NEW ZEALAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Josh Williams, Anderson Lloyd
its proposed policy initiatives for each emissions budget period prior to the beginning of that period; • implemented a domestic “emissions trading scheme” (ETS), which aims to incentivise emis - sions reduction and sequestration; • signalled an intention to establish a “split gas” emissions pricing system for “on-farm” agricultural emissions by 2030; and • created He Pou a Rangi – the Climate Change Commission (Climate Change Commission) to provide independent advice to the government on emissions budgets, climate mitigation, and adaptation strategies to assist it achieving its climate change targets and to hold the govern - ment accountable through the public release of the Climate Change Commission’s advice. Adaptation and capacity building In 2022, the New Zealand government released its first National Adaptation Plan (NAP) for the period 2022–2028, which considers the effects of climate change now and into the future and sets out how the country will adapt to these under proposed strategies, policies, and actions. This includes addressing risks (identified in the first National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA), released in 2020) to: • the natural environment, by managing risks to eco - systems and biodiversity due to climate change; • homes, buildings, and places, by mitigating climate change risks to existing homes and places where possible, and ensuring that climate hazards are considered when making urban development deci - sions; • infrastructure, by reducing the vulnerability of assets exposed to climate change, and ensur - ing that all new infrastructure is fit for a changing climate; • communities, by supporting communities facing climate-related disruption and disasters, and edu - cating communities on climate change issues to enable those communities to adapt and participate in local decisions; and • the economy and financial systems, by giving businesses the tools and information they need to respond to climate risks, and to lower the barri -
ers to adaptation and innovation addressing those risks. The government has also signalled its intention to develop a climate adaptation model, which will include frameworks for investment and cost-sharing, roles and responsibilities, and climate risk and response information sharing. It is currently considering how to implement this, following completion of an inquiry into climate adaptation in October 2024. Climate Change Response Act 2002 The CCRA was enacted in response to the 1992 Kyoto Protocol. Its purpose is to: • enable New Zealand to meet its international obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Proto - col, and the Paris Agreement; • provide for the implementation, operation, and administration of a greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in New Zealand that supports and encourages global efforts to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases; and • provide for the imposition, operation, and adminis - tration of a levy on specified synthetic greenhouse gases contained in motor vehicles and another levy on other goods to support and encourage global efforts to reduce the emission of those gases. Under subsequent amendments, the CCRA now also: • regulates the ETS; • requires the government to prepare ERPs, NCCRAs, and NAPs; and • establishes the Climate Change Commission and mandates it to provide advice to the government on emissions budgets, climate mitigation and adaptation strategies to achieve its climate change targets. As part of the CCRA amendments that occurred in 2019, the following domestic emissions reduction tar - gets were enshrined within the legislation: • net zero greenhouse gas emissions (other than biogenic methane) annually by 2050;
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