Priority: Support access to international investment and markets
Our access to markets increasingly depends on being able to demonstrate that our products and their supply chains are low-emissions. New Zealand also has an opportunity to leverage foreign direct investment to support domestic renewable energy and hydrogen deployment, potentially servicing growing international demand for low-emissions hydrogen.
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Action: Support access to internationally aligned certification schemes
Certification schemes and emissions intensity standards are developing across multiple jurisdictions to validate the emissions intensity of hydrogen. These certifications can be important for market access, demonstrating compliance with a purchaser’s corporate climate targets, and other local regulatory standards. Private certification schemes are already being developed in New Zealand. It will be important that New Zealand firms have access to certification schemes that are aligned with our key trading partners’ requirements. The Government will continue to engage with the hydrogen sector as locally available hydrogen certification schemes develop to understand how well these products meet their needs and align with our trading partners’ requirements.
The Government is monitoring international efforts to develop principles to underpin mutual recognition of schemes internationally. Key progress has been made through the November 2023 launch of an international standard for measuring emissions associated with production, conditioning, and transport of hydrogen to consumption gate, with further detailed standards development to be finalised in 2025. International and regional forums are increasingly urging countries to adopt this global standard, and it will be important that schemes locally available in New Zealand follow international best practice.
New Zealand will focus its international efforts on key regional and bilateral relationships where hydrogen trade is most like to occur. New Zealand already has bilateral agreements with Singapore and Japan – two key Asia Pacific region countries focussing on the international hydrogen supply chain. The Government is undertaking work on plurilateral approaches to green economy-focused trade rules and will continue to use existing trade agreement levers, such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Agreement hydrogen cooperative working group, so New Zealand is well placed to understand and where needed to influence emerging international standards.
Action: Use country-to-country relationships to attract foreign investment and promote market access
The Government will also use its country-to-country relationships to attract foreign direct investment in renewable energy and hydrogen. The Government wants foreign investors to know that New Zealand is open for business, supported by swift regulatory changes across the energy sector. The Government is making it faster and easier to invest by issuing a Ministerial directive to make processing timeframes faster under the Overseas Investment Act. Agencies such as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) actively engage with foreign investors and businesses and under this action plan NZTE, MBIE, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to leverage international Ministerial engagements and trade missions to foster investment relationships in the hydrogen sector. New Zealand is also using its international relationships to promote learning and innovation, including through its research partnership with Germany.