Facilitating Carbon Offsets from Native Forests

Natives get rewards    
Can we make it easier?    
Birds and climate win.    

This note aims to help firms looking to offset their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Emissions reductions from native forestry sequestration are already recognised in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and it is ‘shovel ready’ to generate native forest offsets. 10,000 Ha of post-1989 native forest land would sequester 65,000 tonnes of CO2-e annually on average over 50 years, and would be eligible to earn 65,000 NZUs per year under the ETS. Native forestry also has a wide range of associated environmental, cultural, social and economic co-benefits.

It is certainly possible for more native afforestation to occur at present, and within the existing policy framework; however, challenges do still exist. These include:

• a lack of awareness;
• limited access to capital;
• the complexity of the ETS;
• policy uncertainty; and
• some specific policy settings.

The New Zealand business community can play an important role in solving these problems. Businesses can help influence government policy and have the capital and capacity to play a facilitating role in the market.