NZ foresters demand changes to stop ETS becoming a farce

An open letter to the Prime Minister Rt Hon John Key and others on the risks posed by the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme Amendment Bill

26 September

Dear Prime Minister,

We, the undersigned, call on the proposed ETS Amendment Bill to be aligned with international best practice by including a fifty percent cap on the use of any International carbon units.

Australia, China, USA, the European Union, Japan and Korea either ban these units or permit them in very limited numbers to prevent the domestic unit becoming redundant.

Rather than imposing an additional burden on the taxpayer to the tune of over $300 million and threatening the credibility and effectiveness of New Zealand’s ETS, the placing of a cap would restore the confidence of the forestry sector to contribute to the country reaching its emission targets and help drive the economy forward.

However if the Amendment passes as it stands there will be no incentive for land owners to plant trees to store carbon, resulting in new planting for carbon being virtually nonexistent and greatly increasing the potential for deforestation and its associated environmental risks, including reduced water quality and soil erosion.

In announcing the Bill the Climate Change Issues Minister said it would demonstrate New Zealand’s commitment to doing its fair share, but these so-called “technical and operational changes” will instead mean we’ll be cutting corners and passing the buck.

New Zealand was the first country in the world to introduce forestry into an ETS - an industry that a former Environment Minister in your Government described as “of enormous financial and environmental importance to New Zealand”, but if this Bills passes you may as well exclude forestry or suspend the Scheme altogether.

We share the very real fear of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment of the planned changes being a farce and a costly and environmentally damaging mistake.

We implore you to go back to the drawing board and align the Scheme with those of our trading partners.

Yours sincerely

Phil Taylor
Managing Director
Blakely Pacific Ltd

Peter Clark
Chief Executive
PF Olsen Ltd

Thomas Song
Managing Director
Ernslaw One Ltd

Dr Murray McClintock
Director – Carbon Projects
Carbon Farm Ltd

Roger Dickie
Owner
Roger Dickie New Zealand Ltd

Simon Rapley
General Manager
The NZ Redwood Company

David Janett
Owner
Forest Management Ltd

George Asher
CEO
Lake Taupo Forest Trust

Forbes Elworthy
Founder, CEO
Craigmore Sustainables

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