Forestry Minister Shane Jones and Climate Change Minister James Shaw have today announced a second set of changes to the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) as part of broader reforms to make the scheme fit-for-purpose.
“The timing of this decision – as the 2019 planting season is about to get under way – is important for forest owners. They can now go ahead with planting this year knowing they can choose the new system and we hope this provides the certainty they’ve been seeking as a sector. We expect to make further decisions soon on the details of averaging accounting, and whether forests already in the ETS can transition to averaging.”
• Under ‘averaging’ accounting, there is no longer a need to surrender NZUs upon harvesting. Participants will instead receive NZUs as their forest grows, up to a determined average level of long term carbon storage, and will not face any liabilities on harvest if they replant….
An excerpt from Scoop