Carbon credit auction fails again

Saturday 9 Sep 2023

Uncertainties around NZ Government policy have dogged the carbon market all year.

Businesses passed over buying more than 13 million carbon credits with a supposed market value of almost NZ$900 million that were offered at a government auction on Wednesday. That was the third successive time this year that the auction has failed, depriving the Government of income that is currently used to fund climate abatement initiatives but which the National Party would in future redirect to pay for tax cuts.

The Treasury will have another opportunity to replenish its coffers from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in December, when Salt Funds Management carbon fund manager Paul Harrison expected about 15 million carbon credits would be on offer, including the credits that had so far gone unsold this year.

However, he believed buyers might pass over the credits again at that auction, at which point they would in effect disappear. Another auction failure could be positive for the environment if it raised the price of emitting carbon in future, but that could come at the short-term cost of depriving the Government of more than $1 billion of income from the ETS.

For further coverage on the auction – and where to from here, check out commentary this week from Carbon Match

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Sources: Stuff, Carbon Match

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