summary of information we hold about a property. It’s a ‘snapshot in time’ and identifies hazard information the council holds about a property at the specified date and time – new information and reports are not created when a LIM is purchased, we compile the most recent information we hold at that time. 

For flood maps, information is taken from regional and/or catchment maps and an overlay is applied showing the boundaries of the requested property. It is not based on individual property data and does not include any mitigations that may have occurred at the property for a building or home.

Auckland Council has a legal obligation under the law (the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 section 44B) to identify natural hazards relating to a property, which are known to us, on LIM reports – this includes flooding.

How can I find out more information about the natural hazard information (like the flood maps) on a LIM?

The LIM report does not provide or replace site-specific information or property-level reports. It’s a starting point and a summary of the information we hold.

Those receiving LIMs are encouraged to use the report to further their due diligence, like ordering a copy of the council’s property file, reaching out to our technical specialists or seeking opinions and/or advice from independent third-party specialists.

What flood maps are included in LIMs?

LIMs include a map entitled ‘Natural Hazards – Flooding’, which displays information about the following potential flood hazards in relation to the site:

• Flood plains
• Flood prone areas
• Flood sensitive areas
• Overland flow paths

The absence of flooding information on the maps does not exclude the possibility of site flooding, including from local depressions or overland flow paths on nearby properties.

Also important to know is that Auckland Council does not have information on flood sensitive areas for all of Auckland. This potential hazard will only be depicted if the information exists.

What’s the difference between flood plains, flood prone areas and overland flow paths?

Flood plains:

Flood plains appear in low-lying areas and next to streams and rivers. As many historical streams have been piped, flood plains may appear in areas where you haven’t seen water before.

Flood plains are mapped from hydraulic modelling results and show the predicted flood extents during a 1 per cent annual exceedance probability (AEP) storm, assuming the stormwater system is functioning as intended and not blocked.

Flood prone areas:

Flood prone areas are topographical depressions/low lying areas where water can become trapped and pool.

In flood prone areas, water pools and gets trapped when the stormwater outlet pipe is blocked, or when the rainfall intensity exceeds the capacity of the stormwater network. Flood Prone Areas are identified by GIS techniques and not hydraulic modelling.

Overland flow paths:

Overland flow paths show the route water will take as it flows downhill through the landscape when there is no piped network or the capacity of the piped stormwater system is exceeded.

Water can move very quickly over land during heavy rain, forming temporary fast‑flowing streams. On Flood Viewer, these are shown as lines, but in reality, the water will spread more broadly across the surrounding area.

Overland Flow Paths are identified using GIS‑based terrain analysis, which connects the lowest points in the landscape (known as the thalweg) to map the route that water will take downhill. These paths are derived from topography and are not based on hydraulic modelling.

Major earthworks can alter the topography, and in some instances, developers may provide surveyed data to the council following a development which may result in changes to the flood mapping.

You can learn more about the different types of flood hazards on Auckland Council’s Flood Viewer.

What data are the flood plain maps based on?

The flood plains on LIM reports, and published on Flood Viewer, are based on an extreme weather event with a one per cent chance of occurring or being exceeded in any given year – this is also called a 1-in-a-hundred-year event.

To produce these maps, we consider things like:

• the hydraulics of water flowing through pipes, channels, and overland
• the hydrology of different rainfall events
• land‑use types and soil characteristics
• and climate change.

The data is then updated across the region at catchment scale, to reflect the best and most current information available at the time.

It uses surface topography captured through LiDAR – laser imaging, detection and ranging via aircraft like drones. The LiDAR data used for 95 per cent of our maps was flown in 2016, which means the flood‑plain map on the LIM reflects the landscape as it existed at that time.

The topography (land features like elevation, water bodies) data the models are based on is from 2016. How does the council account for this?

As the topography data used to inform the flood hazard maps is from 2016, when requested, we have provided a written acknowledgement of this to property owners. In the letter, we acknowledge that this means that the maps may not reflect changes made on the property including flood mitigation measures that may have been introduced by development.

Alongside this, we are in the process of providing a clarifying statement on all LIM reports to indicate when the data used to model the flood risk was gathered.

New models are expected soon. A new Auckland wide LiDAR survey was flown in 2024, and we are currently rebuilding all flood models using this updated data. This is detailed, technical work that must be done catchment by catchment – but it could be done more frequently in the future.

How often are the flood plains updated?

Councils are not required to update natural hazard information immediately whenever development occurs. Given the scale of construction across Auckland, it would be impracticable to continuously remodel every catchment for every change in topography as soon as earthworks are completed.

Auckland Council has followed a regular, cyclic update process since regional flood‑plain mapping began in 2012. Historically, this schedule has been appropriate, and only since the severe weather in early 2023 has public awareness of flood risk increased to the point where this timing has become more visible in the property market.

With more interest from Aucklanders, we’re looking at increasing how frequently we run this exercise including increasing the cadence.

Why can’t the information on my resource consent be used to show a property’s flood exposure – can the maps be adjusted?

We do not base flood‑plain maps on individual resource consent information. Earthworks plans provided for resource consents only analyse the immediate development site, not the full catchment.

Developments often occur in stages over several years, consents may be varied, and construction frequently changes from the original design. For these reasons, resource consent data cannot be used as a basis for catchment wide flood plain modelling.

However, in some cases, this data can be used to update flood prone areas. This is as it is a different type of hazard to flood plains and does not require modelling – so the topographical data can be more easily updated.

My property is showing as in a flood risk area – who can I talk to for more information?

In the first instance – reach out to Auckland Council. By talking to us, we can see if we can provide you with the information you’re looking for and explain what it means and why a property is impacted. 

We often find that the concerns people have with flood information are based on a misunderstanding of the data rather than the information itself. A conversation may be a simple way to avoid the expense of engaging an expert to dispute information which is unlikely to change.

For more information on addressing or updating information that appears on a Land Information Memorandum (LIM) from Auckland Council, visit our website. 

MIL OSI

Date:  20 March 2026

The allocations process is the way DOC manages aircraft landings in and around the popular South Westland glaciers. Currently, four businesses are directly involved in landings in the Park, which are a significant drawcard to visitors wanting to experience the glacier landscape.

This allocation follows a consultation period where DOC heard from operators and interested parties on how they thought aircraft landings allocations should be managed, given changes to the landscape of Westland Tai Poutini National Park.

Climate change is causing reduced snow cover and glacier retreat, which impacts on the safety and usability of some of the 18 approved landing sites, particularly during peak periods.

South Westland Operations Manager Wayne Costello says interest in aircraft landings has been high.

“There’s strong demand for the landings available. We received expressions of interest from 11 operators, which is not surprising and obviously more than the current four operators with concessions to land in the Park.

“We want to make it easier for businesses and people using these landings to interact with us to get the permissions they need and offer visitors flying in the Park the best experience possible.

“We have designed the allocation process to be consistent, clear and easy to use for operators interested in the opportunity. It will also enable landing sites to be better utilised within the Westland Tai Poutini National Park.

“The allocation process is aligned with the outcomes of the management plan and we are not increasing overall limits.

“We’ve designed the allocation process to support exceptional experiences for visitors, including time on the ground, storytelling, and deeper understanding of Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area.

“We also considered the experiences other users when developing this framework, for example, people walking in the Franz Josef Glacier valley to ensure impacts on their experience is minimised.”

An Assessment Panel will review allocation applications from 27 April 2026, and Operators will be notified of outcomes in July 2026. Operators who are granted an allocation will also need to apply for a concession in order to undertake flight landings.

Background information

Westland Tai Poutini National Park is a nationally and internationally significant landscape in Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area.

Aircraft access has long enabled visitors to experience high alpine areas, but this must be balanced with preserving natural quiet, protecting Park values and managing increasing visitor expectations.

The regulatory framework is set by the Westland Tai Poutini National Park Management Plan, which limits aircraft landings to 18 approved sites and caps total aircraft numbers.

Contact

MIL OSI

Small-town Bay of Plenty is about to be home to a Southern Hemisphere first with big benefits in the fight against potent greenhouse gases.

A new multi-million dollar plant officially opens in Kawerau on Friday to safely destroy harmful synthetic refrigerants.

The Trust for the Destruction of Synthetic Refrigerants, which put $10 million into the plant, said it will significantly reduce that harm.

But it also means the refrigerants won’t have to be shipped offshore.

“The trust has been around since 1993, set up by the industry to deal with CFCs, the old ozone depleting gases,” chairperson Richard Lauder said.

“So we collected them, shipped them to Australia and destroyed them so that we could address the hole in the ozone layer.

“And we’ve since migrated to dealing with their replacement gases, the hydrofluorocarbons, HFCs, which are very high global warming gases.”

Lauder said the Kawerau plant was built to take the risks that come with shipping.

It also means the gases will no longer have to be stockpiled

“Next month we’ll turn the plasma torch on at this plant, it runs at 5000 degrees Celsius – the same temperature as the sun – and we’ll be able to deal with our own waste fluorinated gases here domestically in New Zealand,” he said.

“Some of these gases are 4000 times more potent than CO2, so to put that into perspective if you release 1 kilogram of gas from your heat pump at home, it might be like driving your car for two years in terms of climate impact.

“So we really need to deal with them appropriately and our Trust believed that setting up a plant on shore was the right thing to do.”

Kawerau was picked because of its industrial past.

“I think from the paper industry in particular we’ve got all sorts of skills and capabilities, it’s also adjacent to new geothermal plants so we can use renewable energy to power out plant, I think it’s a great place to put this thing,” Lauder said.

It will permanently get rid of CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs from synthetic refrigerants.

According to the Ministry for the Environment, it is HFCs or hydrofluorocarbons that make up 94 percent of so-called F-gas emissions.

There are measures in place such as limits on bulk HFC imports and pricing schemes under the Emissions Trading Scheme and a Synthetic Greehouse Gas Levy, it said.

The Trust for the Destruction of Synthetic Refrigerants said the new plant will manage gases at the end of their life.

These are found in heat pumps, commercial refrigeration and air condition systems across the country, it said.

It said while there is a place for recycling and claiming the gases, that extended to fully address climate change, ultimately they need to be safely destroyed.

“The 5000 degrees is required because these F-gases are really stable,” Lauder said.

“So the 5000 degrees breaks them down into individual atoms, we inject steam, we add calcium carbonate, and the chemicals that come out the end are actually just water, CO2 that goes to the atmosphere and calcium fluoride salt which is an inert salt which is in fact what’s in your toothpaste, and we can just dump that to landfill until we can find an alternative use hopefully.”

Laura Revell, an atmospheric chemistry professor from University of Canterbury, said there were benefits to no longer having to ship the gases offshore.

“It has high costs associated with it and it creates a lot of greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide and so on, so by being able to dispose of these gases here in New Zealand means that we are reducing our shipping emissions and contribution to climate change in that way,” she said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

A Hurricane warning is in effect in Super Rugby Pacific. The ‘Canes have climbed to the top of the ladder, edging out the Brumbies on points differential and with a game in hand. The Brumbies have well and truly stalled after roaring out of the gates, losing their last two to the Reds and Drua respectively to concede top spot to the ‘Canes.

A blockbuster derby awaits as the competition leaders head under the roof in Dunedin to meet the Highlanders. The game will see a plethora of mouth-watering matchups including Jordie Barrett against Timoci Tavatavanawai, Peter Lakai squaring off with the rising Lucas Casey and two of the competition’s form wingers in Caleb Tangitau and Fehi Fineanganofo. Expect a slobberknocker in the deep south.

After a rough start to the year, the Crusaders recovered with a win in the southern derby last weekend, and head to the North Shore to meet a struggling Moana Pasifika. Moana finally get to play in Albany, their fortress of 2025, but sitting bottom of the ladder, it remains to be seen whether the same atmosphere will be on show.

A second generation star makes his long awaited Super Rugby debut, Payton Spencer named on the bench for the Blues, who head across the Tasman to meet the Waratahs, looking to keep an impressive streak in tact.

Selection notes

Crusaders prop Fletcher Newell will play his 50th Super Rugby match, while Nelson’s Cooper Grant makes his debut at first five. Kurtis Macdonald will also make his first appearance off the pine.

Making an obvious impact in Napier, Hurricanes front row Xavier Numia, Asafo Aumua, and Pasilio Tosi resume their place in the starting XV.

Co-captain Hugh Renton is back with the Highlanders for the first time since April last year while Mako teammate Andrew Knewstubb will play his first Super Rugby match coming off the bench.

Skipper Luke Jacobson returns at No.8 while Chiefs flanker Jahrome Brown returns to Canberra to take on his old side.

Former All Black Julian Savea is in the starting lineup for Moana for his first match of the 2026 season after recovering from a groin injury.

Last week’s Blues’ debutant Malachi Wrampling earns his first start.

Injury ward

Grant gets his callup for the Crusaders with Rivez Reihana out with delayed concussion symptoms. Skipper David Havili is also out with a heel injury.

Moana Pasifika’s Joel Lam has been given the No.9 jersey with Jonathan Taumateine, and Melani Matavao both injured and Augustine Pulu suspended for three weeks.

Sam Nock sits out for the Blues with concussion after taking the high shot from Pulu, with Stephen Perofeta and Patrick Tuipulotu still a couple of weeks away from a return to action.

Chiefs and All Blacks No.8 Wallace Sititi is nursing a hamstring injury, targeting return in round eight at the earliest.

The Hurricanes will be without Tyrel Lomax for up to three weeks with an ankle complaint, Isaia Walker-Leawere sits out the week due to concussion protocol and Kini Naholo’s foot is between two and four weeks from full fitness.

Highlanders playmakers Cameron Millar is out with concussion with Finn Hurley, yet to appear in 2026, not set to play before round eight.

Key stats

Blues captain Dalton Papali’i is leading the competition with 87 tackles, equalling his career high with 25 last Sunday.

The Highlanders have not beaten the Hurricanes since 2020, a nine-game losing streak.

Tavatavanawai has made 36 tackle breaks this season, 12 ahead of second.

The Chiefs have won their last five against the Brumbies.

Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa leads the way for linebreaks and tacklebreaks for forwards in Super Rugby.

The Blues are on an 11-game winning streak against the Waratahs.

Highlanders vs Hurricanes

Kick-off: 7:05pm Friday 20 March

Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

Live blog updates on RNZ

Highlanders:

1. Ethan de Groot 2. Jack Taylor 3. Angus Ta’avao 4. Oliver Haig 5. Te Kamaka Howden 6. Sean Withy 7. Lucas Casey 8. Hugh Renton (cc) 9. Folau Fakatava 10. Reesjan Pasitoa 11. Jona Nareki 12. Timoci Tavatavanawai (cc) 13. Jonah Lowe 14. Caleb Tangitau 15. Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens

Bench: 16. Soane Vikena 17. Josh Bartlett 18. Sosefo Kautai 19. Tai Cribb 20. Veveni Lasaqa 21. Adam Lennox 22. Andrew Knewstubb (debut) 23. Tanielu Tele’a

“Every game that we play is a real arm wrestle for us, if we can play our best rugby then we are in with a chance.” – Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph.

Hurricanes:

1. Xavier Numia 2. Asafo Aumua 3. Pasilio Tosi 4. Caleb Delany 5. Warner Dearns 6. Devan Flanders 7. Peter Lakai 8. Brayden Iose 9. Cam Roigard 10. Ruben Love 11. Fehi Fineanganofo 12. Jordie Barrett (c) 13. Billy Proctor 14. Josh Moorby 15. Callum Harkin

Bench: 16. Vernon Bason (debut) 17. Siale Lauaki 18. Tevita Mafileo 19. Hugo Plummer 20. Brad Shields 21. Du’Plessis Kirifi 22. Ereatara Enari 23. Bailyn Sullivan

“We’re really excited to go down to Dunedin for our first Kiwi derby.” – Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw.

Brumbies vs Chiefs

Kick-off: 9:35pm Friday 20 March

GIO Stadium, Canberra

Live blog updates on RNZ

Chiefs:

1. Jared Proffit 2. Samisoni Taukei’aho 3. Reuben O’Neill 4. Josh Lord 5. Tupou Vaa’i (vc) 6. Simon Parker 7. Jahrome Brown 8. Luke Jacobson (c) 9. Cortez Ratima 10. Damian McKenzie 11. Etene Nanai-Seturo 12. Quinn Tupaea (vc) 13. Daniel Rona 14. Leroy Carter 15. Liam Coombes-Fabling

Bench: 16. Tyrone Thompson 17. Ollie Norris 18. George Dyer 19. Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi 20. Samipeni Finau 21. Xavier Roe 22. Josh Jacomb 23. Lalakai Foketi

“The Brumbies are a terrific side and the Force next week will be tough in Perth, so this is a good mini tour for us. If we get things right, it will help set us for the rest of the season.” – Head coach Jonno Gibbs.

Moana Pasifika vs Crusaders

Kick-off: 7:05pm Saturday 21 March

North Harbour Stadium, Auckland

Live blog updates on RNZ

Moana:

1. Tito Tuipulotu 2. Millennium Sanerivi 3. Atu Moli 4. Tom Savage 5. Allan Craig 6. Miracle Faiilagi (c) 7. Niko Jones 8. Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa 9. Joel Lam 10. Patrick Pellegrini 11. Glen Vaihu 12. Julian Savea 13. Lalomilo Lalomilo 14. Tevita Latu 15. William Havili

Bench: 16. Mamoru Harada 17. Abraham Pole 18. Chris Apoua 19. Veikoso Poloniati 20. Dominic Ropeti 21. Siaosi Nginingini 22. Jackson Garden-Bachop 23. Tevita Ofa.

“We’re in search of playing our game and hopefully we can get it..” – Head coach Fa’alogo Tana Umaga.

Crusaders:

1. Finlay Brewis 2. George Bell 3. Fletcher Newell 4. Tahlor Cahill 5. Jamie Hannah 6. Ethan Blackadder (vc) 7. Johnny Lee 8. Christian Lio-Willie 9. Noah Hotham 10. Cooper Grant (debut) 11. Sevu Reece 12. Dallas McLeod 13. Braydon Ennor 14. Chay Fihaki 15. Will Jordan (c)

Bench: 16. Manumaua Letiu 17. George Bower 18. Seb Calder 19. Antonio Shalfoon 20. Xavier Saifoloi 21. Kyle Preston 22. Leicester Fainga’anuku 23. Kurtis Macdonald (debut).

“We’re going week by week. The aim is to back up a win with a win, build our consistency, prepare well, and hit the ground running. We haven’t had the quickest starts, so doing those things will make it very satisfying.” – Crusaders coach Rob Penney.

Waratahs vs Blues

Kick-off: 9:35pm Saturday 21 March

Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Live blog updates on RNZ

Blues:

Ofa Tu’ungafasi 2. Bradley Slater 3. Sam Matenga 4. Josh Beehre 5. Sam Darry 6. Anton Segner 7. Dalton Papali’i (c) 8. Malachi Wrampling 9. Finlay Christie 10. Beauden Barrett 11. Caleb Clarke 12. Pita Ahki 13. AJ Lam 14. Codemeru Vai 15. Zarn Sullivan

Bench: 16. James Mullan 17. Mason Tupaea 18. Marcel Renata 19. Che Clark 20. Torian Barnes 21. Taufa Funaki 22. Xavi Taele 23. Payton Spencer (debut).

“The Waratahs are always a dangerous side particularly at home in Sydney, so we’ll need to be accurate and disciplined for 80 minutes.” – Blues coach Vern Cotter.

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Head coach Clark Laidlaw will continue to guide the Hurricanes after re-signing with the franchise to the end of the next Super Rugby season.

Laidlaw’s contract renewal extends his tenure as head coach of the men’s team to a fourth season since joining the Hurricanes from the All Blacks Sevens ahead of the 2024 campaign.

The 48-year-old has led the Hurricanes to a semi-final and a qualifying final over the past two seasons, and has guided the team to the top of this year’s Super Rugby Pacific standings after five rounds.

Laidlaw said he’s thoroughly enjoyed his time at the Hurricanes.

“It’s a huge honour and privilege to continue serving the club. I really feel like I’m at home here. I love being involved with the team. We play a brand of rugby that really fits with my thinking on the game,” Laidlaw said.

“We’re building a squad and a club with new owners and new leadership, and I feel I really align with how they see it, so that was a big part of my decision to stay. The identity of the team and the way we want to play the game is something I really align with as well.

“Some days you feel like you’re only getting started. I’m a couple years in, but I still think there’s loads to develop, loads for me to be better at, loads for the team to grow into, and this is the place I want to do that.”

Prior to his appointment as Hurricanes head coach, the former Scottish sevens international – who became a New Zealand citizen late last year – had been an assistant coach at the club between 2013 and 2015.

Laidlaw has previously coached the All Blacks Sevens and has had roles with London Irish, New Zealand U20, Samoa, Taranaki, and Wellington sevens.

He won the 2018 Sevens World Cup, 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2020 World Sevens Series, and a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics while All Blacks Sevens head coach.

Interim Hurricanes chief executive Tony Philp was thrilled to secure Laidlaw’s services for another season.

“We’re excited that Clark has signed on with the Hurricanes until 2027,” Philp said.

“He embodies our values and has a unique ability to get the best out of people. Clark cares first, which fosters an environment of deep connection that then enables performances to be proud of.

“Having him on board for another year will ensure our culture deepens.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The Hurricanes top the Super Rugby standings, but the real tests of their title credentials are yet to come.

They face the Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday night in their first New Zealand derby of the season, before games against the Reds, Blues, Chiefs, Brumbies and Crusaders.

All Blacks centre Billy Proctor returns to the Hurricanes lineup after missing last week’s win over the Force in Napier, and he faces a monumental challenge in trying to contain Highlanders midfielder Timoci Tavatavanawai, nicknamed ‘Jim the Difference’.

“It seems like a lot of teams have been struggling with Big Jim,” Proctor said.

“I guess our ability to shut down the space and not give him too much time on the ball and eliminate his threat at the breakdown is going to be big this week and will go a long way for us trying to get the win.”

This time last year the Hurricanes were languishing near the bottom of the ladder. All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard said they are pleased with how they’ve started in 2026, with three wins from four games.

“Yeah it’s been good, we’ve done a bit of reflecting and I think this time last year were dead last, so it’s quite the contrast.

“It’s been a unique start with the bye round one and we haven’t played a New Zealand team yet. We know that it’s going to be a massive challenge this week.”

So far the Hurricanes have played Moana Pasifika, the Fijian Drua, the Waratahs and the Force.

Roigard knows they’ll have to lift their performances if they want to keep winning, and he’s wary of a Highlanders side coming off a loss to the Crusaders.

“It’s our first New Zealand derby, whereas the Highlanders have had three or four already. So they’re going to be battle-hardened and they’re going to be ready for this game.

“It was [an] unfortunate result for them, losing to the Crusaders. But they’re back at home and there’ll be plenty of passion and they’ll be wanting to get one back over a New Zealand team.”

The Highlanders are seventh in the standings with just two wins from five games. However, they’ve played the Chiefs and Crusaders (twice) already this season and Proctor believes the hosts will be tough to beat in Dunedin on Friday night.

“They have a dangerous back three – there’s a lot of X-factor there. We touched on Big Jim before, someone that probably leads the comp in defenders beaten and he’s up there in the Jackal [winning turnovers] list too.

“There’s a few threats right there as well as their big ball-carrying forwards to go along with it. So plenty to handle out there, but we’re excited and looking forward to it.”

Proctor himself has been in strong form, scoring five tries in the three games he has played to be third-equal with Blues wing Caleb Clarke on the list of the season’s top tryscorers.

The Brumbies’ Charlie Cale leads the way with seven tries, while Max Jorgensen of the Waratahs has six.

“It’s guys like Cam making all the breaks and me being on the end of it,” Proctor said. “I’ve been benefiting from a lot of good play from everyone, so I’ve been enjoying it.”

Roigard will play inside Ruben Love for the first time this season, with the latter named to start at first-five against the Highlanders after returning from injury via the bench in last week’s victory over the Force.

“I think my first start for the Hurricanes was with him at 10 back in 2021. So it would be cool to wind the clock back,” Roigard said.

“I think he’ll bring a lot of control. He’s got a real dominant voice and I think that control in the right areas of the field is an element I’m looking forward to having and obviously his X-factor, the ability to break the game open and as it goes on, hopefully he’ll be able to pick on some tired bodies.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Shoppers are bracing for more food price rises, but the Grocery Commissioner has put supermarkets on notice about their margins.

Foodstuffs NZ managing director Chris Quin told Morning Report that there was likely to be pressure on food prices as conflict in the Middle East pushed up oil prices. Food prices were already up 4.5 percent year-on-year in February, before the impact began to be felt.

Quin said while it was hard to say at this point exactly how large the impact would be, it would become more of a problem the longer the conflict continued.

He said Foodstuffs was hearing from suppliers that they were under pressure too.

Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden told Midday Report that he had told supermarkets that the Commerce Commission’s expectation was that if prices increased, they dropped as soon as they could as well, and that supermarkets were not seeking additional margin.

“Discussions with suppliers about the pressure they are facing should be done in good faith, as per the grocery supply code.”

He said supermarkets had indicated that as of yet, the additional cost was not being passed on.

“It’s dependent on how long this war continues, how long they can do that.”

Van Heerden said grocery margins had come down a bit in recent years and then stabilised.

“I would expect to see them stable or come down,” he said.

There was increasing competition in Auckland, he said, but other parts of the country were still only served by the duopoly.

The Commerce Commission is currently running an anonymous survey of supermarket suppliers to check for any concerns in the sector. He said small and medium suppliers were often scared to raise issues.

One shopper, Delwyn, said she was now spending about $500 a week on food for her family of five. She had to shift to chicken and pork mince instead of beef, which has risen [. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/589814/mince-records-biggest-annual-increase-since-data-began more than 20 percent] in a year in price

She said supermarket shopping could be a depressing and disheartening experience.

Earlier, Gemma Rasmussen, Consumer NZ’s head of advocacy, told RNZ that she was concerned about the potential for supermarkets to push up prices amid the conflict.

She said when Cyclone Gabrielle hit the Hawkes Bay, she spoke to a producer who provided an example of a produce item that was affected by the floods.

“This resulted in the store price going from $3.50 a kg to $9 to $14.

“They said, if it’s sold for $3.50 retail, the supermarket is buying it for around $1.99 wholesale. It ended up reaching $4.50 wholesale, but despite this, it ended up being sold in the supermarkets for as high as $14.

“One supplier spoke of an instance when the margin a major supermarket made on a frozen product was close to 60 percent. He’s currently selling frozen produce with an alternative retailer who is ‘a dream to work with’ and takes only a 25 percent margin.”

She said the country could do well to look at what Australia was doing to moderate supermarket prices.

“From 1 July 2026, it will introduce a specific excessive pricing regime for very large supermarkets that will ban prices considered excessive in relation to supply cost plus a reasonable margin. If one of the big players breaches these rules, it will face penalties of up to A$10 million, three times the benefit gained, or 10 percent of turnover.

“In effect, this is a direct attempt to curb price gouging and hold major supermarkets accountable where mark-ups are excessive and unjustified.

“New Zealand could benefit from a similar regime. Long-term structural reform has so far done little to meaningfully reduce supermarket pricing pressure, and with cost-of-living concerns continuing, households remain exposed to pricing that may be difficult to justify.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Studies this summer show seabirds in the Hauraki Gulf are struggling to raise chicks, as the impacts of climate change hit.

Lack of food appears to have caused poor chick survival for some seabird species in the Hauraki Gulf this summer.

University of Auckland Associate Professor Brendon Dunphy, research fellow Dr Edin Whitehead and master’s student Isabella Brown have been monitoring the nests of diving petrels and fluttering shearwaters in the gulf since October last year.

The outlook for these seabirds is bleaker than expected, say the researchers from the School of Biological Sciences and Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society.

Whitehead says there was a 50 percent failure rate in the 13 fluttering shearwater nests she monitored at Tāwharanui, north of Auckland. That failure rate is higher than normal, she says.

Four of the adult shearwaters abandoned their nesting boxes, typically a sign they can’t find enough food to survive and feed their chicks, Whitehead says.

In 2019, fluttering shearwaters in the gulf were foraging and returning to the nest daily, but in December 2025, they were disappearing for as long as 12 days. The adult birds left their nests for so long, Whitehead feared the colony had been wiped out.

“GPS tracking showed they were covering huge distances, making foraging trips as far as North Cape, which is more than 200 kilometres away,” says Whitehead.

The parents usually rotate shifts, with one sitting on the egg, while the other flies out to sea seeking food, then swapping every day or two.

“But if there’s not enough food, the parent sitting on the egg might get too hungry to stay and will go to sea to feed too.

“It slows down the development inside the egg, because it’s cooler for longer periods,” says Whitehead.

Fluttering shearwater chicks in the gulf usually hatch between late October and the end of November, but this year hatching didn’t begin until late November. Some shearwaters were sitting on eggs until mid-December, possibly because the eggs had been left to cool more often while the parents searched long distances for food.

“This is unusually late and concerning because it’s so different from what’s been previously recorded for the species in the Hauraki Gulf,” says Whitehead.

Brown also observed diving petrel chicks hatching up to a month later than usual on Tiritiri Matangi Island.

Lower than average weights were recorded among the 15 diving petrel chicks monitored on Tiritiri.

“They were a lot lighter than normal when they departed, so they had less energy reserves and that could reduce their survival rate,” says Brown.

Dunphy says seabirds are sensitive to changes in the ocean, offering an early warning sign of shifts that will affect other species in the Hauraki Gulf.

“The ocean has absorbed 25 billion Hiroshima bombs worth of energy since the 1960s, but we’re now seeing the point where the ocean can no longer absorb more.

“We’re experiencing frequent marine heatwaves, which have immediate effects on the fish, zooplankton and krill that the diving petrels and fluttering shearwaters feed on.

“When marine heatwaves affect zooplankton, that affects the whole food web above it. We’re seeing the impacts on seabirds, because they are easy to observe, but everything in the gulf will be affected,” he says.

The Hauraki Gulf is a global seabird hotspot, where about 70 species breed and forage. Five species breed nowhere else in the world.

“We’re hoping some species will be able to cope with the higher ocean temperatures, but the ones we’ve looked at, it’s had quite a dramatic impact,” Dunphy says.

“I would like to say we can turn it around, but we’re living with 1.5 degrees of global warming. The goal is to keep it to that, but we’re already starting to overshoot it.”

Whitehead says slashing the amount of fishing in the gulf would help, particularly commercial fishing with purse seine nets that strip life from the sea.

Big boils-ups in the gulf used to occur often, with large fish, such as trevally and kahawai, pushing small fish and zooplankton to the surface, where seabirds could feast.

But these days, boil-ups are reported to have dwindled in size and frequency, making it harder for seabirds to find enough food to feed themselves and growing chicks, Whitehead says.

Dunphy says coastal marine reserves work wonders, but many of the schools of large fish that push prey to the surface are migratory.

In order to protect the migratory fish so vital to seabird survival, marine protection would need to be mobile and seasonal. GPS tracking could indicate where seabirds are feeding and where temporary protection is needed.

Brown says a diving petrel fledging rescued on Waiheke Island this summer weighed about 90 grams, when it should have weighed 140.

“The people at Waiheke Native Bird Rescue said they could feel its ribs. It was just wasted away,” she says.

Dunphy says “eco-grief” affects the seabird researchers.

“Our job is to study the effects of climate change on seabirds, but that doesn’t make it easier,” says Whitehead.

Dunphy says he had imagined climate change might have impacted heavily on the gulf by the end of his career, but it has struck earlier.

“We’re transitioning to a different Hauraki Gulf, a certain amount of change is going to be inevitable.

“But we can make the gulf as naturally resilient as it would be without the other human impacts, like sedimentation, pollution and overfishing,” he says.

The seabird monitoring was carried out with Catalyst funding from the Royal Society Te Apārangi and the support of the George Mason Centre for the Natural Environment.

MIL OSI

One of Auckland’s largest new housing developments – the Sunfield community near Ardmore Airport in South Auckland, given the go-ahead under fast-track rules – has raised the ire of local politicians.

Developers Winton envisage nearly 4000 homes, a town centre, retail and healthcare buildings, three retirement villages and approximately 26 hectares of parks and reserves and ecological areas. Regional development minister Shane Jones says it will deliver up to $3.2 billion to the economy and support more than 24,000 jobs over the 10- to 15-year building period.

But concerns have been raised that it sits on a flood plain, is located near an airport, and does not have the extensive transport, water and sewerage infrastructure needed to support it.

The fast-track panel that gave the go-ahead did attach a number of conditions, including the need for stormwater and drainage management plans. But Kelvin Hieatt, the chair of the Papakura Community Board, and Auckland councillor Richard Hills, chair of the Policy and Planning Committee, say those have not been met.

“We’re sort of downstream of everything, and you consider what’s got to go into that suburb and if there is a major storm, major flooding coming through, eventually their systems get overwhelmed and it’s going to be coming downstream,” Hieatt told RNZ’s Nine to Noon on Wednesday.

“Our Papakura stream is the receiving environment and it’s going to come out through our communities. So that’s the last thing we want to see.”

Hieatt said the land Sunfield was being built on was peat, “so what doesn’t drain away has to run off. And particularly when you’ve got these large storms moving through, once the ground is soaked, it has to go somewhere. You couldn’t build in enough residue, residual infrastructure up there to accommodate it. It’s got to go somewhere once you overload it.”

He said the presently rural area presently had no treated water, stormwater, power, communications infrastructure or plans for transport.

“There’s nothing. Everything’s got to come out from Papakura to that area. There was some planning in the past… but that land is noted after, particularly after the Anniversary Day storms and then Cyclone Gabrielle as being flood-prone and at-risk. There’s a lot of work gone into the future development strategy to keep those areas rural…

“One of the things with this development is there’s supposedly no cars on site.”

Sunfield’s plan involves electric shuttle buses once the population hits a certain level. But not before then. Hills called it bad city planning.

“They don’t even start the electric bus until 445 households are already in there, and they’re going to give them temporary parking for the first part of their lives there and then have the electric bus come in and I guess the cars just magically disappear… It is not normal city planning, and people expect us in all those neighbouring neighbourhoods to this site to deal with it, and we may not be able to.”

Hieatt said future residents might not appreciate being so close to an expanding airport either.

“We [don’t] want another Western Springs, where we have infrastructure that’s been in for decades, decades and decades before people move in, all of a sudden they think, ‘Oh, well, it’s my peace and quiet.’ Hang on a sec, you’ve moved in at the end of a runway, you know?”

Hills said there was little the council could do to slow down the development until it met its standards.

“Fast-track supersedes all. I mean, we only get a couple of days to respond. Most of the work can’t be done. If you look through the Watercare responses, they say they didn’t [have time to check] some of the evidence they needed.

“So it doesn’t mean that there won’t be still resource consenting processes for housing in that development… but even through this process, there’s been no work on the overland flow paths, which is a normal process. There’s sort of no real suggestion about how stormwater is dealt with in a flood situation.

“It does deal – or supposedly deal – with lighter storms or heavy rain. But we know from 2023 and from this year across New Zealand how drastically things can change and where you build is just as important as how the infrastructure is around it.”

He said unless the developer planned to look after the development “forever”, eventually problems would end up back with the council.

“We have no plans for wastewater and water supply in that site anytime soon. And so it’s just pulling out-of-sequence infrastructure spending from current urban areas to these areas, which I’m assuming we’re going to be forced to do under the fast-track.”

He said the council was not trying to stifle development, but there was only so much it could do, particularly if rates were getting capped.

Winton was invited to join Nine to Noon to talk about its plans, but no one was available.

In a statement, it said the engineering solution for the Sunfield community had been designed by a ‘tier 1’ engineering firm, and the work had been peer reviewed by a further two equally well qualified independent engineering firms.

It said the stormwater solution for Sunfield was based on stage one of the Awakeri Wetlands, which serviced part of the Sunfield site, which was designed and constructed by Auckland Council and was currently operational.

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MIL OSI

New Zealand would benefit from a regime banning “excessive” supermarket prices, Consumer NZ says.

The organisation says some supermarket shoppers are questioning how quickly food prices have risen, as conflict in the Middle East pushes up oil prices.

There have been warnings that the cost of food may rise as producer and transportation costs increase.

Consumer NZ head of research and advocacy Gemma Rasmussen said it was understandable that shoppers were worried about how high prices could go.

Stats NZ data for February showed even before the impact of the conflict on oil prices was felt, food prices were up 4.5 percent year-on-year. Fruit and vegetables were up 9.4 percent and meat, poultry and fish 7.5 percent.

“When you pick up an item off the shelf, countless factors contribute to the final price. That makes it extremely difficult for consumers to know whether they are paying a fair and accurate amount,” Rasmussen said.

“Whether you’re an everyday shopper or a seasoned economist, breaking down the true pricing of any food item in a supermarket is close to impossible.

“The question for shoppers is: Are the prices you’re paying for food fair and competitive, and are there instances when the supermarkets are using external pressures as a smokescreen to jack their prices?”

She said when Cyclone Gabrielle hit the Hawkes Bay, she spoke to a producer who provided an example of a produce item that was affected by the floods.

“This resulted in the store price going from $3.50 a kg to $9 to $14.

“They said, if it’s sold for $3.50 retail, the supermarket is buying it for around $1.99 wholesale. It ended up reaching $4.50 wholesale, but despite this, it ended up being sold in the supermarkets for as high as $14.

“One supplier spoke on an instance when the margin a major supermarket made on a frozen product was close to 60 percent. He’s currently selling frozen produce with an alternative retailer who is ‘a dream to work with’ and takes only a 25 percent margin.”

She said businesses could set or increase their prices as they saw fit unless there was some form of price regulation in place.

“Australia had a similar model. However, from 1 July 2026, it will introduce a specific excessive pricing regime for very large supermarkets that will ban prices considered excessive in relation to supply cost plus a reasonable margin. If one of the big players breaches these rules it will face penalties of up to A$10 million, three times the benefit gained, or 10 percent of turnover.

“In effect, this is a direct attempt to curb price gouging and hold major supermarkets accountable where mark-ups are excessive and unjustified.

“New Zealand could benefit from a similar regime. Long-term structural reform has so far done little to meaningfully reduce supermarket pricing pressure, and with cost-of-living concerns continuing, households remain exposed to pricing that may be difficult to justify.”

Rasmussen said cost-of-living concerns were rising and shoppers were “continually” affected by potentially unfair or excessive pricing.

“New Zealanders don’t have time to wait for long term structural changes to be implemented and take effect.”

Woolworths and Foodstuffs were approached for comment.

Separately, Foodstuffs provided an update that said it was still business as usual at its supermarkets but its suppliers were planning ahead.

“New Zealand sits at the end of global supply chains, so we’re always looking upstream and keeping an eye on international events that could have flow-on effects for us,” said managing director Chris Quin.

“A large proportion of our products are grown or manufactured locally in New Zealand or Australia, sourced from Asia, or travel from Europe around the Cape of Good Hope at the bottom of Africa. So, right now our grocery supplies are largely unaffected by the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, and our normal offer’s available in our stores. 

“The main issue at the moment is higher fuel, freight and packaging costs rather than product availability.

“We’ve seen the cost of diesel for our transport fleet rise significantly, but at this stage we’re absorbing that to help keep our food prices as steady as possible for customers.

“For every dollar on-shelf, around two-thirds goes to suppliers for the goods themselves.

“So if suppliers are facing higher freight, fuel, packaging or other input costs, those pressures flow through over time. As we’ve all seen, this is a fast-moving situation, with no clear timeframes or outcomes. The effects of what’s happening now with supply chains and fuel prices could still be felt months down the track.”

Woolworths said it was watching the situation closely. “At this stage our stock levels and pricing have not been affected but we continue to monitor it.”

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Rick Chan, Managing Partner Singapore, Head of Audit & Assurance APAC and Member of Group Governing Board, Forvis Mazars, observed, “Asia Pacific has always had to move fast. The region’s businesses are built on agility – on reading the market, adjusting quickly and staying close to customers. That DNA is proving invaluable right now. The data shows leaders are transitioning from short-term firefighting to building lasting resilience. By investing in localised supply chains and AI, they are taking highly practical steps to insulate their operations against escalating geopolitical risks and secure long-term growth.”

The strategic pivot: strengthening intra-regional trade

The barometer reveals a fundamental change in how APAC firms plan to grow. Rather than facing global trade barriers head-on, executives are pivoting to markets closer to home. The top three expansion destinationsareChina (36%), Australia (29%) and Hong Kong (29%).

The growth engine: AI as a workforce catalyst

While 47% of executives rank AI as their top technology priority, their approach is disciplined. APAC leaders are prioritising high-impact applications such as forecasting (65%), knowledge acquisition, banking and retrieval (61%), client services, recommendations, relationships (61%), and operational efficiency, including automation (60%). Interestingly, they are achieving these gains with leaner investment; 41% (versus 35% globally) allocate less than 10% of their budget to AI, suggesting a focus on cost-effective, high-return AI adoption.

The blind spot: the sustainability gap – compliance versus operational resilience

While the report highlights strategic maturity in technology and trade, it reveals a critical disconnect in sustainability. Although 91% of APAC executives express confidence in meeting sustainability reporting compliance, only 73% feel prepared to manage the actual physical and operational impacts of climate change. This disparity indicates that while they are confident in meeting regulatory expectations, the priority now is to bridge the gap between compliance and reality, specifically by strengthening supply chains and building physical resilience against tangible climate risks.

Chester Liew, Partner, Head of Risk Consulting & Sustainability, Forvis Mazars in Singapore, said, “High confidence in reporting compliance is an encouraging baseline, but paperwork does not protect operations. The foresight APAC leaders are demonstrating in navigating geopolitical risks must now be urgently applied to climate risks. With regulatory timelines providing some breathing room, the prudent next step is to pivot resources from disclosure to physical defence – ensuring that supply chains and physical assets can actually withstand extreme weather and emerging environmental shocks.”

Forvis Mazars’ 2026 C-suite barometer survey captures insights from 3,012 senior executives worldwide prior to the US-Israeli war with Iran in February 2026. This independent research was conducted in October and November 2025 and captures the views of C-suite leaders at for-profit organisations with annual revenues of over US$1 million across 40 countries, including 260 respondents from seven markets in the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Findings reflect executive sentiments at the time of fieldwork.

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A landmark legal case that argues the government’s plan to tackle climate change is unlawful and risky will go ahead today.

Climate advocates will argue that the government broke the law when it dismantled dozens of climate policies soon after the 2023 election, before it had consulted the public.

They also say the current plan relies too heavily on planting trees to offset greenhouse gas emissions, instead of reducing the amount of emissions the country produces in the first place.

Lawyers for Climate Action and the Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) are jointly taking the case against Climate Change Minister Simon Watts.

The organisations are asking the High Court to declare the minister’s decisions unlawful and to throw out the current emissions plan so a new, more ambitious one can be prepared.

An environmental law expert says the case is “hugely significant” and has similarities to challenges in the UK, which resulted in changes to that government’s climate plans.

Under New Zealand’s climate laws, the government must produce five-yearly emissions reductions plans, which set out how the country will meet its domestic climate targets.

At the moment, those targets are to reduce carbon dioxide and other long-lived gas emissions to net zero by 2050, and to reduce methane emissions to 14 to 24 percent below 2017 levels by the same deadline.

The methane target was originally a 24 to 47 percent reduction by 2050, but the government changed this last year in response to lobbying from the agricultural sector, which produces half of New Zealand’s methane emissions.

There are also interim targets for 2030: to halve long-lived gases from their 2005 levels, and a 10 percent reduction of methane emissions from 2017 levels.

Subsidies for electric vehicles, and a fund to help businesses electrify their coal- and gas-fired industrial processes, were among policies that the government chose to scrap in late 2023.

ELI senior legal researcher Eliza Prestidge-Oldfield said climate laws allowed the government to make changes to an emissions reduction plan, but they must consult on any changes that are more than minor or technical.

Instead, the government scrapped large parts of the plan before formally amending it.

“By the time the plan was actually amended, there were over 30 initiatives that were being consulted on where the decisions had already been made,” she said.

“What the government should have done is consulted on any amendments before it locked in those changes.”

‘Phenomenal’ reliance on pine planting

The latest emissions reduction plan, which kicked in at the start of this year, was not really an emissions reduction plan at all, Prestidge-Oldfield said.

“Instead of having arranged policies that might substantively reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, or replace sectors of the economy that currently are reliant on out that equipment with new equipment, they’ve just relied on baseline modeling and trees offsetting carbon emissions.”

The reliance on forestry planting in the plan was “quite phenomenal”.

“The reliance on forestry means that people aren’t going to be doing the other things that they can do, that are technically feasible now and may even have a good payoff, unless they’re cheaper than a forestry credit,” she said.

Relying on mostly pine plantations was “inherently risky”, she said.

“As the climate heats, the risk of them burning down is pretty significant. We’ve already seen issues with extreme weather events, windfall, forestry slash – so these are not a robust solution in and of themselves.”

Lawyers for Climate Action executive director Jessica Palairet said using trees and other types of carbon sequestration was an important part of the climate response, because it would help to remove carbon dioxide already warming the planet.

It could not simply replace reducing emissions at their source, though.

“The government shouldn’t treat reductions and removals as equivalent,” Palairet said.

“They’re different, they needed to be treated differently under the law, and we don’t think the minister even turned his mind to whether this plan of planting our way out of the climate crisis complied with international law.”

The global Paris Agreement did not explicitly state that governments must prioritise reducing emissions over removing them from the atmosphere, Palairet said.

“But there’s numerous parts … that do suggest a preferencing of reductions over forestry removals.”

States were also expected to take a precautionary approach to reducing their emissions, she said.

“So reduce emissions now, rather than keep them at high levels and leave them for future generations to deal with.”

Case is significant – environmental law expert

The hearing in Wellington will add to a growing body of climate law cases being levelled at governments around the world.

An advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice last year found that developed countries like New Zealand were expected to lead the way in making emissions reductions, and that the way was open for countries to sue each other for failing to take action.

Auckland University associate professor Vernon Rive said the latest case was “hugely significant”.

“It concerns some quite fundamental planks of the government’s policy and approach on climate mitigation,” he said.

“It tests whether from a legal perspective the policy reliance on the [emissions trading scheme] – almost to the exclusion of everything else – is a legitimate approach.”

The outcome could set a precedent for how emissions reduction plans were set, especially about the level of certainty the government needed to have that a plan could meet an emissions budget.

“I don’t think anyone expects there to be 100 percent certainty, because this involves modelling and predictions of what will happen in the future,” Rive said, “But there is an expectation of a level of certainty and robustness and credibility.”

That included what wiggle-room there was if some policies did not succeed, or something else unexpected happened.

“The government’s plan – by its own recognition – is cutting it very, very fine,” he said. “There’s a very small buffer for achieving it or not achieving it.”

New Zealand’s system of setting greenhouse gas budgets and emissions reduction plans was similar to Ireland and the UK, where governments had also faced legal challenges.

“[There have been] two significant cases in the UK where environmental interests have successfully challenged the UK government’s emissions reduction plans, or their equivalent,” Rive said.

“The court has said look, there are just too many uncertainties here involved in your plan – you need to go back and do it again, and do it properly this time.”

New Zealand’s legal system was similar to the UK’s, so he expected the courts here to take a similar approach to the law.

“Each of these cases will turn on their own facts … but this is a very credible claim.”

The hearing is expected to last three days, with a reserved decision later this year.

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The Automobile Association is advising people to take steps that could help save fuel as the Middle East conflict bumps up prices.

Principal advisor Terry Collins said people can use less fuel by driving safely, checking tire pressure and taking fewer trips.

“Getting the car up to operating temperature … doing all those trips in one go coming back you’re saving fuel.”

Prices have been going up because of the volatility on the wholesale market caused by the conflict in the Middle East following the US-Israel strikes on Iran.

Collins said saving on the cost of fuel can come down to taking simple steps like carrying less weight in the car.

“Don’t drive all week with extra weight unnecessary like golf clubs or other things in your car that aren’t doing anything other than sitting in there. Weight will always make you use more fuel.”

Collins advised people to take a roof rack off their car, as it will make the aerodynamics of the vehicle better.

Checking tyre pressure was also on the list to save fuel, as he said it can decrease in colder weather.

He is also urging people to use an app, like Gaspy, to find the cheapest petrol station near them.

“It’s a homogeneous product which means basically its the same where ever you get it and so buying it by the cheapest price is the best smartest thing to do.”

Since the start of the conflict the price of oil has almost doubled from where it was at the start of the year.

The ripple effects of the price increase has also been the potential for inflation across a wide range of goods and services.

This week demand on Gull’s discount day left some of its petrol stations running low on fuel.

Gull said 3 percent of its sites had not been able to meet the extra demand from customers when it cut prices on its regular Thursday promotion.

Emeritus Professor in Climate Mitigation and Sustainable Energy at Massey University, Ralph Sims, had previously given similar advice to drivers on saving fuel as prices spiked.

“Most people don’t understand how to drive a car efficiently. I see people accelerate to a red light and then brake heavily, and if you’re running on low tyre pressures, it consumes much more fuel,” Sims said.

He also suggested the government do a national education campaign on fuel-saving tips like avoiding heavy braking, checking tyre pressure, and taking things that add weight, like a roof rack, off their vehicle when they are not needed.

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