New Zealand exporters are being urged to stay focused on sustainability, even as the government loosens its domestic climate-reporting obligations.
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) Trade Commissioner Tara Druce, who oversees France, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium, said that firms trading with Europe “will need to continue with their emissions reporting efforts” because sustainability credentials “continue to be very important”.
Speaking in Auckland during the week of the EU–New Zealand Business Summit, Druce said the government’s recent decision to ease climate-disclosure rules for large firms and KiwiSaver funds does not change what global markets expect. “The [sustainability] agenda has been … slowed, but I think it is still going in the same direction… it’s not going away,” she said.
The government’s reform will reduce the number of firms required to disclose climate risks from about 170 to 76, part of a wider review aimed at reducing compliance costs.
The exporters are currently facing stricter reporting expectations abroad. Druce noted that the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a levy on carbon-intensive imports, is still scheduled to come fully into force in 2026.
“The [customers] of our companies are needing to respond to this,” she said. “It’s becoming more and more BAU (business as usual) for companies needing to operate globally.”
Druce said New Zealand’s “counter-seasonality” and “positive sustainability credentials” remain attractive to European buyers. However, the compliance costs are real: the meat sector has spent about NZ$250,000 preparing systems to meet upcoming EU deforestation-reporting rules, now delayed until 2026.
The government’s lighter domestic regime offers flexibility for many exporters, but global markets will continue to reward firms that invest in sustainability and transparency.