Do carbon credits actually work?

Its now accepted that adding greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels to the atmosphere is affecting the climate. Climate is important if we want to live and grow food without risk of floods, droughts, and temperature extremes. The Emissions Trading Scheme makes it possible for emitters of carbon dioxide to deal directly with people who can reduce emissions or sequester the gas (which is to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and into plants or plant material such as timber). Fossil fuels such as coal and oil create most of the increased CO2 emissions, but reducing fossil fuel usage is very challenging due to the demand for energy to power transport and manufacturing.

Under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) specific rules enable qualifying forests to accumulate multiple units representing a tonne of carbon (CO2) based on the measurement of additional carbon sequestered from the atmosphere into those specific trees. The accumulation of carbon units is subject to audit and is a tightly managed process requiring high levels of technical skill and ethics.

Units can be sold once accumulated and that creates revenue for the investors. Sales of units are carefully managed to comply with technical rules in the ETS. Polluters can trade directly with landowners to incentivise the reduction in atmospheric carbon by increasing the uptake of carbon into trees. This market-based solution is an efficient means to reduce pollution by incentivising landowners. Investing in carbon forests creates returns to investors, which can then be used for your choice of activities that may be beneficial to society or to the investor’s family and personal wellbeing.

Why pine is a better carbon producer than native?

The carbon cycle is a natural process where plants take in CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow, which forms the mass of the plant. Tree growth rates occurs at different levels of plant productivity based on plant physiology of the individual plants and on the species of plants. In New Zealand conditions radiata pine grows significantly faster than native species for complex but measurable reasons. Plant growth is the accumulation of carbon which forms the bulk of the trees mass in the case of pines. The biological efficiency that drives plant growth is the base for measuring the amount of carbon taken from the atmosphere. If atmospheric carbon gas reduction is our goal, then the fastest and cheapest solution is in pine or similar timber species. Using the fastest and cheapest solution for carbon reduction benefits all New Zealanders because we need less land to achieve our reduction goals, its quicker, and it costs less. Using native forestry for carbon sequestration would greatly increase the need for farm conversion into forests due to the lower carbon growth.

What happens to the land once the trees are removed?

Carbon forests may or may not be harvested, but the creation of a timber resource in conjunction with reducing atmospheric carbon levels gives the prospect of additional benefits to society. Where harvesting occurs, we always replant another crop. The new crop is managed to rapidly grow so that soil is protected, and new habitats form quickly. Harvesting the crop gives a mosaic effect of habitat ranging from open land, low grass and weed cover, low trees through to areas of large trees. These diverse habitats allow refuge areas for biodiversity and a range of conditions which benefit different species. New Zealand falcon for example roost in tall forest areas, but hunt in open spaces with young trees. Rotational forestry creates sustainable building products and highly skilled jobs. The ETS allows harvest of carbon forests in prescribed ways and when managed carefully this can create additional returns for investors. Carbon forests which are not harvested continue to grow for many decades and over time native species establish themselves in the forest ecosystem through natural transitions.

How forestry is great for creating local jobs?

Forests create jobs ranging from professional managerial roles to skilled labour. Jobs can be on the forest site, in offices, operating trucks and machines or working log processing sites like sawmills. In carbon forests there are many tasks in the environmental management of the trees including pest control, water quality, forest and road maintenance, administration and accounting for the carbon units and revenue from carbon sales. Professional forest managers operate in a complex regulatory environment with a high burden of compliance planning, management and reporting as well as outdoor tasks in the woods.