Jointly the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) are asking for feedback on potential changes to the assurance requirement in the climate-related disclosures regime.
This regime is introduced by the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Act which was passed by Parliament in October 2021. It will require large financial market participants to make disclosures about their climate-related risks and opportunities in annual climate statements.
This reporting will help New Zealand meet its international obligations and achieve its target of zero carbon by 2050.
At the moment, the regime requires reporting entities to obtain assurance over the parts of their climate statements relating to greenhouse gas emissions. No other part of the climate statement must be assured, although reporting entities may obtain voluntary assurance over other disclosures.
Assurance is the process of establishing the integrity and credibility of disclosures through an external review process. Under the climate-related disclosures regime this will be done by independent assurance practitioners.
A consultation document, available on MBIE’s website, is asking for views on:
We encourage reporting entities, assurance practitioners and other interested parties to provide feedback to help inform the policy development process.
You can provide your feedback from 22 November 2022 until 10 February 2023.
For more information and to have your say visit the consultation page:
Assurance over climate-related disclosures: occupational regulation and expanding the scope of assurance [MBIE website]
MfE media contact
Email: media@mfe.govt.nz
MBIE media contact
Email: media@mbie.govt.nz