Wood & technology needed for NZ's climate responseFriday 22 Nov 2024
The United Nations Conference of the Parties for Climate Change (COP29) was held over the last two weeks in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is the second time in two years that a petrostate has hosted the climate conference. While some may view this cynically, I tend to think that having conversations where the transition may be starkest presents some real opportunities. While I wasn’t at COP29 (it’s a bit busy here on the home front!), I have been working with our international colleagues and New Zealand officials who are on the ground in Baku. There are a couple of key decisions being taken at the ‘finance COP’ as it’s been called, particularly around the Article 6.4 markets, which will allow countries to trade with each other to meet their climate targets. How land use is treated in these markets could have implications for forests’ role in the global climate response. Initial standards at the start of COP would have placed additional requirements on land-based mitigation projects like forests, that industrial mitigations like carbon capture and storage did not face. Forestry industry bodies and environmental groups have been pushing back to ensure that, at this early stage, the playing field is set fairly. This is particularly important given that forest-based mitigation projects can also be nature positive and contribute to the biodiversity crisis. It is also going to be important for New Zealand, given that we are not on track to meet our climate targets. The Government has just opened consultation on the target, and we’ll be having our say on behalf of our members, but meeting any target will require a reduction in gross emissions and some serious tree planting. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations (UN) body responsible for global climate science, has said that global emissions must peak by 2025 if the world is to have a good chance of keeping global temperature rise between 1.5-2 degrees C, as specified by the Paris climate agreement. As the Economist stated in their analysis last week, much hinges on China and the emissions report they will release at the end of this year, which could alter the global trajectory. A rise above 2 degrees C will not only contribute to the warming of the planet, but also the more intense storm events that we have experienced here in New Zealand. It's important that we’ve got the markets and tools on the international stage and at home to really address our climate risks. That’s why we’re not only pushing for coming global markets to recognise forestry projects, but also for our domestic emissions trading scheme to continue to recognise the role forestry plays in climate mitigation. We submitted on the most recent Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) cost recovery settings to say that reducing the annual fee by half is a step in the right direction, but the public benefits of forests need to be better recognized by the government. We will keep pushing to ensure our forests’ contribution gets its due. More >> Source: NZ Forest Owners Association | ||
Copyright 2004-2025 © Innovatek Ltd. All rights reserved. |
