Bill to amend New Zealand’s climate law introduced
The amendment bill includes a range of changes to support the operation of our key climate legislation.
The Government has introduced a bill to amend New Zealand’s climate change legislation.
The amendments are designed to support efficient and effective operation of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 (CCRA) and the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS). The Government announced most of these changes in 2025.
The Climate Change Response Amendment Bill includes updates to:
- Require adaptation planning: Ensure councils prepare adaptation plans for priority areas that support resilience to climate change;
- Support the operation of the NZ ETS: Support governance of the NZ ETS secondary market, and provide a way for new types of carbon removals or new emissions sources (but not agriculture), to be added to the NZ ETS in the future;
- Make efficiency changes to the CCRA: Amend complex or duplicative requirements in the CCRA.
More detailed information about these changes is available here: Amending the Climate Change Response Act (Environment website)(opens in new tab)
Read about the Bill on the Parliament website(opens in new tab)
When the Bill is referred to Select Committee, and the Committee calls for submissions, information about how to make a submission will be made available through Parliament.
About the CCRA
The CCRA is the law that sets out a range of requirements to help Aotearoa New Zealand transition to a low emissions economy and prepare for the impacts of climate change. The NZ ETS is a key tool to reduce our emissions.
This Bill makes updates related to the NZ ETS and seeks to address areas in the CCRA that are complex or duplicative. It does not change the core elements of the CCRA. The Government is still required to meet New Zealand’s domestic climate targets, with checks and balances for climate policy including the independent advice of the Climate Change Commission.