Indonesia to revise forest CO2 revenue rules -official

Reuters, 15 April 2010 - Indonesia will rewrite rules on how developers of forest preservation projects that earn valuable carbon credits must share their profits with the government and local communities, a finance ministry official said on Thursday. Under a U.N.-backed scheme called reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), developing countries can be paid not to chop down trees, which absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide as they grow. Large-scale efforts to curb or halt deforestation have the potential to slow the pace of climate change. A REDD market could eventually be worth billions of dollars a year to developing nations, particularly for major forest nations such as Indonesia and Brazil, which have large tracts of tropical forests. Indonesia has several pilot REDD projects that aim to demonstrate how REDD would work if the scheme and trading of forest carbon credits is formally agreed as part of a broader U.N. climate pact to expand or replace the Kyoto Protocol. Indonesia's Forestry Ministry released a decree last year under which REDD project developers would have to share between 20 and 70 percent of profits with local communities, depending on the type of forest, while between 10 and 50 percent of profits would be shared with the government. "We have asked for this decree to be revised because some articles in it should be discussed more intensively between the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Forestry," said Noeroso L. Wahyudi, a senior Finance Ministry official. "We need to justify this formula so it can be implemented properly." Analysts and industry players expressed surprise when the Forestry Ministry released the decree last year as many had expected revenue sharing to fall under the purview of the Finance Ministry. Wahyudi said it was possible the percentages in the formula could change but could not say how. "At the latest, the review should be finished by the end of the year," he said. A source in the REDD development industry, who asked not to be named, said the government should also clarify whether carbon rights should be taxed as a commodity or a service and who exactly holds the rights to carbon stored in a forest. "The benefit sharing has to be equitable for everyone," said the source, adding he could accept keeping only 60 percent of profits. "What we are looking for is certainty." The Forestry Ministry announced in March it was reviewing three REDD decrees in an attempt to remove overlapping rules. (Editing by David Fogarty

Xerox and The Nature Conservancy Extend Forest Conservation Partnership

Written by YourStory Team

Wednesday, 14 April 2010 21:30 -

$1 million grant from Xerox will help stem the tide of forest loss, degradation

NORWALK, Conn., April 14, 2010 -- Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) will invest an additional

$1 million over the next four years in the second phase of its partnership with

The Nature Conservancy

to promote forest conservation and sustainable forest management around the globe.

The agreement builds on the work of the Forest Conservation Partnership between Xerox and

The Nature Conservancy, which began in October 2006 with an initial investment of $1 million.

Much of the work during the first phase of the partnership focused on the protection of the Bor

eal forest

in Canada. Xerox supported the launch and deployment of the Canadian Boreal Data Centre,

linking forest data and information to diverse users across continents with the goal of

improving resource management, monitoring and conservation planning. The partnership also

supported activities aimed at successful and full implementation of the High Conservation

Value (HCV) concept in the Boreal forest, a key tool for identifying priority habitats. High

Conservation Value Forests have conservation, biodiversity or social values considered to be

of outstanding significance or critical importance.

“Our work will help stem the tide of forest loss and degradation that contributes approximately

15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere each year,” said Bill Ginn, chief

conservation officer, The Nature Conservancy. “Xerox has demonstrated real leadership in

promoting responsible forest management – both in areas that they source from and in other

key geographies around the globe. It’s partnerships like these that are starting to change how

forests are managed and how areas of High Conservation Value are treated within working

landscapes.”

In addition, the partnership yielded methods and tools that support effective land-use decisions

in Canada, Indonesia and Brazil, and fostered stronger international sustainable forestry

standards that will promote biodiversity conservation.

1 / 3

Xerox and The Nature Conservancy Extend Forest Conservation Partnership

Written by YourStory Team

Wednesday, 14 April 2010 21:30 -

“Collaborating with The Nature Conservancy over the last three years resulted in real

economic, social and environmental benefits, creating a solid foundation to build on,” said Patr

icia Calkins

, Xerox’s vice president for Sustainability, Environment, Health and Safety.

Work supported by the second $1million grant began in January of this year, with a focus on:

- Developing and testing a forest carbon methodology for improved forest management th

at would allow landowners to achieve forest certification and serve as a platform for potential

carbon benefits;

- Strengthening a key tool for identifying priority habitats — the High Conservation Value

(HCV) approach — by

building consistency across projects, disseminating standards and training assessors through

global and regional HCV networks; and

- Promoting responsible forestry through the implementation of forest management

standards by working with Xerox suppliers and other land managers at two sites in North

America — Central-Western New York and across the Canadian Boreal forest (including a

focused project in Northwest Ontario).

“The work we are doing with The Nature Conservancy directly aligns with our core values and

our goal of creating a sustainable paper cycle,” said Joe Cahalan, president, The Xerox

Foundation . “We

feel there is so much more to be done to minimize the impact on the world’s forests and their

ecosystems. This investment has the potential of paying big conservation dividends now and in

the future.”

For more information about our commitment to environmental sustainability, visit http://www.x

erox.com/environment

.

About Xerox

Xerox Corporation is a $22 billion leading global enterprise for business process and docume

nt management

. Through its broad portfolio of technology,

services and outsourcing

2 / 3

Xerox and The Nature Conservancy Extend Forest Conservation Partnership

Written by YourStory Team

Wednesday, 14 April 2010 21:30 -

offerings, Xerox provides the essential back-office support that clears the way for clients to

focus on what they do best: their

real business

. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., Xerox provides leading-edge document technology,

services, software and

genuine Xerox supplies

for

production

and

office printing environments

of any size. Through ACS, A Xerox Company, which Xerox acquired in February 2010, Xerox

also offers extensive

business process outsourcing

and

IT outsourcing services

, including data processing, HR benefits management, finance support, and customer

relationship management services for commercial and government organizations

worldwide. The 130,000 people of Xerox serve clients in more than 160 countries.

About The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves

plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting

the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than 1

million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the

United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in North America, Latin

America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. For more information, visit www.nature.org .

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 16, 2010 2:55 PM

CONTACT: ForestEthics Valerie Langer, Director of BC Forest Campaigns, ForestEthics – (604) 307-6448

New BC Guidelines for Forest Carbon Offsets Called “Greenwashing” by Nine Environmental Groups

VANCOUVER - April 16 - New B.C. guidelines for forest carbon offsets are "fake climate change action" and will fail to reduce carbon emissions quickly or protect vulnerable ecosystems, nine environmental groups said today.

The guidelines released by the Pacific Carbon Trust (PCT) promote forest carbon credits for activities like fertilization that are not being considered credible in other jurisdictions, like California.

"This package of activities is fake climate change action," says Jens Wieting, Forest Campaigner with Sierra Club BC. Wieting adds, "Minister Bell claims his goal is to take a leadership position on climate change but the Pacific Carbon Trust announcement positions B.C. as a laggard instead."

The Pacific Carbon Trust's goal is to buy offsets to help BC achieve a carbon neutral government by 2010. The April 15 $3 million Request for Proposals targets the forest-based activities of afforestation (tree-planting on non-forested lands), select‐seed (better quality seeds) and fertilization projects, on Crown and private land.

"Questionable offset activities like select-seed and fertilization represent business-as-usual, status quo forestry, and do not provide a meaningful contribution in the fight against climate change. High quality forest carbon offsets must both provide real and immediate carbon emission reductions and have demonstrable benefits for biodiversity and species. The new guidelines fail on both accounts," says Valerie Langer, BC Forest Campaigns Director with ForestEthics.

BC's forests have some of the highest carbon storage per hectare on the planet. Forest carbon credits for conservation, missing from this protocol, would allow for a financial incentive for offset projects with immediate emission reductions and allow species a better chance to adapt to a changing climate. 


The new guidelines are based on the Ministry of Forests draft protocol that went out for public comment in 2009. Ten environmental groups provided detailed comments at that time, but their input has been ignored and the original draft protocol, in the PCT's own words, has been "reworked" -- essentially dressed up and presented again now, as an appendix to the BC Forest Offset Guide.

READ OUR RESPONSE TO THEIR DRAFT PROTOCOL HERE >>


The views expressed herein, are shared by BC Spaces for Nature, CPAWS, Ecotrust, ForestEthics, Greenpeace, Land Trust Alliance of BC, Sierra Club BC, Wildsight and West Coast Environmental Law.

Forestry to have big role in U.S. carbon plan

April 7, 2010 | 0 comments

Forestry to have big role in U.S. carbon plan The sun shines through a clearing in the East Clover harvest area in the Umpqua National Forest near Drain, Oregon May 15, 2008. REUTERS/Richard Clement

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Domestic deals to convert bare lands into forests and keep tree stands healthy could supply 60 percent of available offsets in any U.S. cap-and-trade plan on greenhouse gas emissions, a Barclays Capital analyst said.

The overall supply of domestic offsets could hit 250 million short tons annually by 2020, Trevor Sikorski, a London-based director of carbon markets at Barclays said in a research note.

U.S. forestry and agriculture projects could supply 150 million short tons of those offsets by 2020, the note said.

"Given the political importance of forestry and agriculture in the United States ... (such) offsets will be included in any federal cap-and-trade system," Sikorski said. Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow.

In cap-and-trade markets such as the European Union, polluters have the option to invest in offsets, or off-site projects such as small hydropower systems to generate clean electricity or destruction of refrigerant gases that are highly potent greenhouse gases, rather than cut their own emissions.

Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, Lindsey Graham, a Republican, and Joseph Lieberman, an independent, are crafting a compromise climate and energy bill expected to be released on or around April 22, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

It is uncertain whether the bill will win 60 votes in the Senate needed for passage amid opposition from lawmakers from states with economies that depend on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.

Concerns about forestry offsets that could prevent an investment from storing carbon include forest fires, pests and illegal logging. A buffer stock of credits can be used to cover any loss of carbon stock from individual projects, Sikorski said.

Still, some critics of forestry offsets say they do not represent high quality carbon reductions because the health of a forest is hard to guarantee for the number of years some greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere.

The senators have not revealed how they would treat offsets in the bill. But offsets could play a smaller role in the new bill than in previous ones because it would only put carbon caps on the utility sector at first. By 2016 emissions from manufacturers would be capped, according to details of the compromise Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill that have been revealed.

Sikorski said limits to domestic supply of U.S. offsets may require the compromise bill to allow the use of international offsets. The Waxman-Markey bill that passed in the House of Representatives last June would allow 2 billion short tons of offsets a year divided equally between domestic and international ones. Last year's Kerry-Boxer bill would allow 1.5 billion short tons of domestic offsets and 0.5 billion short tons of international ones.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Foresters, broker bat back heavy emitter arguments

Friday, 9 April 2010, 1:08 pm

Press Release: Carbon News

Foresters, broker bat back heavy emitter arguments for ETS delay

Delaying the emissions trading scheme would cost the country more in the long run, say forest owners.

The country’s only specialist information service on the carbon markets, Carbon News (www.carbonnews.co.nz) reports this morning.

The Government is under pressure from some business lobby groups to delay the July 1 entry of the first wave of emitters into the scheme until schemes are in place in more countries – especially in Australia and the United States.

Yesterday, Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith said that such a move would be unfair on the forestry sector, which has been in the scheme since 2008, but that the Government would consider delaying other changes scheduled for 2013.

Carbon News says any delays could include postponing the entry of the agricultural sector into the scheme (now set for 2015), and extending the allocation of free credits to some heavy emitters (a transition programme designed to protect trade-exposed industries from unfair competition from countries with no price on carbon).

However, Forest Owners' Association chief executive David Rhodes says delay could be costly and one of the country’s carbon brokers OMFinancial is calling the lobby groups’ arguments “trite”.

Rhodes told Carbon News: “Government has received independent advice previously that the cost to the New Zealand economy of initiating an early transition will be less costly than an abrupt transition at some later point when, in the meantime, emissions have been allowed to rise without restraint.

“We won't know what efficiencies are possible until a price signal exists.”

Rhodes says that while there is a lack of clarity about the specific way in which other countries will deal with their emissions, the political will to do something remains undiminished.

The New Zealand Government has already delayed the introduction of emitters to the scheme by six months, is giving trade-exposed industries free credits, has set a maximum price on carbon of $25 a tonne and has said it will meet half the cost of emissions for the first two years, he says.

“On top of that, this ETS is a very different beast to that which was to have been introduced by the previous government in that it is intensity-based approach, meaning that industries can still increase total emissions levels without penalty so long as they can do it more efficiently.

“Compare all this with forestry which has been in the ETS since 2008 and has received a fraction of that level of relief for its significant pre-1990 forest emissions obligations."

Meantime Carbon News quotes broker OMFinancial as saying: “At last count there are 16 Emission Trading Schemes around the world in various forms so for lobby groups here to say New Zealand is sticking its neck out in regard to having its own ETS is a little trite.

“There is certainly a lot of press recently about a push from lobby groups to pressure the government to delay the ETS. Given the ETS will be reviewed in 2011 and forestry is already in the scheme – why does the government need to do that now?

“The reality is New Zealand needs to grow trees to reverse the trend of deforestation. OMFinancial does not think the government will buckle.”

ENDS

Foresters, broker bat back heavy emitter arguments Friday, 9 April 2010, 1:08 pm Press Release: Carbon News

Foresters, broker bat back heavy emitter arguments for ETS delay

Delaying the emissions trading scheme would cost the country more in the long run, say forest owners.

The country’s only specialist information service on the carbon markets, Carbon News (www.carbonnews.co.nz) reports this morning.

The Government is under pressure from some business lobby groups to delay the July 1 entry of the first wave of emitters into the scheme until schemes are in place in more countries – especially in Australia and the United States.

search.scoop.co.nzMore Related Stories >>>

Yesterday, Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith said that such a move would be unfair on the forestry sector, which has been in the scheme since 2008, but that the Government would consider delaying other changes scheduled for 2013.

Carbon News says any delays could include postponing the entry of the agricultural sector into the scheme (now set for 2015), and extending the allocation of free credits to some heavy emitters (a transition programme designed to protect trade-exposed industries from unfair competition from countries with no price on carbon).

However, Forest Owners' Association chief executive David Rhodes says delay could be costly and one of the country’s carbon brokers OMFinancial is calling the lobby groups’ arguments “trite”.

Rhodes told Carbon News: “Government has received independent advice previously that the cost to the New Zealand economy of initiating an early transition will be less costly than an abrupt transition at some later point when, in the meantime, emissions have been allowed to rise without restraint.

“We won't know what efficiencies are possible until a price signal exists.”

Rhodes says that while there is a lack of clarity about the specific way in which other countries will deal with their emissions, the political will to do something remains undiminished.

The New Zealand Government has already delayed the introduction of emitters to the scheme by six months, is giving trade-exposed industries free credits, has set a maximum price on carbon of $25 a tonne and has said it will meet half the cost of emissions for the first two years, he says.

“On top of that, this ETS is a very different beast to that which was to have been introduced by the previous government in that it is intensity-based approach, meaning that industries can still increase total emissions levels without penalty so long as they can do it more efficiently.

“Compare all this with forestry which has been in the ETS since 2008 and has received a fraction of that level of relief for its significant pre-1990 forest emissions obligations."

Meantime Carbon News quotes broker OMFinancial as saying: “At last count there are 16 Emission Trading Schemes around the world in various forms so for lobby groups here to say New Zealand is sticking its neck out in regard to having its own ETS is a little trite.

“There is certainly a lot of press recently about a push from lobby groups to pressure the government to delay the ETS. Given the ETS will be reviewed in 2011 and forestry is already in the scheme – why does the government need to do that now?

“The reality is New Zealand needs to grow trees to reverse the trend of deforestation. OMFinancial does not think the government will buckle.”

ENDS

Forestry to have big role in U.S. carbon plan

Wed Apr 7, 2010 9:29pm BST

1 of 1Full Size

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Domestic deals to convert bare lands into forests and keep tree stands healthy could supply 60 percent of available offsets in any U.S. cap-and-trade plan on greenhouse gas emissions, a Barclays Capital analyst said.

The overall supply of domestic offsets could hit 250 million short tons annually by 2020, Trevor Sikorski, a London-based director of carbon markets at Barclays said in a research note.

U.S. forestry and agriculture projects could supply 150 million short tons of those offsets by 2020, the note said.

"Given the political importance of forestry and agriculture in the United States ... (such) offsets will be included in any federal cap-and-trade system," Sikorski said. Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow.

In cap-and-trade markets such as the European Union, polluters have the option to invest in offsets, or off-site projects such as small hydropower systems to generate clean electricity or destruction of refrigerant gases that are highly potent greenhouse gases, rather than cut their own emissions.

Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, Lindsey Graham, a Republican, and Joseph Lieberman, an independent, are crafting a compromise climate and energy bill expected to be released on or around April 22, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

It is uncertain whether the bill will win 60 votes in the Senate needed for passage amid opposition from lawmakers from states with economies that depend on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.

Concerns about forestry offsets that could prevent an investment from storing carbon include forest fires, pests and illegal logging. A buffer stock of credits can be used to cover any loss of carbon stock from individual projects, Sikorski said.

Still, some critics of forestry offsets say they do not represent high quality carbon reductions because the health of a forest is hard to guarantee for the number of years some greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere.

The senators have not revealed how they would treat offsets in the bill. But offsets could play a smaller role in the new bill than in previous ones because it would only put carbon caps on the utility sector at first. By 2016 emissions from manufacturers would be capped, according to details of the compromise Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill that have been revealed.

Sikorski said limits to domestic supply of U.S. offsets may require the compromise bill to allow the use of international offsets. The Waxman-Markey bill that passed in the House of Representatives last June would allow 2 billion short tons of offsets a year divided equally between domestic and international ones. Last year's Kerry-Boxer bill would allow 1.5 billion short tons of domestic offsets and 0.5 billion short tons of international ones.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Nevada tree plantation to help fight deforestation

By SCOTT SONNER

RENO, Nev. — An international forestry company embarking on a global effort to accumulate carbon credits while slowing deforestation has picked an unlikely site for the first of up to 100,000 acres of tree plantations it intends to grow on U.S. soil in the coming years.

ECO2 Forests Inc. announced plans Tuesday to plant up to 3 million trees over the next seven years at irrigated tree farms in northern Nevada's high desert covering a total of up to 21 square miles north of Reno, an area about the size of the island of Bermuda.

The Sacramento, Calif.-based company, in conjunction with land owners collectively named Jaksick Entities, has acquired the water rights needed to launch the first of seven, 2,000-acre plantations in May to grow kiri trees.

The kiri (pronounced kih-REE') is a fast growing, broad-leafed hardwood that is native to China and naturally regenerates from the stump after harvest, EC02 Forests officials said.

It grows up to 20 feet the first year, up to 80 feet tall and 20 inches thick by the end of the seven-year harvesting cycle and captures as much or more carbon than any other tree currently known, said Collie Christensen, ECO2 Forests' chief executive officer.

He projects annual revenue of $225 million at the Nevada site: $12 million in carbon credit sales and $213 million in sales of sustainable lumber.

"By growing our sustainable forests we can help stop the logging of forests that have existed for hundreds of years and enjoyed by thousands of families every year," Christensen said.

"Due to the specific regenerative nature of the kiri tree being planted and its ability to regrow from the stump after each harvest, the project should endure for approximately 50 years and then can be extended again by replanting," he said.

ECO2 recently announced a similar 2,000-acre project on the South Pacific island of Vanualu and currently is reviewing the potential for kiri plantations on more than 1 million acres around the world, company officials said.

In addition to creating 280 jobs and $1.5 billion in revenue over the seven-year cycle, ECO2 officials expect the Nevada farms to produce about 560 million board feet of lumber — enough to build about 56,000 typical single family homes, although most of this wood likely will be used for such things as furniture and boat construction, company officials said.

They also expect to create 6.5 million carbon credits that can be sold to third parties or on the open markets globally at an estimated $84 million per cycle. They said over its seven year life, a single kiri tree typically sequesters up to 2.5 tons of CO2, generating up to 2.5 carbon credits.

"That is a high number," said Louis Blumberg, director of California forest and climate policy for The Nature Conservancy. He has been involved in developing forest certification protocols with the Climate Action Reserve, formerly known as the California Climate Action Registry.

Many countries already mandate a cap-and-trade policy in which overall pollution reduction targets are met by allowing facilities to buy and sell pollution credits.

A cap-and-trade bill passed the U.S. House last year in a close vote but is viewed as unlikely to pass the Senate this year.

California enacted the first economy-wide cap on emissions in the United States four years ago, requiring greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020.

Blumberg said he wasn't familiar with ECO2 but that its information about the project "looks legit." He said its projection that every 1,000 acres of kiri trees will sequester over 460,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere every seven years is also "a significant number, a meaningful number."

While northern Nevada's high desert averages less than 10 inches of precipitation a year, ECO2 will implement an irrigation process that conserves water by pinpointing spray mists over the tops of trees.

"It's almost like in your yard with an irrigation drip system," Christensen said.

In addition, kiri trees go dormant in the winter and don't require watering then, he said.

"They really love the tropical weather where they have a lot of sunlight. And with Nevada averaging 300 days of sunlight a year," he said, "it's the perfect place."

NZ talks on farm emissions start today

NZPA | Wednesday April 7, 2010 - 08:47am

The first meeting of the Government's Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases starts in Wellington this morning.

More than 80 science and policy representatives from 28 nations are attending the first meeting of the alliance which aims to get international collaboration on research into growing food producing fewer emissions. Climate activists have said they will protest outside the Te Papa venue.

Prime Minister John Key will open the three-day meeting.

The Government has budgeted $45 million over four years to the alliance, the United States has promised $NZ127m over five years, and Canada $NZ37m over four years.

Separately, the Government is spending $50m on a domestic Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, based in Palmerston North.

Agriculture accounts for 48 percent of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions -- much of it made up of methane emissions from livestock, and nitrous oxide from the urine of cattle and sheep.

Climate Change Negotiations Minister Tim Groser previously said he hoped this week's meeting would result in having working groups set up, a process for conducting a stocktake of existing research developed, and priorities set as well as opening up opportunities for encouraging wider participation.

The alliance is expected initially to divide its work into four sectors: extensive livestock -- the kind of pastoral grazing common in New Zealand -- intensive livestock, arable farming and cropping, and rice paddy.

Camp for Climate Action Aotearoa said yesterday it would call for "real solutions" to climate change, outside the meeting.

"It is likely that this meeting will result in the promotion of technological quick fixes, genetic modification and offsets from agriculture," spokeswoman Jessie Dennis said.

"This amounts to paper shuffling and number crunching, as opposed to real solutions that tackle the root causes of climate change."

NZ - Heat increases on Govt to delay start of carbon trading

By Adam Bennett

4:00 AM Wednesday Apr 7, 2010

Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O'Reilly. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Government is under increasing pressure from business, farmers and coalition partner Act to delay or at least soften the impact of the emissions trading scheme (ETS) ahead of its introduction in July this year.

Yesterday Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O'Reilly confirmed his organisation was one of a number of signatories to a letter from business groups to the Government in March asking it to delay or alter the entry onJuly 1 of key parts of the scheme.

The Herald understands other signatories included the NZ Chambers of Commerce, the Road Transport Association, the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association, the Major Electricity Users Group and the Meat Industry Association.

Mr O'Reilly said the Government had made it clear its scheme was based on the expectation Australia would have its own ETS in effect before New Zealand and the local version would not cause a flight of capital or labour to countries that did not have carbon pricing.

"We weren't delighted with the scheme but were comfortable with it based on those predications.

They're no longer there and really the Government needs to be rethinking the nature of the scheme and its impact."

Mr O'Reilly said Business NZ and other groups, including the Business Roundtable, had suggested three options in their letter: delaying the implementation of the scheme, amending it to give greater protection to emitters facing strong overseas competition, or bringing forward the 2013 review to 2011.

Don Nicholson of Federated Farmers said his organisation did not sign the letter but "would have been very supportive" if given the opportunity.

He indicated that Federated Farmers would continue its opposition to the scheme.

Act MP John Boscawen continued his attacks on the ETS last week in Parliament, saying that although agriculture would not be coming into the scheme until 2015, farmers would suffer significant additional costs from July this year anyway.

"No less than three-quarters of the ETS tax that farmers will pay comes as a consequence of their use of electricity, and petrol and the emissions of the dairy processing factories."

That could add $7800 a year to the average dairy farmer's costs.

Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith was not available for comment yesterday.

Labour climate change spokesman Charles Chauvel said he was aware of the pressure on the Government because of "rushed amendments" aligning the scheme with Australia's.

"It will be interesting to see whether it can resist pressure from certain business interests to suspend the scheme instead of amending it to make it better."

Green Party co-leader and climate change spokesman Russel Norman said suspending the scheme would send a signal to business "that there's never going to be a price on carbon".

By Adam Bennett | Email Adam

REDD Forest carbon incentive rules need time, definition

Tue Apr 6, 2010 6:25pm BST

Email | Print |

Share

| Single Page

[-] Text [+]

By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) - Talks to define a mechanism for global forest protection should not be rushed if it is to work efficiently and fairly, a panel of experts said on Tuesday.

Talks began in Paris last month to define an interim and global architecture for a financial incentive scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation called REDD-plus.

"We know any system which looks good on paper on day one is no good if it doesn't stimulate long-term results," said Lars Lovold, director of the Rainforest Foundation Norway.

U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen last December failed to deliver much guidance on the scheme and a meeting in Bonn on April 9-11 is not expected to make much progress on the issue.

Under REDD-plus, governments could receive payments for their emissions cutting efforts while ensuring the sustainable management, conservation and restoration of forests.

Norway, which will host the next round of the talks in May, would like to get plans defined for an interim mechanism, ideally defining governance and administrative bodies, the distribution of funds, application of standards and the monitoring and verifying of emissions.

The idea is to arrive at the U.N. climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, in December with a concrete plan aimed specifically at the issue of deforestation.

But balancing the interests of 64 nations, local governments, indigenous peoples, private investors and environmental organizations will be tough.

"We need to be realistic about what we can achieve and how quickly. With different countries involved there are different drivers and conflicts," said Pat Hardcastle at consultancy LTS International.

The direct participation of all parties, especially including indigenous peoples in all parts of the process is crucial, the panel said.

"We need to revise the timeframe to allow for proper consultation. Putting a document on a website is not enough," said Francesco Martone, policy adviser at the Forest Peoples Programme.

Defining financial rewards for governments that make progress in cutting emissions and sustaining forests was also key, said Dan Nepstad, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center.

"It will be a rough road but if there are no rewards for good performance it will not work," he said.

ZheShang Nuohai Low Carbon Fund

What is reported to be China's first private equity fund focused on the country's low carbon economy, the ZheShang Nuohai Low Carbon Fund, has been formally established.

Launched by ZheShang Venture Capital and 27 partners, the ZheShang Nuohai Low Carbon Fund has been raising funds since January 25, 2010, and has raised a total of about CNY220 million in the first round. The money, according to local media reports, will be used for investments in fast growing and innovative companies in the energy conservation, environmental protection, and new energy sectors.

In addition, ZheShang Venture Capital is going to set up a CNY5 billion low carbon fund with Hangzhou municipal government to address the low efficiency problems faced by current funding.

According to Hua Yeyu, the president of ZheShang Venture Capital, ZheShang Venture Capital will begin to raise the second round of funds in 2011. In the meantime it will submit a feasibility report on its cooperation with Hangzhou government.