Todd McClay announces cancellation of annual ETS charge for forestry

Forestry Minister Todd McClay has announced the Government is cancelling this year’s annual service charges for forestry under the emissions trading scheme. Photo / Mark Mitchell

By RNZ

The Government has cancelled this year’s annual service charges for forestry under the emissions trading scheme (ETS).

Forestry Minister Todd McClay made the announcement as forestry leaders gathered at Fieldays in the Waikato on Friday.

In February, the Government announced a review of forestry’s role in the ETS, saying some owners had complained of what they called “excessive costs”.

McClay said the Government was removing the annual service charge for 2023/24 to give forest owners some immediate certainty.

The fee was introduced last year and amounts to $30.25 per hectare.

The minister said the Government wanted to rebuild confidence in forestry and would be looking at issues raised in the independent review.

“There are more than 590,000ha of post-1989 forest land in the ETS and around 4200 forestry participants. We are working with the sector to ensure they have confidence in the function, operability, and cost recovery of the forestry ETS.”

McClay said the Government would also introduce initiatives this parliamentary term to bolster growth in forestry.

In a statement, he said that would include increasing wood processing in New Zealand and opening new markets for exports.

Nearly 60 per cent of New Zealand’s harvest is exported.

He said it was important to create a sufficient pipeline of logs but also to encourage planting trees to meet international climate change commitments.