Wellington, New Zealand
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
9 January 2026
A shift in perspective is needed on the carbon challenge, the success of which will determine the speed and extent of emissions cuts and how industries adapt to the new environment
2 January 2026
This year may be a defining one for carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the US, despite the institutional uncertainty
23 December 2025
Legislative reform in Germany sets the stage for commercial carbon capture and transport at a national level, while the UK has already seen financial close on major CCS clusters
15 December 2025
Net zero is not the problem for the UK’s power system. The real issue is with an outdated market design in desperate need of modernisation
