Climate reporting requirements

The Carbon Neutral Government Programme (CNGP), announced in December 2020, focuses on measuring and reducing emissions from core government departments and crown agents (including district health boards) to accelerate public sector emissions reductions.

The Climate-related Disclosure (CRD) regime legislated in 2021 ensures the effects of climate change are routinely considered in business and investment decisions. It covers large banks, insurers, managers of investment schemes, and publicly listed entities.

• The reporting requirements are still being developed by the External Reporting Board (XRB), the independent Crown entity responsible for financial reporting standards. They will be aligned with a framework being implemented globally as international best practice for climate-related disclosures. This is called the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. 
• The CRD regime requires organisations to analyse and report on how they will be affected by climate change. Organisations will be required to report on their climate-related governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.
  
  Find out more about the requirements [External Reporting Board]

• Organisations participating in the CNGP will measure, report, and reduce their emissions. This also aligns with the metrics and targets aspect of the TCFD framework. But the CNGP goes further than the CRD in requiring CNGP participants to set targets to reduce emissions in line with a 1.5 degree reduction pathway, and introduce a reduction plan. The intention is also for these organisations to offset remaining gross emissions from 2025 to achieve carbon neutrality. They must include this information in their annual reports and provide it to the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) each year to show their progress over time.
• MfE officials are engaging with the XRB as they develop climate standards for CRD reporting. The XRB has provided feedback on CNGP guidance and officials from both agencies are regularly meeting to ensure alignment on climate reporting.   

• All relevant entities are being mandated to follow their respective requirements under CRD and CNGP. Organisations covered by either initiative will make this information publicly available in their annual reporting.  
• Legislation has not been used for CNGP participants. This is because there are already mechanisms in place that require public sector organisations to follow the CNGP requirements, such as Cabinet instruction or Directions to support a whole of government approach [Public Service website].
• CNGP participants’ compliance is monitored through the annual reporting process [New Zealand Parliament website] and progress reporting to Ministers by the coordinating agencies (MfE, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority).
• There are thirteen public sector organisations legislated to report under the CRD regime, because they are participants in the financial market. The CRD legislation is sector-neutral and does not require differential reporting by these organisations.

• Yes; under the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019 (Section 5ZW) about 400 organisations that provide essential public services in New Zealand may be required to provide information on climate change adaptation. This information is required for New Zealand’s National Adaptation Plan and future national Climate Change Risk Assessments.
• These requests focus on how organisations are adapting to climate change-related hazards such as sea level rise, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, higher temperatures and more heatwaves, and more droughts and wildfires. Both the CRD regime and the power to request information under Section 5ZW are aligned with the TCFD framework.
• Organisations can also voluntarily report their greenhouse gas emissions using MfE’s guidance for measuring emissions.