Work
Aotearoa New Zealand is an importer of capital. We need to significantly increase flows of international and domestic capital to meet our nature and climate targets. The Centre’s work is focused on removing barriers and enabling flows of sustainable finance.
Connect finance experts and practitioners to remove barriers to sustainable finance.
Collaborate with government and financial market participants to develop sustainable finance policy and standards.
Catalyse cross-sector projects.
The Centre is working with financial market participants and policy makers to remove barriers to increased investment into private and illiquid assets from managed funds, including KiwiSaver. This will help New Zealanders benefit from investment options that can provide potentially higher financial returns and may also bring long-term positive environmental, social, and economic outcomes.
In 2023-2024, CSF convened an Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) to develop key design recommendation for the Aotearoa New Zealand Sustainable Finance Taxonomy (NZ Taxonomy). The resulting recommendations report, covering ten key topics, was presented to the Minister for Climate Change and made public in July 2024.
The Centre is continuing its work on developing a green or sustainable finance taxonomy, starting with the priority sectors of agriculture and forestry and focusing on both mitigation and adaptation objectives. A sustainable finance taxonomy is a standardised framework for classifying economic activities according to their environmental performance. This classification system provides investors with the confidence to identify and invest in green activities while avoiding those that cause significant harm to the environment. Having the same taxonomy frameworks as are already in place in our trading partner economies will help provide New Zealand with the credibility to attract more international capital for sustainable investment opportunities.
The Centre is working with financial market participants and policy makers to remove barriers to increased investment into private and illiquid assets from managed funds, including KiwiSaver. This will help New Zealanders benefit from investment options that can provide potentially higher financial returns and may also bring long-term positive environmental, social, and economic outcomes.
The Centre is working to establish a private sector sustainable finance reference group to provide advice to and support the Minister for Climate change on priority actions and delivery related to sustainable finance. The Centre’s related work includes a review of the sustainable finance landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand to develop a long list of options for the reference group to then recommend 3-5 options for the Government to focus on over the next couple of years. The reference group would subsequently focus on ensuring the partnership between the Government and the Centre focuses on the right areas to achieve our overarching aim of getting more private capital to flow to sustainable opportunities.
Aotearoa New Zealand needs a sustainable finance strategy to provide clarity on the Government’s priorities to increase the flow of international and domestic capital for sustainable and transition opportunities. The strategy will consider opportunities to align New Zealand with developments in other countries including Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom which have similar initiatives. It is expected to provide a cohesive framework that is recognisable to international capital providers and complement the development of sustainable finance taxonomies and innovative sector financing work. Together, these activities aim to help catalyse more private finance for sustainable opportunities.
The Centre will work to catalyse and accelerate innovative low-emissions transition financing solutions and actions for priority sectors in New Zealand. The Centre will conduct research and engage with key stakeholders including its partners, private sector experts and government officials to identify and prioritise key transition sectors. It will then work to support related innovative financing solutions and help catalyse demonstration projects.
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