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New Zealand
Political Groups
OECD
World Bank Income Group
High income
Global Climate Risk Index
84.17
The annually published Global Climate Risk Index analyses to what extent countries have been affected by the impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heat waves etc.).
Published by German Watch https://www.germanwatch.org/en/criShare of Global Emissions
0.13%
Legislation
9
Laws, Acts, Constitutions (legislative branch)
Policies
8
Policies, strategies, decrees, action plans (from executive branch)
Litigation
Coming soon
Court cases and tribunal proceedings
Targets
9
Climate targets in National Law & Policy
Latest Documents
, 2022
"Te hau mārohi ki anamata - Towards a productive, sustainable and inclusive economy" is Aotearoa New Zealand's first emissions reduction plan. It was developed following the advice of the Ināia tonu nei: a low emissions future for Aotearoa report submitted by the Climate Change Commission in June 2021. The ERP contains strategies, policies and actions for achieving the fir...
, 2022
This document sets the government's strategy on how to increase the production and use of green hydrogen in the country. It is part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Energy Strategy that is under development as of June 2022. The green paper is notably based on a range of scenarios examining several potential hydrogen futures.
, 2021
This Act amends the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. It introduced mandatory reporting on climate-related risks for various entities, including equity and debt issuers listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange.
, 2020
The programme's aim is to make a number of organisations within the public sector carbon neutral from 2025.
, 2020
This Act aims at enabling an economic and social recovery from the COVID-19-induced crisis, through a promotion of employment and investments, while committing to sustainable management. It implements a fast-track consenting process of state support to specific projects including those that 1) contribute to New Zealand’s efforts to mitigate climate change and transition mo...
Targets (9)
Request to download all target data (.csv)- Net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 (except biogenic methane)Economy-wide | Target year: 2050Source: Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act (amending the Climate Change Response Act 2002)
- Net-zero carbon by 2050Economy-wide | Target year: 2050Source: Wellbeing budget
- Emissions of biogenic methane in a calendar year—(i)are 10% less than 2017 emissions by the calendar year beginning on 1 January 2030; and(ii)are 24% to 47% less than 2017 emissions by the calendar year beginning on 1 January 2050 and for each subsequent calendar year.Economy-wide: Economy Wide | Target year: 2030Source: Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act (amending the Climate Change Response Act 2002)
- reduce GHG emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030Economy-wide: Economy Wide | Target year: 2030
- Decrease in industrial emissions intensity of at least 1% per annum on average between 2017 and 2022.Industry: Energy Intensity | Target year: 2022Source: New Zealand Energy and Efficiency Conservation Strategy 2017-2022
Legislative Process
New Zealand’s parliamentary system is unicameral – it has only one chamber (House of Representatives) and there is no upper house. The members of the House of Representatives serve a term of three years and are elected using the mixed member proportional representation voting system, whereby each citizen of voting age gets two votes. The first is for a local Member of Parliament, the second for a political party. Typically, the House of Representatives has 120 members. However, this can vary because the representation of political parties is proportional to the number of votes they receive in the general elections. The most recent general election was in September 2014, with the next general election needing to be held before the end of November 2017.
Proposed laws are called bills and are introduced to the House of Representatives. The legislative process begins with a first reading in the House of Representatives. The bill is debated and a decision is reached on whether it progresses to the next stage or not. If a bill passes the first reading, it is usually referred to a select committee to be considered in more detail. In a second reading, the bill and any changes recommended by the select committee are again considered by the House. If successful, all the changes made are worked into the bill before it is considered for a final reading, typically in the form of a summing-up debate. The bill is then put to a vote to either pass or reject it. A bill does not become an Act of Parliament until it is signed by the Sovereign of New Zealand or his/her representative (the Governor-General). This is called the Royal Assent.
New Zealand is a unitary state rather than a federation. Local governments in New Zealand play no role in the legislative process other than by making submissions on bills.