Voluntary Nature and Carbon Markets: Domestic Scheme Endorsement Criteria

Overview

The Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport has begun work on building an endorsement process for domestic schemes and methodologies fit for New Zealand’s context.  

Certain voluntary market schemes accredited by reputable international bodies were automatically recognised by the Government on 11 May this year when the Government’s role was announced.

We developed a draft document with criteria for the domestic endorsement process, and the qualifications and experience required to make an assessment contributing to scheme endorsement decisions. The document is technical, mainly intended for voluntary market scheme operators and assurance practitioners, but will also be of interest to stakeholders interested in market integrity.

We sought your feedback on: 

• scheme endorsement criteria
• explanatory material for the integrity principles
• suitability of the criteria for assurance practitioners to assess schemes
• suitability of the criteria for project validation and verification providers.

Read the targeted engagement document

What happens next

This consultation closed on 7 August 2026.

If you have any further questions, please email VoluntaryMarkets@mcert.govt.nz.