The Government has announced the number of units that will be available and price control limits for the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme auctions for the next five years as part of annual updates to the NZ ETS.
The NZ ETS is New Zealand’s key tool to reduce emissions. Updating NZ ETS Settings annually ensures the scheme can continue to play that role and helps us meet our climate change targets.
These changes will take effect from 1 January 2026.
The Government has decided to maintain current auction volumes for the next four years and to extend volumes to 2030. This means 16.9 million units will be available between 2026 – 2030.
The price controls, including the auction floor price and cost containment reserve price, will also remain largely the same and will only be adjusted for inflation.
This was “Option 1” during this year’s annual consultation.
See NZ ETS unit settings and annual regulatory updates consultation.
The NZ ETS cap refers to the portion of the emissions budget that is expected to be achieved by sectors covered by the NZ ETS.
The Government has decided to confirm the cap for the second emissions budget period and set a provisional cap for the third emissions budget as follows. These are consistent with the proposals consulted on.
The Government has also decided to update NZ ETS regulations to make auctions more efficient and improve the accuracy of emissions reporting. Many of these changes are calculation improvements, or routine updates relevant to specific sectors. There is also a change in how unsold auction volumes are treated in subsequent auctions within the same calendar year. Unsold auction volumes that are carried over to the next auction will only be available when the original auction volume in that auction is sold.
This was “Option 1” during this year’s annual consultation on NZ ETS regulations.
Unsold units in the final auction of the year will not carry forward into a new calendar year; this is unchanged from previous years.