Proposed native forest carbon method raises more questions

Friday 24 Jan 2025

 
The peak state body for the forest and timber industry in Queensland has raised major concerns with the recent announcement by the Australian Government of a proposed new carbon method known as the Improved Native Forest Management in Multiple-use Public Forests.

Timber Queensland CEO Mick Stephens said “This proposed method raises far more questions than answers for addressing long term climate mitigation and the integrity of the carbon credits intended to be generated.”

The method is at odds with the high level principle identified in the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th assessment report that states:
  • In the long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fibre or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit.
“The proposed method suggests that by simply ceasing sustainable timber harvesting in public multiple-use forests you can generate additional long-term abatement compared to the counterfactual of continued harvesting and storage of carbon in regrowing forests and harvested wood products,” Mr Stephens said.

This is in direct contrast to many life cycle analyses of managed forests with sustainable timber harvesting, which show long-term sustained carbon benefits when the substitution of steel and concrete in the built environment is included along with carbon stored in forests and harvested wood products,” he said.

The method fails on multiple accounts to meet the very principles Minister Bowen set out following the recent Chubb review into the land based carbon sequestration market.

These failures include:
  • a high likelihood of perverse carbon mitigation outcomes;
  • a risk of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on dodgy credits;
  • adverse economic and social outcomes for the native forestry industry if implemented;
  • disregard for a growing body of Australian and international research supporting the longer-term carbon benefits from actively managing native forests with the inclusion of sustainable timber harvesting; and
  • a lack of transparency and public disclosure on the proposed method and assessment process used by the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC).
“We have briefed the Queensland Government and advocate they reject this method at a state level given the seriousness of potential impacts and policy development flaws, similar to the position being taken by the Tasmanian Government,” Mr Stephens said.

The native hardwood sector in Queensland contributes almost $700 million each year to the economy and supports 6000 jobs across the state, providing much needed building and housing materials. We believe this proposal is ideologically motivated by the method proponent (NSW Government) to further restrict native forestry in Australia, which can contribute to poor land management outcomes including higher risks of bushfires.

Timber Queensland is calling on the Australian Government to withdraw this method immediately and to undertake a review into how the approval process seemingly ignored the counterfactual science.

“The irony is there is a definitive need for a carbon method that deliberately encourages forest thinning and sustainable timber harvesting as a tool to improve tree growth and productivity, forest health and long-term carbon outcomes in many public and private native forests. This is particularly the case in Queensland,” said Mr Stephens.

Source: Timber Queensland



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