Pitched as a climate policy "grounded in economic reality" that cuts emissions without pushing production and jobs offshore, and hands carbon revenue back to households.

📋 ACT: Scrap Net Zero, Cut the Carbon Tax, September 2026 →

What it does

• Scraps the net zero 2050 target and repeals the Zero Carbon Act, tying New Zealand's emissions cap to a trade-weighted average of its major trading partners.
• Removes the government's minimum price for ETS auctions. ACT says the floor was $71 in 2026 while units traded in the low $50s, contributing to six failed auctions in a row.
• Returns 100 percent of net carbon auction revenue to New Zealanders through a Carbon Tax Refund. ACT's fiscal plan budgets $200 million for it in 2027/28 and estimates about $100 per household at current prices.
• Restores industrial carbon assistance to its original 90 and 60 percent rates where firms face overseas competitors with lower or no carbon costs, and changes rules that favour converting farmland to permanent carbon forests.
• Opposes new climate taxes, including on agricultural emissions, and would renegotiate New Zealand's Paris Agreement commitment, with ACT's policy saying New Zealand should be prepared to leave if a fairer arrangement cannot be reached.
• Released on 6 September 2026. ACT is also campaigning to disestablish the Climate Change Commission.

The debate

David Seymour said New Zealand's climate policy was "broken and sending the country broke", and that a small trading nation cannot ignore climate policy but overdoing it backfires. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the policy "wouldn't just be disastrous for the environment, it would be disastrous for New Zealand's economy", saying exporters rely on the country's clean green brand and access to markets such as the European Union depends on New Zealand doing its bit. Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong questioned the refund after the latest ETS auction drew no bids, saying "You can't refund money you haven't collected"; an ACT spokesperson said removing the price floor would let the government sell units at the market price. National, ACT's coalition partner, has supported the Zero Carbon Act.