27 September 2012
In an open letter to the Prime Minister, major players in the forest industry have implored the prime minister John Key to align the Emissions Trading Scheme with those of our trading partners. In particular, they are seeking a 50 per cent cap on the use of any international carbon units, a move they describe as international best practice. Signatories are Phil Taylor, Blakely Pacific Ltd; Peter Clark, PF Olsen Ltd; Thomas Song, Ernslaw One Ltd; Dr Murray McClintock, Carbon Farm Ltd; Roger Dickie, Roger Dickie New Zealand Ltd; Simon Rapley, The NZ Redwood Company; David Janett, Forest Management Ltd; George Asher, Lake Taupo Forest Trust; and Forbes Elworthy, Craigmore Sustainables.They say Australia, China, USA, the European Union, Japan and Korea either ban international carbon 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," say the signatories.
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 Bill passes you may as well exclude forestry or suspend the Scheme altogether," they say.
"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."
Source: Scoop