Just 76 entities will have to calculate emissions data after Government changes reporting rules

Wednesday, 22 October 2025

Some NZX listed companies complained to the Government about the cost of having to report on their climate-related risks each year.

Large KiwiSaver schemes, and 66 NZX sharemarket-listed companies, will no longer be required to make annual climate-related disclosures in the latest policy move by a government that has been accused of waging war on nature.

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said the move was designed to support business growth and New Zealand’s capital markets.

Mandatory climate reporting was introduced in 2020 under a Labour-Green government, and was intended to force large companies to make annual disclosures to tell investors about the risks climate change posed to their businesses, and how they planned to manage and mitigate them.

Nearly 170 large managed investment schemes and listed companies were covered by the law.

But there have been complaints from businesses, and some fund managers, that the reporting laws imposed a heavy cost on them.

Simpson said the Government intended to exempt managed investment schemes like KiwiSaver altogether from having to make climate-related disclosures, and lift the market value threshold for listed companies from $60 million to $1 billion, meaning 66 listed companies, and 22 managed investment schemes, would no longer have to make annual climate-related disclosures.

The Government has cut its 2050 methane reduction targets from up to 47% to as low as 14%, saying it’s a practical move to protect farmers and rural communities. Critics say it could breach New Zealand’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Companies that would no longer have to report would, on current valuations, include SkyCity, the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund, Sanford, Synlait Milk, The Warehouse Group, and Michael Hill.

It would drop the number of entities mandated by law to make climate-related disclosures from 164 to 76, the Government said.

Companies still caught in the net included Fletcher Building, the big banks, and the power companies.

“Mandatory climate reporting has imposed heavy costs on listed businesses,” Simpson said. “Some entities tell me they have spent up to $2m on compliance, money they would rather invest in practical emissions reductions such as electric vehicles.

“I have also heard that the cost and risk associated with climate reporting may be deterring listings,” he said.

Simpson cast the move as being one that could help preserve New Zealand’s capital markets, which have been flagging with many companies de-listing, often when they had been taken over by another company.

“Since 2020, 34 companies have listed on the NZX, six of which were initial public offerings (IPOs), while 37 have de-listed,” Simpson said.

“To future proof our markets, we need to ensure listing remains an attractive option for raising capital in New Zealand.”

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson announced law changes that would mean fewer companies would have to make public disclosures on their climate risks.

He said climate disclosures were not useful for people making investment decisions in managed funds like KiwiSaver.

“Climate reporting was introduced by the previous Government and New Zealand was first in the world to require it,” Simpson said. “While the intentions were solid, the rules proved too onerous and have become a deterrent for potential listers.”

The law changes would include removing liability on directors if their company broke the climate reporting rules, however, they would still be liable for misleading or deceptive conduct, or false or misleading statements.

Another change the Government has planned is to remove the requirement for companies listing their shares on the NZX in IPOs to present potential investors with forward-looking financial information.

The Government hoped to have the law change enacted next year, with the climate-related disclosure changes starting in 2017.

Russel Norman says the Government began its war on nature within days of gaining the keys to the Beehive.

Former Green Party MP Dr Russel Norman, who now works for Greenpeace, has accused the Government of having been captured by the agricultural sector, and of waging a war on nature through a succession of moves to weaken climate and nature protections.

His timeline of “Luxon’s War on Nature” details what he calls a “bewildering number of changes leading to environmental harm”, including earlier moves to reduce reporting requirements for private sector organisations.

Moves included changes to freshwater pollution rules, removing clean car discount subsidies, reduced spending on cycleways, reducing the national target for methane reduction, and removed the requirement for three of the largest agricultural emitters (Affco, Alliance and Open Country Dairy) to report their emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency each year.

Norman told The Post that mandatory climate reporting was important because it provided trustworthy data to political decision-makers, civil society and investors.