March 2021

Have your say on the NZ ETS Forestry Regulations

Te Uru Rākau has begun consulting on a small number of additional proposed amendments to the NZ ETS Forestry Regulations.  

These latest proposals follow an initial round of public consultation on amendments to the regulations that was held from November 2019 to January 2020.

The proposals include the detailed rules and settings for averaging accounting, and technical amendments to simplify the ETS and let us implement new policies.

The topics being considered on averaging accounting include:

• detailed age band frameworks, which will determine how averaging accounting works in practice
• rules for accounting for forests over multiple rotations
• the model for how the average age will be calculated, which will determine how many carbon credits a forest will earn.

The technical amendments include:

• a clearer definition of sub-areas, to make it easier for participants to accurately complete emissions returns
• rules for the new pre-1990 forest land offsetting process
• minor and technical amendments to make it simpler to participate in the ETS and implement some existing decisions.

The consultation is now open. We welcome your feedback, which must be received by 5pm on Friday 9 April 2021.

Find out more about the consultation and have your say

This information is guidance only and is not a substitute for, or in any way an alteration to, New Zealand law, or other official requirements. It does not constitute legal advice, and users should seek advice from qualified professionals before taking any action based on this information.