Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts are meeting with their Australian counterparts in Auckland to discuss energy security and affordability.
It is the third such trans-Tasman meeting, with a focus on strengthening cooperation on climate action, clean energy and related regulations.
In a joint statement, Australia's Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said both countries were working together to seize "the golden economic opportunities of the net zero transformation".
"Delivering on our shared commitment to net zero is critical for investor certainty, cheaper, cleaner energy in our region and advancing climate action across the Pacific."
Earlier this week, Willis cast fresh doubt on whether New Zealand would pay for the offshore carbon credits it needed to meet its 2030 promise to halve greenhouse gas emissions.
It was not in New Zealand's best interests "to send cheques for billions of dollars offshore", she told reporters.
"That's not our priority."
Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Watts laid out the 12 things the ministers had agreed to work together on. They agreed to:
- coinvest funding to upgrade energy product regulatory systems, and regulatory regimes to accelerate adoption of energy-efficient technologies
- further align regulatory settings for consumer energy technology for a joint approach to enable EV chargers with smart tech
- develop vehicle-to-grid standards for EVs to ensure markets are aligned, including adoption of international communication protocols
- pursue regulatory alignment and market opportunities on solar and battery systems
- develop a trans-Tasman sustainable finance fuel strategy
- expand technical collaboration and information sharing on livestock emissions reductions
- continue bilateral and international engagement to develop complementary sustainable finance frameworks
- establish a working group of government and industry to share information and collaborate on solutions to help ensure insurance remains accessible
- find opportunities to align payment systems, licencising and digital asset reforms
- align building codes and standards
- work together on aligned product safety standards
- coinvest funding (NZ$1m from New Zealand and AU$4.1m from Australia) to upgrade energy product regulatory systems, and regulatory regimes to accelerate adoption of energy-efficient technologies.
- co-host a targeted technical assistance and training initiative with the Pacific for Pacific energy regulators in 2026.
Bowen highlighted the importance of the vehicle-to-grid standards, "which has such potential for both our countries to stabilise our energy grids, to ensure consumers become more in charge of their own energy".
"They move from being consumers to 'prosumers', with solar panels on their roofs and batteries in their garage and on their driveway, putting them in charge - it is a big regulatory task to ensure that those regulations are fit for purpose... the more they can be aligned, the better for both countries."
Watts was asked to explain how the governments would work together on securing insurance accessibility. He said the work would be important and there was a "real opportunity" in working together to strengthen the way the markets worked.
"We need our citizens to ensure they have insurance cover to deal with the impacts of climate change, and that's one of the areas we're looking to continue to explore."
Willis said several insurance firms operated on both sides of the Tasman, "and to the extent that we can share lessons and align, we can ensure that we're supporting more affordable insurance into the future".
Bowen also thanked New Zealand for its support on Australia's bid to take a leadership role at next year's COP31 climate conference.
Australia initially aimed to host the conference, and was criticised by Pacific countries after pulling out. The conference will now be held in Türkiye. with Australia acting as president of COP negotiations, holding a pre-COP meeting in partnership with the Pacific.
"We discussed on Friday making sure that this is a COP which is meaningful and generational for the Pacific, making sure that the pre-COP which will be held in the Pacific is an important event and Australia and New Zealand will be working closely together in planning... together with of course our Pacific family," Bowen said.
They would also work "to ensure the Pacific voices which have been ignored for so long actually get a good and solid and strong hearing in the important climate negotiations".
Chalmers also announced Willis had accepted an invitation to take part in the discussion of state and territory treasurers next year, saying the economic challenges being grappled with were "familiar and common" across both countries.
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