Posts

Posted on

Property Market – Residential construction costs continue to accelerate as building recovery gathers pace

Source: Cotality

New Zealand residential construction costs continued to edge higher in the June quarter, with stronger building activity and renewed global cost pressures driving the fastest annual increase in almost three years.
 
The latest Cordell Construction Cost Index (CCCI) shows residential construction costs rose 1.1% in the three months to June, up from 1.0% in the March quarter and broadly in line with the long-term quarterly average.
 
Annual cost growth accelerated to 3.5%, from 3.0% in the previous quarter, marking the strongest annual increase since mid-2023.
 
Cotality NZ Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson said although the annual figure was still below the long-term average of around 4%, the figures suggest the period of unusually subdued construction cost growth has begun to fade.

“Construction costs aren't surging again, but conditions are becoming less favourable for builders and households, who may have been hoping build costs would soften further,” he said.

“As construction activity starts to recover, quarterly growth remains close to its long-run average, but the annual rate has accelerated for three consecutive quarters. That suggests the exceptionally quiet period for construction cost inflation is probably behind us.”

He said the construction sector was emerging from a prolonged downturn, with more projects beginning to move ahead after a significant lift in dwelling consents over recent months.
 
“The annual number of dwelling consents has risen from below 34,000 last year to more than 39,000 and even though not every consent becomes a completed home, it's a sign that activity is beginning to return.”

Recovery brings fresh cost pressures
 
Alongside stronger domestic activity, global events also flowed through to impact construction costs.
 
Oil price increases following the conflict in the Middle East have led to higher transport costs, while suppliers are reporting price hikes on several building materials.
 
Cordell's latest analysis identified increases across structural steel, plumbing components, insulation and aluminium roofing accessories, with several suppliers indicating further increases may follow if global uncertainty persists.
 
“Builders are still operating in a competitive market where existing house prices have been flat or only rising modestly, so there's limited ability to pass higher costs directly on to customers,” he said.
 
“That means many firms are absorbing some of those increases through tighter margins rather than significantly increasing contract prices.”
 
“Clearly, a lasting US-Iran peace deal would be another welcome boost for the sector, as well as taking some heat out of cost pressures. But unfortunately this hope has gone backwards in recent days.”
 
Better home building conditions ahead
 
Despite higher construction costs, Mr Davidson said the growing prospect of improving economic conditions should support a gradual recovery in residential building over the second half of the year, notwithstanding US-Iran uncertainty.
 
Lower mortgage rates, easing inflation pressures and stronger confidence – if they become reality – were expected to improve project feasibility for both developers and owner-builders.
 
“If inflation can moderate a bit and interest rates remain supportive, more households will have the confidence to commit to building,” he said.
 
“Construction costs aren’t cheap by any means, but the industry isn’t seeing the rapid increases we experienced through 2021 and 2022. Conditions are closer to long-term averages, where modest cost increases reflect healthier levels of activity rather than the supply shocks we saw during the pandemic.”
 
However, Mr Davidson said construction costs were likely to come under further upward pressure as the pipeline of approved projects continued to grow.
 
“A busier construction sector is ultimately positive for housing supply, even if it brings some modest upward pressure on build costs.”
 
The CCCI is comprised of around 50% materials, 40% wages, and 10% for other charges such as professional fees.

Posted on

Universities – UoA launches worldwide search for nature-focused researchers

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

As governments and businesses around the world grapple with climate change and biodiversity loss, Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland is launching an international search for ten PhD researchers to help shape a more nature positive economy.

The fully funded doctoral positions are part of New Zealand's first Nature Positive Hub. (ref. http://www.juncture.auckland.ac.nz/nature-positive-phd-cohort/ )

Nature positive means going beyond reducing environmental harm to actively restoring biodiversity and regenerating ecosystems. The researchers will examine how organisations, markets and governments can redesign systems and ways of working while supporting long-term social and economic wellbeing.

They will tackle pressing environmental and economic challenges ranging from regenerative forestry and the future of fisheries management to biodiversity markets, corporate governance, rights of nature and regional environmental restoration.

Other projects will examine how communication shapes support for environmental action and what it would mean for Aotearoa New Zealand to treat nature as shared sovereign wealth.

Dr Billie Lythberg (Business School) will supervise a project exploring why and how some large-scale environmental restoration initiatives in Aotearoa New Zealand have endured while others have struggled.

She says understanding the relationships, governance and long-term commitment behind successful projects will help inform future regional restoration efforts in New Zealand and internationally.

“The environmental challenges we face are systems challenges. Understanding why and how some nature-positive initiatives thrive requires us to look beyond individual projects to the relationships, governance, and practices that sustain them over time.

“This research will help identify transformational and relational approaches to regeneration that can support resilient communities and flourishing ecosystems in Aotearoa and beyond.”

Posted on

Federated Farmers warn of last-minute rush for iwi agreements

Source: Federated Farmers

Federated Farmers is sounding the alarm over councils rushing to sign new iwi partnership agreements before the Resource Management Act is replaced.
Federated Farmers RMA reform spokesperson Mark Hooper says Environment Canterbury is the latest council attempting to finalise a Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreement before the new planning system comes into force.
“Under the Government's replacement legislation, as currently drafted, councils won't be able to enter into new Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements.
“But that draft legislation presently carries over any existing Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements.
“Predictably, that has triggered a rush from iwi organisations seeking to lock agreements in before the law changes.
“The latest example is Environment Canterbury, which has suddenly announced it's considering an agreement with Ngāi Tahu, with elected councillors given only one week to consider and decide on the draft agreement.
“ECan is showing flagrant disregard for their community, pushing this through with no public notification before it appeared on the agenda this week, to be ratified next week.
“That's deeply concerning and we're calling on the Government to intervene so councils can't rush these agreements through before the system is reformed.”
Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements, created under the Resource Management Act, set out how councils and iwi work together on resource management matters.
They can allow for joint decision-making on plans and resource consents.
In its Election Platform launched last month, Federated Farmers expressed concern about the increasing number of agreements between councils and iwi that allow for co-governance or co-management of natural resources.
Since the Government released its draft Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill in late 2025, dozens of new agreements have been initiated around the country, including in Manawatū-Whanganui, Northland and most recently Taranaki.
Hooper says councils have little discretion once an agreement is formally requested.
“Councils are legally required to negotiate these agreements, which puts elected members under enormous pressure to complete them before the law changes.
“That creates a real risk of rushed decision-making and inadequate public scrutiny.
“In Canterbury, councillors have had very little time to consider the proposal before being asked to ratify it.”
Federated Farmers will write to Environment Canterbury urging it to pause the process and allow proper consultation.
“The timing couldn't be worse. Local government reform is also underway and, within a year or two, Environment Canterbury may no longer exist, with smaller unitary councils taking its place.
“Signing long-term partnership agreements now could bind future councils that don't even exist yet.
“Those future councils should be free to negotiate their own relationships with iwi once both local government and resource management reforms are settled.
“Rushing agreements through now shows little respect for future elected representatives or the communities they'll serve.”
Hooper says the situation reinforces the need for Government action.
“This scramble highlights exactly why ministers need to step in and change the new legislation before it’s enacted.”
In its submission on the Government's resource management reforms, Federated Farmers recommended the new system shouldn’t carry over Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements.
“If the Government decides to retain them, there need to be clear limits.
“They shouldn't override democratic decision-making, expand the scope of planning legislation or create additional consent requirements.”
Hooper says the agreements raise important questions about who should influence planning rules and resource consent decisions.
“We fully support councils and iwi working together and building strong relationships.
“But decisions affecting property rights and resource consents should ultimately rest with people the public can vote in or vote out.
“Our concern is that some agreements move beyond collaboration and hand significant influence to groups that aren't democratically accountable in the same way elected councils are.”
While some agreements focus primarily on improving communication, Hooper says others extend much further.
“For example, Northland Regional Council's agreement with Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hine includes funding for iwi environmental planning work and provides opportunities for iwi representatives to participate in resource consent processes.”
He says farmers are concerned about what that could mean in practice.
“A farmer wanting consent for a feed pad, a new effluent system or worker accommodation could end up facing extra costs, delays and bureaucracy.
“Federated Farmers is firmly opposed to blanket requirements for cultural impact assessments on routine consent applications.
“Farmers already spend enough time and money navigating an overly complex consent system.
“The last thing rural New Zealand needs is another layer of consultants, planners, lawyers and reports added to an already broken resource management system.”
Posted on

Northland News – Biodiversity ‘detectives’ provide first regional plant threat report

Source: Northland Regional Council

The ‘Conservation Status of Indigenous Vascular Plants in Northland’ provides the first comprehensive regional plant threat listing, giving landowners, hapū, iwi and resource managers a powerful tool to better protect 878 plants including rare and declining plant taxa.
The Northland Regional Council and a panel of botanist experts under the lead of senior author Marley Ford were tasked with undertaking a new regional threat listing, which will inform a national threat listing that will be updated every five years in future.
Council Biodiversity Manager, co-author and project coordinator, Lisa Forester says the report identifies plants that are rare in Taitokerau and allows for ongoing monitoring in a move to help prevent plants reaching regional extinction (or ‘extirpation’).
“Of the 878 plants we assessed, 34 plants are in the ‘extirpated’ category, with one (Adam’s mistletoe) being ‘nationally extinct’.” “A further 128 plants are in high threat categories and another 83 are likely to be threatened, but we didn’t have enough information to rank them.”
“Another 283 plants were labelled ‘at risk’ and likely to move into threat categories if they weren’t looked after.” “In total, less than 40% of Taitokerau plant taxa were ranked as not threatened,” she says.
Northland Regional Councillor and Chair of the Biodiversity and Biosecurity Working Party, Jack Craw, says while the results of the report are confronting, council remains hopeful that the next assessment will show an improvement.
“It’s a good way for people to get better with their plant knowledge, being able to identify them and learn.” “Because resources to undertake field monitoring are limited, community support is important to help monitor and care for the plants – everyone can play a part in protecting and monitoring our precious biodiversity.”
Northland’s ‘everyday botanists’ are encouraged to record plant sightings by photographing them and uploading to the iNaturalist website where anyone can get involved as removing these plants from the wild is discouraged.
Gathering data for conservation status rankings relies heavily on plant records and herbarium collections from professional and amateur botanists, past and present, who have spent countless hours in the field collecting the records that make these threat status assessments possible.
Ms Forester would like to thank the whole team of botanists and experts that sat on the panel and undertook the ranking, mostly voluntarily.
“For some of us it feels like a culmination of a life’s work and a great investment for the future, so we are very pleased and proud to finally have it finished.” “We know that it will be a useful document for to help prioritise conservation efforts going forward.”
This is the fourth regional plant threat assessment completed in Aotearoa, following assessments undertaken in Wellington, Auckland and Otago, and is intended to strengthen both local RMA decision-making and future national New Zealand Threat Classification System reassessments.
The full report can be found on the NRC website: www.nrc.govt.nz/vascularplants
Posted on

Economy – Finding signal in the inflation noise – Reserve Bank

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

14 July 2026 – In a speech delivered today at an event hosted by BusinessNZ in Wellington, RBNZ Chief Economist, Paul Conway, discussed the fallout from the conflict in the Middle East, and how inflation expectations and price-setting behaviour will influence the path of interest rates as the Reserve Bank returns inflation back to our 2 percent target midpoint.

Mr Conway noted that “near-term inflation pressures have eased as oil prices have fallen, reflecting some progress towards resolution in the Middle East. But the conflict has still delivered another significant inflation shock and the challenge for monetary policy is to ensure that this doesn't lead to persistent inflation.”  

Drawing on recent RBNZ research released alongside the speech, Mr Conway discussed how oil price shocks can flow through to broader inflation via firms' pricing decisions and the expectations of businesses and households.

“When inflation is high, people pay closer attention. Research suggests that New Zealand businesses pass on cost increases more readily now than in the past and are less likely to reduce prices when costs ease. All else equal, this raises the risk that temporary shocks becoming persistent inflation.”

“If above-target inflation changes expectations and price-setting behaviour, monetary policy may need to respond more firmly to re-anchor inflation expectations. Encouragingly, medium-term inflation expectations are currently well anchored. Spare capacity in the economy should help limit pass-through. But after a prolonged period of above-target inflation, anchored inflation expectations cannot be taken for granted.”

Last week, the Monetary Policy Committee noted that with inflation still above target and economic activity expected to strengthen, some further reduction in monetary stimulus is likely to be required. Future OCR decisions will depend on how incoming data, price-setting behaviour, and the strength of economic activity affect medium-term inflation pressures.

More information:

Posted on

Northland News – Free earthworks field day

Source: Northland Regional Council

Contractors, consultants, and council staff working across erosion and sediment control are being urged to attend a free hands-on day for the earthworks industry to be held in Whangārei in mid-September.
Tess Dacre, the Northland Regional Council’s (NRC) Compliance Monitoring Manager, says the Wednesday 16 September event will run from 9am to 3pm at Whangārei’s Barge Showgrounds.
The first of its kind event is a collaboration between NRC, the region’s three district councils, the International Erosion Control Association and Civil Contractors New Zealand.
Ms Dacre says the event is built on an “education before enforcement” approach, helping lift capability across the region through shared learning, practical demonstrations, and real-world insights.
The day will include short, practical presentations, live product demonstrations, real-world examples and lessons learned as well as opportunities to connect with councils and industry.
Ms Dacre says the day will benefit earthworks contractors, site supervisors, environmental managers, engineers and consultants, council compliance and monitoring officers.
Posted on

Finance – Farm mortgages drop on strong returns – Federated Farmers

Source: Federated Farmers

Many farmers are taking advantage of strong returns for meat and milk to pay down debt, the latest Federated Farmers Banking Survey and Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) data shows.
Reserve Bank data that shows total agricultural lending dropped $1.4 billion to $61.2 billion in the year to April 2026.
“Strong dairy payouts, including a capital redistribution of $2 per share to Fonterra suppliers, combined with record beef and sheep farmgate prices, have likely allowed farmers to meaningfully reduce loan principal,” Federated Farmers banking spokesperson Mark Hooper says.
Responses from nearly 540 farmers to the Federated Farmers Banking survey in May also show falling farm mortgages and improved farmer-banker relationships.
In the Feds survey, the number of respondents with mortgages under $2 million has risen to 41%, up from 38% six months earlier.
Average mortgages for sharemilkers and for dairy and meat and wool farms all fell significantly between the November 2025 and May 2026 surveys.
“The outlier is arable farms,” Hooper says.
“That sector is in near-crisis mode, with weak grain prices, rising costs, tough growing conditions and competition from lower cost imports.
“The arable farm median mortgage of $3.5 million is the highest of all farm types.”
Other key survey results tracking the farmer-banker relationship continue an upward trend.
Farmer satisfaction with banks reached 69% in May, the highest rate recorded in the last eight years of Federated Farmers’ twice-a-year surveys.
The survey shows banks have lifted their game on the communication front.
Farmer satisfaction with their bank’s communication is at 69%, up from 61% in the November survey.
Another positive is that the number of farmers who said they were feeling undue pressure from their bank came in at 10%, the lowest since 2018.
The average mortgage rate was 5.49%, down from 5.78% in the November survey, and two out of five respondents to the May survey have over 75% of their loans on floating rates.
“One finding that all banks should ponder: the single most consistent theme across more than 200 general comments added by farmers was that a knowledgeable, available bank manager outweighs factors such as loan rate competitiveness,” Hooper says.
“Where communication from banks works, it tends to reflect a specific person rather than the bank system. Where it fails, the cause is usually the same.
“One farmer’s comment states it plainly: ‘Never hear from our bank; don’t even know who our rural bank manager is. That’s concerning and disappointing if we need them’.”
Posted on

Pacific Civil Society Calls for a Genuine Ocean of Peace: The Pacific is NOT a battleground

Source: Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGO) Alliance

The Pacific Ocean is far more than a strategic waterway; it is the foundation of our cultures, identities, livelihoods and futures. It sustains our communities, connects our islands, and underpins our sovereignty and self-determination. Yet today, our ocean is increasingly being treated as a theatre for geopolitical competition, where strategic interests are too often prioritised over the rights, wellbeing and aspirations of Pacific peoples.

The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGO) Alliance unequivocally condemns the recent test of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by the People's Republic of China across the Pacific Ocean.

We oppose all forms of militarisation and nuclear threats in the Pacific, irrespective of which state is responsible. We cannot condemn missile tests, military build-ups and strategic military expansion undertaken by one power, while remaining silent when comparable actions are undertaken by another.

We equally oppose the recent Chinese ICBM test, and the continued testing of Minuteman III ICBMs by the United States over the Pacific, alongside the expansion of military alliances and strategic military partnerships, including AUKUS, large-scale military exercises such as the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), Valiant Shield, Talisman Sabre, and the continued expansion of foreign military presence and infrastructure across our Blue Pacific.

For Pacific peoples, this is not an abstract geopolitical contest. It is our home.

At a time when the region commemorates some of the darkest chapters in the Pacific's nuclear history, the continued militarisation of our ocean is a stark reminder that the lessons of the past remain unlearned.

A painful reminder during a month of remembrance

The timing is particularly significant given the major nuclear anniversaries commemorated across the Pacific this month, including the 80th anniversary of Operation Crossroads, when the United States began detonating nuclear weapons at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands; the 60th anniversary of France's first nuclear detonation at Moruroa Atoll in Ma'ohi Nui (French Polynesia); the 41st anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in an act of French state terrorism intended to silence opposition to nuclear testing in the Pacific; and the ninth anniversary of the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

For many outside the region, these anniversaries are history, but for Pacific peoples, they remain a lived memory. These anniversaries are more than moments of remembrance. They are also reminders that today's security challenges cannot be separated from the unresolved legacies of nuclear colonialism, and that the pursuit of genuine peace in the Pacific must begin with acknowledging, addressing and learning from this shared history.

Another missile crossing our ocean cannot be separated from that history. Nor can it be separated from the continued use of the Pacific as a missile testing-corridor, including the regular testing of United States Minuteman III ICBMs towards Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Treaty of Rarotonga, the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement, and today's aspiration for an Ocean of Peace were all born from a shared determination that our region should never again become a testing ground for the strategic ambitions of others.

Militarisation is not peace

The Pacific has repeatedly declared its vision of becoming an Ocean of Peace. That vision is not simply the absence of armed conflict, but a Pacific understanding of security founded on justice, sovereignty, self-determination, environmental stewardship and the wellbeing of our peoples.

The recent missile test by China is not an isolated incident. It forms part of a broader pattern of escalating militarisation across our region that includes expanding defence agreements, increasing foreign military deployments, large-scale military exercises such as RIMPAC, Valiant Shield and Talisman Sabre, strategic infrastructure development, and growing geopolitical competition among external powers.

The PRNGO Alliance rejects the notion that military deterrence delivers peace. Escalating military competition is fundamentally inconsistent with the Pacific's aspiration for an Ocean of Peace.

The Treaty of Rarotonga remains our regional foundation

As the Treaty of Rarotonga approaches its 40th anniversary, Pacific governments should reaffirm and strengthen one of the region's most enduring commitments to peace and security. Born out of decades of Pacific resistance to nuclear detonations and nuclear colonialism, it declares our region as one of the world's first nuclear-weapon-free zones and affirms the Pacific's determination that our region would never again become a nuclear sacrifice zone.

Our call to Pacific Leaders

The PRNGO Alliance's position is grounded not in the strategic interests of competing powers, but in decades of Pacific regional leadership and civil society advocacy. From the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement and the Treaty of Rarotonga to the Boe Declaration, the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the collective positions advanced by Pacific civil society, Pacific peoples have consistently articulated a vision of security founded on justice, sovereignty, self-determination, environmental stewardship, and demilitarisation. Recent events reinforce the urgency of translating those longstanding regional commitments into consistent political action.

The PRNGO Alliance therefore calls upon Pacific Leaders to:

Unequivocally condemn all missile tests conducted in or across the Pacific Ocean, regardless of whether they are undertaken by China, the United States or any other military power.

Reject the continued militarisation of the Blue Pacific, including expanding military alliances, foreign military basing, strategic deployments, nuclear deterrence policies and large-scale military exercises such as RIMPAC.

Reaffirm and strengthen the Treaty of Rarotonga as the cornerstone of Pacific regional security and fully implement its objectives.

Ensure that any future Ocean of Peace framework is genuinely Pacific-led, centred on human security, environmental protection, Indigenous rights, decolonisation and demilitarisation – not great-power strategic competition.

Support the universalisation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, including urging Australia and all Pacific partners that remain outside the Treaty to sign and ratify it.

Recognise that true regional security requires addressing climate change, ecological degradation, economic inequality and the unfinished business of nuclear justice, rather than expanding military competition.

Ensure that the future of Pacific security is determined by Pacific peoples, through Pacific institutions, and according to Pacific priorities. Build on an Ocean of Peace founded on human security, regional solidarity and environmental stewardship, and respect for Pacific sovereignty, not on the strategic calculations of external powers.

The Pacific has already paid the price of being treated as a testing ground, a military frontier, and a dumping ground for other nations' ambitions.

The Pacific Ocean is not a theatre for great-power rivalry. It is our home. It is the foundation of our cultures, identities, livelihoods and futures.

If the Blue Pacific is to become a genuine Ocean of Peace, then militarisation must give way to justice, cooperation, and Pacific-led security founded on sovereignty, self-determination and the wellbeing of our peoples.

This statement is issued by the Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGO) Alliance and, at the time of publication, is endorsed by:

  • Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC)
  • Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO)
  • Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN)
  • Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG)
  • Oxfam in the Pacific.
Posted on

Oxfam – Rich countries exaggerating "true value" of climate finance by around $100 billion

Source: Oxfam Aotearoa

Rich countries have again inflated the “true value” of the climate finance they provide to low- and middle-income countries, overstating it by around $100 billion in 2024, according to new analysis by Oxfam. This exceeds the $88 billion by which climate finance was overstated in 2022.
Governments reported mobilizing nearly $137 billion in climate finance in 2024 to help Global South countries cut emissions and cope with the worsening impacts of climate breakdown. While $106 billion of the reported amount was provided as public finance, $69 billion (65 percent) was delivered as loans. Many of these loans are provided on market terms, requiring little or no financial effort from rich countries while increasing the debt burdens of countries in the Global South.
Oxfam estimates that the “true value” of the climate finance provided by rich countries in 2024 is between $33 billion and $45 billion, equivalent to no more than one-third of the amount reported. Only $15 billion to $18 billion was allocated to adaptation.
The findings come just weeks after the Bonn climate talks, where rich governments refused to strengthen the commitment they made at COP30 in Brazil to triple adaptation finance by 2035. Oxfam estimates that even tripling adaptation finance would meet only one-third of poorer countries’ adaptation needs.
Oxfam calculated the “true value” of climate finance by estimating the grant equivalents of climate-related loans and other non-grant instruments, rather than at their face value, in order to gauge rich countries’ real financial effort. Oxfam accounts for the difference between loans at market rate and those at preferential terms, while also considering the overly generous claims about the climate-related significance of these funds.
“New Zealand is outperforming other richer countries by giving all our climate funding as grants, not loans,” said Oxfam Aotearoa Policy and Advocacy Lead Nick Henry. “New Zealand’s climate grants are an essential lifeline for our Pacific neighbours and we need to keep our promise to increase the funding over time.”
“Once again, the richest and most polluting countries are inflating the value of the climate finance they provide, creating the illusion of solidarity while delivering far less than they claim,” said Oxfam Climate Policy Lead Mariana Paoli. “Instead of helping poorer countries withstand a crisis they did little to cause, rich countries are pushing them deeper into debt through loans, many offered on profitable commercial terms. It is a cruel irony: those most responsible pay less -and even make a profit- while those least responsible pay more.”
“What is needed is public, grant-based climate finance at the scale the climate crisis demands -not accounting tricks, not loans that worsen debt, and not empty promises. Grants are lifelines that enable countries to adapt to a changing climate, cut emissions, protect lives, and respond to devastating loss and damage. At COP31, rich countries need to drastically increase grant-based climate finance and finally deliver on the commitments they have made.”
Notes
Download Oxfam’s methodology note. Calculations are based on original research by INKA Consult and Steve Cutts using the latest OECD climate-related development finance datasets for 2023 and 2024. Figures are rounded to the nearest 0.5 billion.
According to the OECD, rich countries say they mobilized $136.7 billion in climate finance for Global South countries in 2024.
According to the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2025, the estimated adaptation finance needs of low- and middle-income countries range from $310 billion to $365 billion per year by 2035.
At the Bonn climate talks last month, rich governments refused to strengthen the commitment they made six months ago at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, to triple adaptation finance, which Oxfam estimates would still provide only one-third of the finance needed to meet the needs of poorer countries.
Posted on

Funding boost welcomed as complexity of mental health calls continues to rise

Source: Whakarongorau Aotearoa

Every year, more than 30,000 New Zealanders reach out to 1737 in moments of distress – for support with anxiety, depression, loneliness, thoughts of self-harm, or simply not knowing where else to turn.
Whakarongorau Aotearoa has welcomed the Government's additional investment in telehealth services announced today [Telehealth investment to deliver faster access to support | Beehive.govt.nz], saying the funding will help ensure more people can connect with support when they need it.
Acting Chief Executive Brian O'Connell said the announcement reflects a growing reality facing mental health services across New Zealand.
“People aren't just reaching out more often – they're reaching out with more complex needs, higher levels of distress, and increasingly difficult situations to navigate.”
“Every day our counsellors are supporting people through some of the toughest moments of their lives. This investment recognises both the changing demand for support and the incredible work our teams do to meet it.”
The additional funding will enable Whakarongorau to recruit more counsellors, increasing frontline staffing for 1737.
Alongside additional counsellors, Whakarongorau is continuing to invest in digital tools designed to improve access to support. Around 5,000 people access the 1737 Digital Hub each month, and new initiatives include an AI-powered Welcome Service and a Mental Health Navigation Platform to help people find the support that's right for them.
“This investment is about much more than funding,” said Mr O'Connell. “It's about making sure that when someone reaches out for help, there's someone there to answer.”
“For someone sitting alone at and taking the brave step of reaching out, being able to connect with a counsellor sooner can make all the difference.”
While demand for 1737 is changing, it is the changing nature of those conversations that is placing the greatest pressure on the service. Four in ten callers are already known to secondary mental health services and the average length of a call has increased by around 50 percent since the service was established.
“Our counsellors are spending more time with people because the issues they're dealing with are more complex. That's not a failure of the system – it's a reflection of the pressure many New Zealanders are under.”
Despite that growing complexity, more than 75 percent of people who contact 1737 have their needs met within that initial interaction, without needing referral elsewhere. Research has also shown the service saves lives and prevents more than 150 suicide attempts each year.
“1737 is often the front door to support. For many people it's the first conversation they have about how they're feeling.”
“It's immediate, it's free, it's available 24 hours a day.