forest talk
Are ETS planting targets realistic? IS THE CLIMATE CHANGE COMMISSION RISKING FOREST planting rates by incentivising more production forestry than needed with the current Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)? Many in the forestry sector think so. The final recommendations from the Climate Change Commission were tabled in Parliament recently with Government producing an Emissions’ Reduction Plan later this year. Farm Forestry Association President, Graham West, says he acknowledges the Commission still expects an additional 380,000 hectares of plantation forests to be planted in the next 15 years as a major means of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from the rest of the economy. But he says owners of farmland who are considering planting exotic woodlots may have second thoughts. “Decision-making about the value of carbon when planting trees is complex enough as it is. Cashflow is a critical factor. Now farmers and forest investors will be looking at even more uncertainty, if carbon credits are under review,” he says. “The government needs to note that the Commission itself says there is the risk of a perverse outcome of discouraging forest investment through changing the ETS.” Forest Owners Association President, Phil Taylor, says the 380,000-hectare projection of exotic forests, to meet the Commission’s gas budget, was always going to be problematic to achieve, but even more so now. “The net stocked area of New Zealand’s plantation forestry has fallen by 40,000 hectares in the past two years. That reduction isn’t a good basis to put the brakes on plantation planting within the next ten years. “After more than a decade, the ETS has only just begun to work the way it’s meant to. That is to incentivise emissions reduction. It’s
Farm Forestry Association President, Graham West.
Forest Owners Association President, Phil Taylor.
a strange time to pull it back.” Mr Taylor says if the Commission doesn’t get the net emissions reduction it expects from forests over the next 30 years, then the government will have to force tougher and bigger cuts out of transport and agriculture. He adds though, that he’s waiting to see how Government develops policies to implement the recommendations from the Commission. “We are pleased the government already seems to have abandoned its ideas of trying to restrict planting forests on the better classes of land where a quarter of the current national estate is already growing. “And it’s important to realise that the forest contribution to fighting climate change is not confined to the trees themselves, but the downstream use of timber and wood products. The Commission’s reference to forests’ role in ‘a thriving, low emissions bioeconomy’ is hugely important for environmental and economic reasons,” Mr Taylor says. “Forestry Minister, Stuart Nash, has also made it clear that the government’s Wood First construction policy really means using timber construction wherever possible.” The recent announcement of a timber first strategy for government buildings will no doubt provide some incentive. Mr West adds that there are also strongly positive features in the Commission’s report. “The government has been asked to encourage ‘additional carbon storage in smaller blocks of trees on farms’. We hope to see that implemented with some sort of grants scheme. “We have long advocated for policies which assist ‘mosaic’ landscapes of smaller forest blocks interspersed with other land use. This has been acknowledged.” NZL
Nash donations raise uncomfortable questions SOME $50,000 IN MONEY DONATIONS FOR last year’s election to Forestry Minister Stuart Nash include at least half from players in the forestry and regional development field. Some are calling on Mr Nash to return the money even if he did take the donations in good faith. A spokesperson for Mr Nash says: “After the election the Cabinet Minister met with the Cabinet Office to discuss a range of interests and the management of any possible areas
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of conflict. The Minister continues to ensure that no conflict exists or appears to exist between his personal interests and his portfolio responsibilities, in accordance with the guidance in the Cabinet Manual.” His acceptance and disclosure of the donations comply with laws around campaign finance, but critics say it is nonetheless ethically worrying. Over 16 days in September 2020, he received: $5000 from Andrew Kelly,
formerly Managing Director of Lumber Link and a range of other forestry and timber companies; $9503.80 from Tenon, a Taupobased timber company; and $5000 from Red Stag, Rotorua-based timber processing company. Mr Nash’s spokesperson adds: “Minister Nash has an extensive network of contacts in the forestry sector since first graduating from the University of Canterbury with a forestry qualification in 1993.” NZL
