Warning to landowners - The devil is in the detail of carbon accounting
Timber NSW
Key Facts:- Timber NSW is calling on Minister Penny Sharpe to clarify what compensation will be available to private forest owners in NSW who may be banned from harvesting their trees due to the creation of the Great Koala National Park.
- Under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme, there can be no private native forest harvesting above a calculated baseline level, meaning private landowners would lose control of their own income whilst Australian taxpayers fund the NSW Government for enforcing these restrictions.
- Timber NSW argues that the carbon leakage figures used in the scheme are misleading, with independent research from the University of Queensland calculating timber harvest leakage at over 80%, far exceeding the maximum 40% discount permitted by the Commonwealth.
- The organisation warns that reduced domestic timber production will likely shift demand to overseas suppliers in elevated-risk countries, meaning the scheme effectively exports carbon emissions rather than reducing them globally.
- The forestry sector supports thousands of jobs across NSW and makes a significant contribution to regional economies; Timber NSW maintains that sustainably managed forests can deliver both conservation and economic outcomes simultaneously.
Private forest owners across NSW may be banned from harvesting their trees by the NSW Government and Timber NSW is calling for Minister Penny Sharpe to outline what compensation for lost earnings will be available to private forestry owners across the entire State of NSW.
According to Timber NSW Chief Executive Maree McCaskill, the creation of the Great Koala National Park will have dire consequences for owners of private forests across the entire State.’
‘The NSW Government will be paid by Australian taxpayers for shutting down the timber industry in northern NSW. That’s an undisputed fact and it all stems from the Improved Native Forest Management carbon credit scheme which is used to calculate payments under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme
‘Once again, the reality as it’s experienced by the people of NSW is completely different to the Minister’s words.
The intent of the scheme
What the Federal Government says is that under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme, the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (whoever that is) must be satisfied that a method complies with the legislated Offsets Integrity Standards.
Those standards require that credited abatement reflects real, measurable, and additional emissions reductions. If leakage is underestimated, more ACCUs could be issued than the true global emissions benefit justifies, undermining the environmental integrity of the scheme.
The reality
What this really means is that there can be no private native forest harvesting in the State above its ‘baseline level’ which is calculated as the average monthly wood volume extracted from private native forests over the previous 4-year period.
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that; “There are also leakage clauses, providing penalties if logging of public forest increased elsewhere in the state on private or public land, or if there is an increase in imports of unsustainable timber”.
What is not reported is that only a maximum of 40% of the carbon leakage (both domestic and international) can be discounted by the Commonwealth despite that figure being widely debunked and calculated by Dr Tyron Venn et al from UQ at over 80% for timber harvest leakage, with most of the demand met by elevated-risk countries.
Maree said, ‘what this whole deception means is that:
- communities in northern NSW are shut down;
- Private forest landowners no longer control their own income
- Australian taxpayers are funding the NSW Government for forcing those changes, and
- The real impact of carbon emissions into the atmosphere is assumed away because it will happen overseas.’
The forestry sector supports thousands of jobs across NSW and contributes significantly to regional economies through timber harvesting, transport, processing and manufacturing. It is an undisputed fact that sustainably managed state forests can and do deliver both conservation and economic outcomes.
Contact details:
Maree McCaskill, CEO
0418 657 453