The NZ ETS establishes a trading market of New Zealand emission units (NZUs). Businesses that carry out activities covered by the NZ ETS are required to buy and surrender to the Government, one NZU for every one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emissions they produce.
NZUs can be traded among businesses participating in the NZ ETS. Supply and demand for NZUs is a key driver of the NZU price.
The price of New Zealand emissions units (NZUs) in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) market is based on supply and demand.
The Government sells NZUs directly to the market through auctioning. The number of NZUs to be auctioned are published prior to auctions, and is a sub-limit of the annual overall limit in the NZ ETS.
Other NZUs are available from the secondary market - either through trading platforms or people directly trading with each other.
Auctions are managed on behalf of the government by NZX and EEX (the European Energy Exchange).
NZUs at auction are sold to all successful bidders at the same auction clearing price. The clearing price of each auction can be found here on the ETS auctions site.
There is one remaining auction date for 2025. That is Wednesday 3 December 2025 for 1.5 million NZUs.
View the auction dates and volumes for 2026.
Four auctions are scheduled for 2026, as shown below:
|
Auction |
Date |
Volume available* |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Tuesday 3 March 2026 |
1.3 million NZUs |
|
2 |
Tuesday 9 June 2026 |
1.3 million NZUs |
|
3 |
Tuesday 8 September 2026 |
1.3 million NZUs |
|
4 |
Tuesday 1 December 2026 |
1.3 million NZUs |
Cost containment reserve volume is available across all auctions in 2026 or until all 6.5 million units are sold.
The total volume available for auction in 2026 is 11.7 million units.
If NZUs remain unsold at the end of an auction they will roll-over to the next auction, provided it is in the same calendar year.
For more information on how to participate in NZ ETS auctions please go to the NZ ETS auctions site
The NZ ETS secondary market is where most NZUs are traded. The secondary market includes both spot and forward trades.
NZUs can be traded through direct bilateral agreements with buyers, through a broker or through a trading platform. The Government is not responsible for trades on the secondary market, and the secondary market platforms are run independently.
*There are a number of ways that units can be bought on the secondary market. Many trades in the NZ ETS market happen in the spot market, where NZUs are traded for immediate delivery. There are some forward contracts where businesses agree to trade units at a specified price in the future. For more information, visit any of the secondary market trading platforms.
