How New Zealand can access global nature-based credit markets

What are nature credits?

High-integrity nature-based credits (covering both carbon and biodiversity credits) are a credible pathway for businesses to mobilise private capital and support climate action and nature restoration, while also delivering benefits for communities and supply chains.

Nature-based (NB) carbon credits are verified units of greenhouse gas removal or reduction generated through nature-based projects, such as forest restoration, wetland conservation, and soil carbon enhancement. These credits are used in voluntary or compliance carbon markets to supplement emissions reductions, not replace them.

Biodiversity credits represent measured, evidence-based units of positive biodiversity outcomes that are durable and additional to what would have occurred without intervention. These credits are used in voluntary or compliance biodiversity markets.

What is the potential?

Global demand for nature-based credits is growing faster than supply, with a total market size today around NZ$2.5bn and expected to reach NZ$35.5bn in 2030.

Globally, both voluntary carbon and biodiversity markets are projected to grow significantly by 2030 and beyond, and market trends are already signalling stronger demand for higher-integrity carbon credits. While carbon markets are relatively mature worldwide, biodiversity markets are still evolving, and in New Zealand both have not met their full potential.

The report shows that there is a clear demand from New Zealand buyers, including corporates, financial institutions, and landowners, for nature-based credits generated in New Zealand, to be close to their communities and supply chains. To meet this demand, all players need to co-operate and invest to resolve uncertainty about credit supply and make project development possible at scale. 

International buyers also represent a significant growth opportunity for New Zealand’s nature-based credit markets. To attract this capital, New Zealand needs to be able to offer substantial volumes of nature-based credits, that meet high-integrity standards and demonstrate wider community and ecological benefits. 

The Government’s June 2025 announcement supporting the expansion of a New Zealand Voluntary Nature Credits Market (VNCM) was an important step in responding to global trends, with substantive work underway across the public and private sectors to help build confidence, integrity and scale. New Zealand is part of the newly-established Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets, a multi-government-led initiative to boost high-integrity corporate demand for carbon credits.

“New Zealand has already built a strong brand globally on nature and holds a credible advantage in developing a high-integrity voluntary nature credits market. We see this market as an opportunity to help our customers capture new value, while regenerating nature and building resilience within our communities. And whether the buyer is at home or offshore, the crucial element is that the value of the investment remains here in New Zealand.” - BNZ Chief Sustainability Officer, Rebekah Cain

Climate change and nature’s decline are inextricably linked, and financing New Zealand conservation and restoration remains a critical challenge. 

Report recommendations

Coordinated action by government, restoration champions, market intermediaries and investors, as well as partnerships with local communities and iwi-Māori, could scale credible supply and instil market confidence.

• Buyers and investors provide early financial support through pre-purchase agreements and offtake agreements, to accelerate high-integrity project development.
• Project developers and intermediaries adopt internationally-recognised standards and methodologies to guarantee credibility and eligibility for purchase by a wider buyer pool.
• Market facilitators aggregate small projects into larger portfolios, list credits on global brokerage platforms to improve accessibility, and build a national biodiversity data platform to strengthen verification.
• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) advocate for clear guidance for corporates on the use of credits within their climate and sustainability strategies, promote alignment with global integrity frameworks, and ensure the credibility of global methodologies by continuing to advocate for best practice and available science.
• Policy makers and government issue voluntary guidance on how nature-based credits can complement emission reduction targets and endorse global credit integrity standards to give buyers confidence in their purchases. Consideration of early-stage funding will further help develop the market infrastructure, scale supply, and innovative solutions.

By endorsing high-integrity standards, scaling credible supply, and coordinating across Government, iwi-Māori, NGOs, and investors, New Zealand can position itself as a trusted global leader in nature-based credits, mobilising capital into evidence-based projects with meaningful impact for our climate, nature, and communities.