Thanks to the work of Fiona Ede and Rachel Samson, who are our 2 champions for this submission, we are proud to have been able to add our thought to this really important matter.
Here is the document sent on behalf of the Supporting Nature and Sequesting Carbon group: NTCF Submission on Forestry.docx – Google Docs
Decription of the Submission’s context:
The Government is seeking feedback on proposals to achieve better outcomes from afforestation. This includes:
- excluding exotic forests from the permanent post-1989 category in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS)
- whether to adjust how carbon accounting applies to forests on remote and marginal to harvest land
- opportunities for improving incentives for indigenous afforestation.
Afforestation is a key pathway for New Zealand meeting its climate change targets by offsetting carbon emissions, providing a source of bioenergy, and the replacement of high carbon materials. However, the increasing New Zealand Unit (NZU) price is driving higher rates of afforestation, particularly fast-growing permanent exotic forests. This is raising concern amongst some industry groups and community organisations on the risk of permanent exotic forests displacing pastoral farming, and production and indigenous forests. To manage these risks, the Government is consulting on:
- whether to prevent exotic forests from registering in the permanent post-1989 category in the NZ ETS. This to ensure any legislative changes can be passed by Parliament before this category commences on 1 January 2023.
- a proposal to adjust how the new carbon accounting method in the NZ ETS (averaging accounting) applies to remote and marginal land for harvesting. This is to reflect the later harvest age and extra carbon stored in some forests on remote and marginal to harvest land.
- opportunities for improving incentives for indigenous afforestation, following on from the Emissions Reduction Plan consultation late last year.
View the discussion document “Managing exotic afforestation incentives: Proposals to change forestry settings in the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme here. Questions for your consideration are in Section 13. These questions are a guide, and all comments are welcome.
View the related “Regulatory impact statement: Managing permanent exotic forest” here.