Discover the types of voluntary carbon credits in New Zealand and how ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles guide high-integrity choices for credible, lasting climate and biodiversity impact.
When it comes to making, selling, or buying voluntary carbon credits, there are several different types to choose from. It’s important to understand how each type differs, to make the right carbon credit choice that delivers the carbon outcomes you’re looking for.
As interest grows in supporting high-integrity climate action, businesses are seeking carbon credits that are both environmentally and socially robust, and made at home in Aotearoa New Zealand. This shift is aligned with the international movement to raise standards in the voluntary carbon market—particularly through the work of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) and its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs).
These principles aim to define what 'high integrity' means for carbon credits, and provide credit buyers with reassurance that their purchases are not only scientifically rigorous, but also contribute to lasting and meaningful environmental and social outcomes.
There are three main types of voluntary carbon credits to consider:
NZUs are issued under the compliance market governed by the NZ ETS. While originally created to meet regulatory requirements, some businesses have historically purchased and voluntarily retired NZUs to demonstrate climate responsibility.
However, as international standards such as the ICVCM's Core Carbon Principles have become more clearly defined, the New Zealand voluntary carbon market is moving away from NZUs and towards higher-integrity voluntary offsetting.
In 2023, Toitū Envirocare, New Zealand's only ISO-accredited carbon certifier, announced that it would no longer accept NZUs for use in voluntary carbon offsetting certifications. NZUs still serve an important role in New Zealand's compliance market, but are not aligned with the voluntary market’s evolving quality standards.
For more background, see Article 1: Understanding the Voluntary Carbon Market in New Zealand (link placeholder).
This type of credit is issued under internationally recognised standards such as Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold Standard, Plan Vivo, and others. These are independent organisations that establish the rules, systems, and processes for generating carbon credits with their own carbon credit issuing scheme. Once a project is reviewed and determined to have met the relevant methodologies and safeguards, the standard will issue carbon credits to that project.
These standards require independent third-party validation and verification. A project developer must engage a qualified, accredited auditor to assess their project. Only after the auditor verifies the project's compliance can credits be formally issued.
These organisations define methodologies, verify projects, and issue carbon credits based on strong governance and robust technical guidance. Many are now ICVCM-approved or seeking approval, demonstrating alignment with the Core Carbon Principles.
To meet these principles, projects typically must:
MyNativeForest develops projects under these standards to ensure high-integrity carbon, environmental, and social outcomes that align with New Zealand business expectations, and best position New Zealand businesses in the voluntary carbon market, now and in the future.
This type of credit is not issued under the ETS, or an international carbon standard, and may be developed by independent consultants to be aligned with greenhouse gas accounting standards set by the International Standardization Organization (ISO).
ISO publishes technical quality standards for a range of applications including business, engineering and manufacturing, as well as the ISO 14064 standard for GHG accounting.
It's important to note:
The type of carbon credit buyers choose depends on their reason for buying voluntary carbon credits. They consider the type of carbon certification they’re looking to achieve and the level of integrity and international recognition their customers, shareholders, investors and the wider New Zealand public require them to achieve.
Many businesses purchase voluntary carbon credits to achieve internationally-recognised carbon and climate-based business certifications. In New Zealand, Toitu provides these ISO-recognised carbon certifications for businesses, while smaller independent certifiers offer similar non-ISO-approved carbon certifications.
To receive ISO-recognised certification from Toitū, organisations must purchase ICVCM-approved credits—currently from standards such as Verra, Gold Standard, or Plan Vivo.
These credits:
They also appeal to domestic stakeholders who want not only robust carbon removals, but also measurable environmental and social outcomes.
NZUs are designed for the compliance market. Organisation legally required to hold and retire NZUs will continue to do so. Those using NZUs for voluntary offsetting are expected to move towards credits designed specifically for the voluntary carbon market and meet the CCP requirements of higher integrity, particularly for organisations requiring ISO-recognised carbon certifications provided by Toitu.
If buying credits with ISO compliance or alignment as their only quality component, remember:
Voluntary carbon credit prices are determined between buyer and seller and aren’t set by standards bodies or registries. The prices buyers are willing to pay depends on the type of project activities that generate the carbon reductions or removals, and the presence of co-benefits such as enhancement of native biodiversity, and wider community and social outcomes. In this way, projects offering more impactful carbon removal activities with deeper social and ecological value are able to command premium prices.
For comparison, NZU prices are shaped by policy within the ETS. This means that the NZU price is not related to the price of carbon credits in the voluntary market, and the two systems operate independently.
With the adoption of the ICVCM framework, confidence in high-integrity credits is expected to raise voluntary carbon credit prices. As buyers gain confidence in choosing high-integrity credits by choosing CCP-approved projects to buy from, the historical low-cost, low-quality credits are being phased out of the international market and this increases the value of projects that meet CCP standards.
Looking forward in the voluntary carbon market, demand is rising for premium, high-integrity credits and in turn, higher credit prices. In particular, New Zealand buyers show strong interest in credits that support native reforestation, ecosystem restoration, and local social and cultural outcomes, and the assurances that come from buying CCP-approved credits from ICVCM-recognized international carbon standards.
