New Zealand’s revamped carbon market starts trading
Enhanced system covers half of the country’s emissions to support its climate ambitions
New Zealand held its first auction of emissions allowances this week, heralding a major revamp of its carbon market and putting a hard cap on greenhouse gas pollution for the first time. Launched in 2008, New Zealand’s emissions trading system (ETS) did not initially have a binding cap but merely required emitters to buy any allowances they needed in excess of free allocations issued every year. The government carried out consultations over possible reforms in 2015, which led to significant changes that took effect at the start of this year. The regulator has set an overall cap on the emissions covered by its ETS of an average 40mn t/yr from 2021 to 2025 New Zealand’s upgraded marke

Also in this section
19 May 2025
The two Gulf states are combining fossil fuel production with ambitions to become leaders in low-carbon energy
14 May 2025
Deal with Calpine shows oil and gas major ExxonMobil has no intention of curbing its CCS ambitions, despite US policy risks and broader scepticism over the energy transition
13 May 2025
Volatile tariffs add new risks for a sector already struggling to achieve economies of scale
30 April 2025
State administrations are using a flawed metric to justify green energy projects