PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to inform readers on sink issues. Sinks are any natural or man-made systems that absorb and store greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2). For the purposes of this document, a sink is a growing or expanding forest, and we are dealing with CO2 that is absorbed and stored as carbon (about half the dry weight of wood is carbon). Sinks are of benefit because CO2 is removed from the atmosphere, where it would otherwise contribute to global warming.
The Government has announced that it aims to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. Ratification is the formal act of consenting to or approving New Zealand's obligations and commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Before then, a number of domestic policy actions are required to support ratification. Those commitments include managing emissions and sink activities in the period 2008 to 2012 (the first commitment period).
An important component of domestic policy will be the design of a system that enables carbon accumulated in some forest sinks, during the commitment period (2008 to 2012), to be recognised and traded (" sink credits") in international or domestic emissions trading markets. Conversely, there would be conditions on deforestation, and "debits" on harvesting trees that receive credits, where carbon in the form of CO2 is lost to the atmosphere during the first commitment period.
A fully operational system for managing sinks is not required to ratify the Kyoto Protocol but work should be sufficiently advanced to lend credibility to the ratification process and to aid understanding of what ratification means for New Zealand.
As part of developing a domestic position on sinks, this document introduces sinks and presents a preliminary discussion of how a sinks system might operate. Opportunity for feedback on any matter raised in this document is welcomed as it will help formulate New Zealand's domestic position on sinks. Details on how to provide feedback are given at the end of this document.
A second discussion paper will be released later this year, providing more detail on how a sinks system might work, once there is more clarity from international negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol rules governing sink credits and debits.
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