A New Zealand Market Update

Since the first Climate Change and Business Conference in November 2004, New Zealand's climate change policies have been through an extraordinary period. This paper provides background on New Zealand's Kyoto Protocol obligations, and the challenge of its unusual greenhouse gas emissions profile. Progress on policy measures is summarised with a focus on the market activities, Kyoto compliant and grey market, that have resulted. The latter section covers the inventory reassessment leading to a full review of New Zealand's climate change policies. This review ultimately led to the scrapping of the carbon tax and the need to develop new policies. The paper ends with a forecast on the impacts of these changes on the potential for a New Zealand emission trading system and New Zealand's business and government engagement in international market trades