Terms and Conditions

Kia Ora, Welcome to Carbonz.

Carbonz is Aotearoa's first carbon credit exchange for fully traceable, tradeable, native carbon credits.

Our mission is to support New Zealand's native biodiversity, water quality and the fight against climate change.

Carbonz Terms and Conditions.

About the Terms and Conditions.

The terms below apply when you use the Carbonz website and app or open a Carbonz account. Please read them. By using our services you agree to these terms.

We suggest visiting this page from time to time to keep up to date with our terms and conditions as we may make changes to them. Your continued access to and/or use of the Carbonz exchange will indicate your acceptance of any updates to these terms and conditions.

When using the terms ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’, or ‘Carbonz’ we are referring to Carbon New Zealand Limited (FSP1003009), which provides the services to you. We also use the term ‘Carbonz Nominee’ which refers to Carbon New Zealand Nominee Ltd (FSP1003234), the entity that separately holds your credits and money for you.

The Terms and Conditions contain the following sections:

Your Carbonz Account.
Your Carbonz Wallet.
How you Buy and Sell Credits.
Voluntary Carbon Credits.
New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme Carbon Credits (NZU).
Your Responsibilities and Requirements.
Fees and Revenue.
Your Risks.
Security of your Account.
Landowners.
Complaints.
Intellectual Property Rights.
General Information about the Terms and Conditions.

Your Carbonz Account.

Your account shows the value of the credits and money you hold through Carbonz. It is also where you buy and sell credits.

We keep detailed records of all credits in your account and money in your wallet. The money in your wallet and credits in your account are held on bare trust for you by Carbonz Nominee. Your money may be held in a pooled bank account with the money of other Carbonz customers.

Carbonz Nominee is a non-trading company that exists to hold your money and credits secure and separate from our own money. Please note that Carbonz can also trade credits on its own behalf. In those circumstances, Carbonz’s credits (and money connected to the buying and selling of those credits) will also be held by Carbonz Nominee on the same separate terms as other money and credits held by Carbonz Nominee. Carbonz Nominee will never use money, credits, or other property held for you for its own purposes.

Money held in your wallet, before it’s invested or withdrawn, may earn interest. You agree that we can keep that interest as part of the fees for using the exchange.

In the event of insolvency, any credits and money held on bare trust by Carbonz Nominee will not be available to creditors to settle any debts of Carbonz.

The banks we use are independent of us. We do not accept responsibility for any default or delay in the distribution or receipt of money because of their failure. If we’re unable to match which account money should be credited to, we reserve the right to return money to the source it came from, subject to normal banking clearance times.

You can close your Carbonz account at any time. We can suspend or close your account including when you fail to pay fees or charges, breach these terms and conditions, when the law says we should, or when we think there’s a risk of harm. When we close your account, we can sell your credits and pay the net proceeds to your designated bank account and return any money held on your behalf by Carbonz Nominee.

Your Carbonz Wallet.

Money is held in your Carbonz wallet. We’ll credit money received for credit sales to your wallet shortly after the trade is completed.

At present credits can be purchased using credit and debit cards. The wallet function is likely to be improved, so all buy and sell trades settle via your Carbonz wallet. To buy credits you’ll need to have enough funds in your wallet or top it up. We accept top-ups by bank transfer via Akahu payment services, manual bank transfers, or by credit or debit card via Stripe payment services. We may charge a transaction fee on top-ups.

Withdrawing funds from your Wallet.

If you want to withdraw money from your wallet, simply log into your account and follow the withdrawal instructions to request payment to your designated bank account.

We will only pay money to your designated account. We may impose restrictions around which bank account can be a designated account and the maximum daily amount that you can withdraw from your wallet. The maximum amount may change without notice. The payment of money to your designated account may take up to 5 days.

We can make payments to your designated account by manual bank transfer or using Akahu payment services. Further information about Akahu is available at www.akahu.nz/about.

How you Buy and Sell Credits.

Buying Credits.

You may buy credits from the list of sell orders available within the trade section of the Carbonz exchange. You can pay for the trade by credit or debit card using Stripe’s payment gateway facility.

We’re working to update the payment function. Buying credits will be paid for from your wallet. You’ll need to have enough money to buy the credits in your Wallet before making a buy order.

Selling Credits.

You may place an order to sell credits on the Carbonz exchange by entering your per credit sale price and the number of credits available for sale. You’ll already need to own those credits, in your account, to place the sell order.

Your sell order is executed when another Carbonz user buys your credits from the order list. Sale proceeds will be displayed in your wallet. At present, money in your wallet will not be available to buy further credits. We’ll update the wallet function shortly, so that buy and sell trades settle to and from your Carbonz wallet.

It is highly unlikely that you’ll be able to cancel an executed sell order. You may be able to cancel a pending sell order in your account before it has become a trade. However, you can’t cancel an order once it has been executed.

Occasionally you will not be able to buy or sell credits. Not every credit will have a buyer or seller at the price you’re after or at the time you’re looking to buy or sell. This may mean you need to hold credits longer than you want to, or that you can’t buy credits when you’re ready to buy.

We can refuse to process buy or sell orders if we have doubts regarding your account, the validity of the instruction, or your ability to pay.

Voluntary Carbon Credits.

Voluntary carbon credits traded on the Carbonz exchange are issued in accordance with methodologies developed by independent credit providers. These providers are approved by Carbonz before any credits they issue can be accepted on the exchange.

Each credit represents the sequestration (or ring-fencing) of one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. The methodologies may be amended by the independent credit providers from time to time. Carbonz is not liable for the verification of any provider’s methodology.

Voluntary carbon credits are issued by independent credit providers to landowners. Those landowners can transfer their credits to the Carbonz exchange. Credits are then held by Carbonz Nominee (in the name of Carbonz Nominee). Beneficial ownership of credits vests, initially, in the landowner. When credits are sold on the Carbonz exchange beneficial ownership of the credits transfers to the new owner of the credits. Carbonz maintains a sub-registry that records beneficial ownership and changes in ownership.

If a certificate of ownership is requested by a owner of credits for use as a gift, it is the reponsibility of the owner of the credit to notify those who receive the gift if the owners wishes to sell the credit. The "Certificate of Authority" does not come with legal ownership.

Independent credit providers also maintain a central registry of all credits they have issued. For credits transferred to the Carbonz exchange, Carbonz Nominee is recorded as the owner.

If a landowner subsequently decides they no longer wish to have their credits on the Carbonz exchange, then legal ownership of any unsold credits can be transferred back to the landowner via the independent provider’s central registry. Credits that have already been sold on the Carbonz exchange to a third party cannot be transferred back to landowners.

Buyers should read each independent credit provider’s voluntary carbon credit methodology, and seek independent advice, to ensure they fully understand the risks involved.

The independent credit providers retain buffer pools of additional credits to replace those lost in events such as a fire or storm. Such events may result in the credits being cancelled; replacement credits can be provided from buffer pools. If there are not enough credits in the buffer pools, then credit holders have to wait for replacement credits to be regenerated and issued as the forest recovers. Impaired credits can be removed from the central registry and substituted with replacement credits as the forest recovers.

Carbonz is not liable for loss arising from the destruction of the underlying forest or property that credits are attached to. Carbonz is also not liable for a landowner breaching their obligations relating to their forest or property, including the cutting down of forests. Landowners are responsible for replacing lost credits.

New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme Carbon Credits (NZU).

Emissions Trading Scheme carbon credits, which are called New Zealand units (NZUs), are issued by the New Zealand Government in accordance with the Climate Change Response Act 2002. One NZU represents the sequestration of one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent.

NZU owners can transfer their NZUs to the Carbonz exchange. Those NZU owners must transfer their NZUs to Carbonz Nominee’s New Zealand Emissions Trading Register account. These NZUs are then held by Carbonz Nominee (in the name of Carbonz Nominee). When the transfer to Carbonz Nominee’s New Zealand Emissions Trading Register account is complete, Carbonz transfers NZU credits, equivalent to owners’ NZUs, to their Carbonz account.

Carbonz Nominee Limited will hold the subsequent NZU credits on bare trust. When NZU credits are sold on the Carbonz exchange, beneficial ownership of the NZU credits transfers to the new owner of the NZU credits. Carbonz maintains a sub-registry that records beneficial ownership and changes in ownership of NZU credits.

At the request of the beneficial owner, the underlying NZUs may be transferred from the Carbonz exchange to another New Zealand Emissions Trading Register account. We may charge a processing fee for the transfer. The transfer normally takes 5 to 10 days to process. In order to transfer NZUs, owners must have NZU credits on the Carbonz exchange equivalent to the amount of NZUs they wish to transfer to another New Zealand Emissions Trading Register account.

The legislation governing NZUs may change from time to time. Carbonz does not take any responsibility for loss or damages in relation to any regulatory changes.

Your Responsibilities and Requirements.

By agreeing to these terms and conditions you are confirming that:

You are 18 years old or above.
The identity and payment information you have provided to us is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge.
You are not using an account on behalf of another person.
You agree that the terms of our privacy policy allow us to use your information.
You must comply with all applicable laws when using our service.
You accept all tax obligations in regard to buying and selling carbon credits. We accept no tax liability.
You agree to indemnify us, to the maximum extent permitted by law, from and against all claims, damages, costs and expenses incurred (including reasonable professional fees) that arise out of, or otherwise relate to, your access and use of the exchange and service, any breach by you of these terms, and any information or documentation you have provided.

We must comply with Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and Fair Trading Act 1986 and consumers have protections under these acts. These terms do not limit consumer rights (to the extent consumer rights cannot be limited).

Fees and Revenue.

We don’t charge any fees to open a Carbonz account, however, there are fees for the different services provided by Carbonz.

When you buy credits, a transaction fee may be charged and will be displayed before your order is placed. The total amount you are charged will be the buy amount plus the transaction fee.

When you transfer voluntary carbon credits onto the exchange from an independent credit provider, you will be charged a transfer fee at the time of transfer. At present Carbonz takes 10% of credits when they are first transferred by landowners to the Carbonz exchange. Carbonz can sell these credits. The credits will be held by Carbonz Nominee.

When you transfer NZUs from the Carbonz exchange to a New Zealand Emissions Trading Register account you will be charged a transfer fee at the time of transfer.

When you sell NZUs, a transaction fee may be charged. The amount of the transaction fee is by agreement between Carbonz and the transferring a New Zealand Emissions Trading Register account holder.

Full details of the current fees charged are in the FAQ section of this website.

Your Risks.

The value of credits can go up and down. We’re not responsible if you lose money if the value of your credits goes down. The value of credits can be influenced by environmental, general economic, and legislative changes.

Since voluntary carbon credits are attached to forested property, there is a chance that some or all of that forest could be lost due to an event such as a fire or storm. Credits can also be lost due to a breach by a landowner of their obligations. Buffer pools are available but in some cases, the buffer pool may not be enough to cover the loss of credits. Lost credits might need to be replaced by forest regeneration. This can take a long time.

Operation of the Carbonz exchange may be suspended due to technical or regulatory reasons or third-party service provider failures. In event of third-party service provider failure, we are not responsible nor liable.

We are not liable to you for any loss or damage suffered by you through your use of the Carbonz exchange or inability to access the Carbonz exchange. Further, we are not liable for errors or omissions in the content of our website or loss, fees, or costs you incur or suffer when using our services. We are also not liable for malicious code, viruses, blocked access, or if our website or exchange does not work.

You are responsible for your investment choices and the performance of these choices. Carbonz does not provide financial advice or portfolio management services. Credits on the Carbonz exchange are not financial products and the exchange is not a financial product market.

Use of the Carbonz exchange, app, and website is at your sole risk.

Security of your Account.

You acknowledge that there are inherent risks (including risks related to security, authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality) in relation to internet transactions and communications over electronic networks. We expressly disclaim any liability for such risks.

You must take all reasonable steps to keep your account secure and protect your account from fraud, theft, or information loss. This includes but is not limited to:

Keeping your login and password details secure.
Keeping your electronic devices secure.
Changing your password regularly.

We have no liability for acts, errors, or omissions by users, including where their actions compromise their account security. Users are responsible for the security of account access information.

We keep your payment and personal details secure under best practices. We may use third-party payment gateway services to transfer money. We are separate from these service providers and are not liable for errors made by these entities.

Landowners.

You agree, if you are a landowner uploading credits onto the exchange, that we may use the geographic coordinates of the forest associated with the specific credits to disclose the traceability of those credits on the Carbonz exchange.

You agree to Carbonz taking 10% of your credits as uploaded as the brokerage fee for voluntary carbon credits.

Project developers are not liable for proving or verifying beneficial ownership.

Complaints.

Complaints can be raised with us first by emailing support@carbonz.io. If we cannot resolve the complaint, or resolve it to your satisfaction, then you can make a complaint to our independent external dispute resolution scheme, Financial Services Complaints Limited.

Financial Services Complaints Limited can be reached at complaints@fscl.org.nz or via phone at 0800 347 257.

Intellectual Property Rights.

You accept that the text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, data compilations, and software displayed on this website and the Carbonz exchange are all subject to copyright and other intellectual property protection.

You cannot use, copy, modify, adapt, store, distribute, print, display, perform, publish, or redistribute any part of our exchange or website. The website and the Carbonz exchange may also contain images that are subject to the copyright of third parties.

You agree that you won’t use a robot, spider, scraper, or other unauthorised automated means to access the data or information on the exchange for any purpose. You also agree that you won’t manually scrape, harvest, or otherwise extract material from our exchange without our express permission.

General Information about the Terms and Conditions.

You can contact us by emailing support@carbonz.io.

Our physical address is: 22 Timaru Creek Road, Rd 2, Lake Hawea, 9382, New Zealand.

We will use the email address you provide to communicate with you. Please keep an eye out for emails from us. Aside from sending you important information we will also keep you informed about Carbonz and carbon credits generally (you can always unsubscribe from our marketing emails).

We can utilise the services of third parties. We may delegate any person to advise on or carry out any of the processes and rights outlined by our terms and conditions. We may transfer or assign any of our rights and obligations under these terms and conditions in whole or in part to anyone. Carbonz and its directors, employees, and representatives are entitled to enforce these terms and conditions.

Our terms and conditions are governed by New Zealand law and the Courts of New Zealand have exclusive jurisdiction in the event of a dispute.

If any of our terms are not compliant with any law, then the law takes precedence. Some terms are also inferred by law.

Our rights in respect of these terms and conditions of service continue even if you close your account.