“For too long, productive sheep and beef farms have been replaced by pine trees in the race for carbon credits. That ends under this Government,” Mr McClay says.
“The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme - Forestry Conversions) Amendment Bill will restrict wholesale conversions of farmland to exotic forestry by stopping LUC 1-5 land from entering the ETS and capping new ETS registrations on LUC 6 land.
“It will also protect farmers’ ability to diversify – allowing up to 25 per cent of a farm to go into trees, while stopping the kind of blanket ETS planting that’s been gutting rural communities in places like the East Coast, Wairarapa, the King Country, and Southland.”
As previously announced the new restrictions will take effect from 4 December 2024. The law will:
“It will also protect farmers’ ability to diversify – allowing up to 25 per cent of a farm to go into trees, while stopping the kind of blanket ETS planting that’s been gutting rural communities in places like the East Coast, Wairarapa, the King Country, and Southland.”
As previously announced the new restrictions will take effect from 4 December 2024. The law will:
- Restrict farm conversions to exotic ETS forests on high-to-medium versatility farmland (LUC classes 1-6)
- A limit of 15,000 hectares per year for exotic conversions on medium versality farmland (LUC class 6)
- The annual limit of 15,000 hectares for LUC 6 farmland will be allocated by a ballot process, including a reserved quota for small block holders, with the first ballot proposed to be held in mid-2026.
- Allow for up to 25 per cent of a farm’s LUC 1-6 land to still be planted in exotic forestry for the ETS, ensuring farmers retain flexibility and choice.
- Protect specific categories of Māori-owned land, in line with Treaty obligations
- The Bill proposes time-limited transitional exemptions in rare cases for people who were in the process of afforestation prior to these changes originally being announced on 4 December 2024.
- To be eligible for a transitional exemption, applicants need to show sufficient evidence that they made a qualifying forestry investment between 1 January 2021 and 4 December 2024.
- Transactions that commenced after this date will not be eligible to register in the ETS.
- The applicant will need to demonstrate that the investment relates to the specific Land Use Capability (LUC) class 1–6 land they are applying to register in the ETS.
- Registry of 25 per cent of LUC 1-6 land will be registered against the properties title to restrict further planting as a result of subdivision.
“This Government is backing farmers, restoring balance, and making sure the ETS doesn’t come at the cost of New Zealand’s rural economy.
“This policy is pro-farming, pro-food production, pro-commercial forestry and pro-rural New Zealand.”
The legislation is now before Parliament and is to come into force October 2025.
For more information: Forestry ETS Changes
Todd McClay is the Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Forestry, Minister for Hunting and Fishing, Minister for Trade, and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has been the MP for Rotorua since 2008. This article was first published HERE
6 comments:
100% the right thing to do. The next would be to stop overseas interests buying existing forests, getting the carbon credits then harvesting the forests and shipping them in the raw state with very little benefit to NZ
At last! But why has it taken so long? But still, good on McClay and the Government.
Thank goodness this government kept that election promise. The land can't be converted back to farming either; at least no-one would pay the huge costs to restore it. MC
Where's the thumb-up symbol?
One of the reasons I have to pay so much for my red meat is because farmers are going for the too-easy option to earn carbon credits (for whatever they're worth, I don't know).
Let's return to basic animal husbandry/livestock management, to produce the meat protein. I know it's not easy, I've been there-done that as a farm worker, but it's an essential industry.
Ewan McGregor. You are on the money. National at snails pace. The next bit of bravery, which is not in their DNA, is to do a Donald Trump on the idiotic Paris Climate Agreement.
You can't eat trees !!
For the last few years farmers have been proving that growing trees on pastoral land is so deleterious to our rural communities.
Let's face it, everything biological eventually reverts to releasing CO2, so let's grow protein instead of cellulose.
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