Todd McClay announces cancellation of ETS annual forestry levy

By RNZ

The government this year canceled annual service charges for forestry under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

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

In February, the government announced a review of forestry’s role in the ETS, saying some landowners had complained about 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 is $30.25 per hectare.

The minister said the government wanted to restore confidence in the forestry sector and would look into the issues raised in the independent review.

“There are over 590,000 ha of post-1989 forest land in the ETS and approximately 4,200 forest sector participants. We are working with the sector to ensure they have confidence in the functioning, operability and cost recovery of the forestry ETS.

McClay said the government would also introduce initiatives during this parliamentary term to support the growth of the forestry sector.

In a statement he said this would involve increasing timber processing in New Zealand and opening new markets for exports.

Nearly 60 percent of New Zealand’s crop is exported.

He said it was important to create a sufficient supply of logs, but also to encourage tree planting to meet international commitments on climate change.