Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: In 2022-24, Air New Zealand had high engagement on climate policy with both positive and negative positioning. Air New Zealand has positive top-line messaging on climate policy and supports policies incentivizing sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) alongside the introduction of a SAF mandate in New Zealand.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Air New Zealand supported the inclusion of international aviation emissions in New Zealand's 2050 target while emphasizing cost and competitiveness concerns in a May 2024 NZ Consultation Response. Air New Zealand supported government regulation for the aviation sector to respond to climate change in its 2024 Climate Statement published in August 2024. It also supported the creation of a roadmap including international flights for New Zealand's aviation to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 in a June 2023 Consultation Response. InfluenceMap has not found evidence of a position on the Paris Agreement from Air New Zealand in 2022-24.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: In 2022-24, Air New Zealand supported the introduction of a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandate in New Zealand, including in a June 2023 Consultation Response and a July 2023 Consultation Response. More recently, it advocated for the introduction of a SAF mandate in New Zealand alongside a book and claim system in its 2024 Climate Statement published in August 2024. Air New Zealand supported the introduction of a SAF mandate in Australia and appeared to support a Low Carbon Fuel Standard in a July 2024 Consultation Response. Air New Zealand supported policy measures to safeguard the impact of SAF on carbon stocks and to avoid trade-offs including food security, land rights, water, soil and air, in its 2024 Climate Statement published in August 2024 and in a July 2023 Consultation Response.
Regarding New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), Air New Zealand advocated for voluntary purchases of SAF to be recognized under the NZ ETS alongside the reinvestment of ETS revenues in scaling up SAF in in its 2023 Sustainability Report published in August 2023. It also advocated for additional complementary measures to the NZ ETZ such as “taxation, grants and subsidies” in a June 2023 Consultation Response.
Positioning on Energy Transition: In 2022-24, Air New Zealand generally supported a transition towards sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), including in a July 2023 Response where it also supported Power-to-Liquid fuels. The company also generally supported the electrification of aviation in a June 2023 Consultation Response and advocated for investments, research and policy development for renewable synthetic and green hydrogen in another June 2023 Consultation Response.
Industry Association Governance: Air New Zealand disclosed a complete list of its industry association memberships on its Corporate Website accessed in November 2024. However, it does not appear to have published an audit of its alignment with its industry associations. Air New Zealand is a member of the International Air Transport Association which is actively and negatively engaged on global climate policy for aviation. Air New Zealand is also a member of Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ) which has low engagement on climate policy with both positive and negative positioning.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q4 2024.