Hon Todd McClay
Minister of Forestry

The Government has today started consultation on a 50 per cent reduction to the annual charge for forest owners participating in the Forestry Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Registry, Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced.

“Following an independent review released last week we are proposing to lower the per-hectare annual charge to $14.90.

“This is a 50 per cent reduction from Labour’s excessive charge announced just before the election of $30.25 per hectare per year.

“It’s now clear that the previous Labour government made a number of decisions that drove up the cost of this Registry and they expected the forestry sector to pay for their mistakes. Cabinet has agreed that the sector should not bear the brunt of Labour’s previous decisions,” Mr McClay says.

“The Ministry for Primary Industries has worked hard to find efficiencies and drive down costs over the last 10 months. We’ve also been focused on improving service delivery to ensure the Registry meets the expectations of forestry users. As a result the annual charge has reduced significantly.

“Last week, we announced the formation of a Forestry Sector Reference Group to further improve outcomes for the ETS Registry and find greater cost savings over the next year. This is an opportunity for the forestry sector and government to partner to drive better outcomes for forestry.”

The new annual charge would begin in the 2024/25 financial year and stay in place until a full review is conducted after the current emissions reporting period.

“This proposal is part of the Government’s promise to rebuild confidence in the forestry sector and support its role in achieving New Zealand’s exporting and emissions targets.”

Consultation on the new annual charge starts today (23 October 2024) and runs for three weeks. It covers the reduced annual charge and adjustments to the Climate Change (Forestry) Regulations 2022 for participants using the field measurement approach during the 2023–25 period.

Following consultation, Cabinet will move quickly to finalise the regulations, giving participants clarity and certainty on charges.

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