Prof Sara Walton, of the Otago Business School, said transparency and accountability in climate risk disclosures was now "more critical than ever".
"Aotearoa New Zealand’s export-driven economy is particularly vulnerable to climate risks, with 80% of its exports destined for countries that are actively implementing mandatory climate risk disclosure frameworks," Prof Walton said.
"Weakening our own requirements risks placing our businesses at a competitive disadvantage, as global markets increasingly demand clear and credible climate risk assessments from trading partners."
Submissions closed yesterday on Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment consultation on changes to New Zealand’s climate-related disclosures regime.
In the consultation document’s foreword Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly said while requiring companies to disclose their climate impact was useful, after the regime was introduced in 2021 some "significant problems" had emerged.
"Stakeholders are telling me that the reporting thresholds are too low, the cost of producing climate statements is excessive and the director liability settings are not suitable for the nature of climate reporting," Mr Bayly said.
"The regime settings are also creating a disincentive to list on the NZX and are hampering the efficient operation of New Zealand businesses."
New Zealand was among the first countries in the world to introduce legislation requiring companies to report their climate impact.
But now that a regime was up and running elsewhere, competitiveness was a concern.
"This government is committed to streamlining regulation and reducing compliance costs to enable businesses to get on with the job of doing what they do best.
"I want to ensure that our climate reporting regime is proportionate and not an undue burden on New Zealand businesses."
If the status quo were to change, the consultation document said, under one option after legislation changed by early 2026 only those companies worth $550m or more would be required to report.
The other option up for consideration was to end the requirement for those relatively smaller companies to stop reporting in 2026, but then to reintroduce the reporting requirements for companies worth more than $250m by 2028.
Under the first scenario, 54 companies would be required to report their climate impacts.
Under the second scenario, 81 companies would report.
If the threshold was a $50m market capitalisation, there would be about 110 New Zealand companies required to make climate-related disclosures.
"One of our objectives is to ensure that the right entities are reporting, so that the [climate-related disclosure] regime encourages the transition to a low-emissions economy, but does not become a barrier to doing business in New Zealand," the consultation document said.
However, Prof Walton said beyond the potential impact on trade, easing the requirement for climate reporting undermined "the provision of transparent, reliable information necessary for prudent investment decisions".
"Investors — both domestic and international — rely on climate disclosures to assess long-term financial risks, and reducing the number of companies required to report will only erode confidence in New Zealand’s corporate climate commitments.
"Most importantly, this is a backward step for the climate itself.
"At a time when climate-related risks are escalating, weakening disclosure requirements signals a lack of urgency in addressing these challenges."
