Wanganui Regional Forestry ETS Meeting
15 October 2007
Key Themes
Introduction: These key themes are a record of points raised by participants at the meeting – they are not the consensus of the participants.
• Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in general:
• Concern the unit price might go too high for NZ.
• Questions about liabilities of forestry processing companies.
• Question about grey market carbon credits built up before 2008, and after.
• Interest in what’s happening now re post-2012 international rules.
• Query about leasing credits.
• Interest in forest owners pooling resources.
• Interest in the effects (figures) of the proposed measures on the residual government liability.
• Post 1989 forests (voluntary participation in ETS):
• Interest in carbon retained in harvested wood products.
• Question about the 18 month time frame for opting in. Concern about price variables in this time.
• Pre 1990 forests:
• Questions about definitions: merchantable timber, pre 1990 forest, deforestation of indigenous forest/scrub.
• Interest in replanting an area of land to offset liabilities on a different site.
• Liabilities, risks and costs:
• Concern about liabilities and insurance for fire and other forest (carbon) reduction through natural events (including landslips, windthrow).
• Comment about the risks of unit price fluctuations.
• Question about liabilities associated with non-normal forest management.
• Interest in deforestation costs and risks.
• Tax issues:
• View that there is inequitable tax treatment between pre 1990 and post 1989 deforestation.
• Methodologies for carbon measurement:
• Concern about costs (and on-going costs) of carbon measurement.
• Interest in costs of alternative species.
• Suggestion of providing for a minimal compliance cost regime which defers audit until harvest.
• Interest in the carbon volume estimates from conservative methods vs actual measurement.
• Desire to provide input to development of methodologies.
• Māori land/ forests:
• Question about forest sink credits/liabilities with respect to settlement claims.
• Concern about potential contingent liability of Māori Incorporations’ JV forests.
• Farm forestry:
• Desire for recognition of shelterbelts and riparian plantings on farms.
• Indigenous forests:
• Comment about the effect of global indigenous forests if they are included post-Kyoto Protocol rules.
• Afforestation:
• Need for advocacy of forestry.
• Point that the nursery industry and forestry infrastructure needs reviving.
• Afforestation Grant Scheme (AGS):
• Interest in how open the AGS is to different species, co-benefits.
Contact for Enquiries
Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change
MAF
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 CLIMATE (254 628)
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