About Us
Transferring Units within the NZEUR
Transfer of Units
Similar to online banking, units can be transferred between accounts in the NZEUR or between the NZEUR and other official national registries under the Kyoto Protocol.
Holding Accounts must be opened in the NZEUR before any transfer of units can occur. Furthermore, any transfer of units is subject to compliance with the rules under the Kyoto Protocol and the Climate Change Response Act 2002 (CCRA). For example units cannot be transferred if their transfer would mean the overall balance of units within the NZEUR would fall below the Commitment Period Reserve (90% of total balance).
Read more:
Transferring units within New Zealand
Transferring Kyoto units between overseas registries
Converting New Zealand units for overseas transfers
Overseas transfers are subject to the Commitment Period Reserve
Transferring units within New Zealand
Persons authorised to operate the holding account, including the account holder where they choose to operate their own holding account, can transfer units between holding accounts in the NZEUR. These people are known as primary representatives in the NZEUR.
Transfers are initiated by the primary representatives on behalf of the account holder (transferor). The transferor will need to obtain the buyer’s (transferee’s) holding account number. The Registrar will email confirmation of the transaction to the primary representatives.
Transfers of New Zealand units within the NZEUR will not be affected by the ITL.
Read our Guide to Transferring Units within NZ
Transferring Kyoto units between overseas registries
Where a Kyoto unit is being transferred to an overseas registry, the transaction is made via the International Transaction Log (ITL). If the overseas registry is not linked to the ITL then the NZEUR cannot transact with that overseas registry. The full current list of the overseas registries that are linked to the ITL can be found here.
Once the NZEUR receives notification from the ITL that there are no discrepancies in the proposed transfer, the transfer will be registered and the Registrar will email the primary representative an electronic notice confirming that the transaction is registered.
It is the responsibility of the transferring account holder (transferor) to make sure they have the correct acquiring account (transferee) details and enter them correctly when undertaking the unit transfer.
As different Registries may have different rules for accepting units, some restrictions may apply to the transfer of units to overseas registries. Please check for specific rules of transfer with the respective overseas registry.
Read our Guide to Transferring Units Overseas
Converting New Zealand units for overseas transfers
New Zealand units must be converted into Assigned Amount Unit, known as AAUs (a type of Kyoto unit) before those units can be transferred overseas. Under the NZ ETS, only New Zealand units transferred as entitlements for forestry removal activities or allocated under a forestry allocation plan are eligible for overseas transfer.
Overseas transfers are subject to the Commitment Period Reserve
The commitment period reserve (CPR) requires New Zealand to hold Kyoto units in its registry totalling no less than 90% of its initial assigned amount. If New Zealand breaches this requirement it could be suspended from international trading. If this happens, no Kyoto units will be able to be transferred out of New Zealand until more units are transferred into the NZEUR and the CPR level is restored.
Refer to the CPR level report which is updated daily.
Transfer times
In most circumstances, proposed transfers will be processed in real time subject to there being no discrepancies. The ITL may take up to 24 hours to finalise a proposed transfer of units. This is to enable inspection and approval by the ITL and the overseas registry.
Transfers with discrepancies will be terminated and the primary representatives will be notified for outgoing transfers.
Transfer Fees
No fee is charged to transfer units.
