Improving how New Zealand plans for climate risks

The Government is making targeted changes to the Climate Change Response Act (CCRA) to ensure it is working efficiently and as intended, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.

"The changes in this Bill will reduce unnecessary costs and duplication, provide greater certainty, and enable us to focus our efforts more effectively.

"The Bill streamlines complex and overlapping requirements to ensure New Zealand's climate change framework remains practical, efficient and fit for purpose.

"This legislation delivers one of the key actions under our National Adaptation Framework to help New Zealand manage growing climate risks. It includes requiring adaption planning in the highest-risk areas and is part of our plan to build for the future.

"For the first time, councils will be required by law to plan how high-risk communities will prepare for the impacts of climate change. Some councils are already working well with their communities to adapt, but this is inconsistent across the country.

"Plans will cover at least 30 years and set out the sequence of actions and investment needed to manage climate-driven natural hazard risks over time. This gives communities clarity, reduces risks early, and helps avoid higher long-term costs."

Other changes in the Bill include:

• Strengthening market governance of the NZ ETS secondary market, to improve transparency and integrity;
• Improving the operation of the NZ ETS, including fixing disincentives to invest in decarbonisation, and providing a future route for new types of carbon removals, or new emissions sources (but not agriculture), to be added to the NZ ETS.

"The CCRA and the NZ ETS are our key tools to transition New Zealand to a low-emissions, resilient future. It's critical that they're working smoothly to deliver emissions reductions and help us meet our climate targets. That's why we're making changes like strengthening oversight of the NZ ETS market," Mr Watts says.

"We also need to make sure we're delivering value for New Zealanders. These changes ensure our climate framework remains efficient, practical, and focused on results."

Additional information on this bill is available via the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport.