New Voluntary Nature Credits Market Must Have Integrity
Press Release – Forest And Bird
Forest & Birds fear is that international and domestic investors including developers, oil, mining, and primary industry interests will engage in this market to cover up damage being caused to New Zealands vulnerable ecosystems and wildlife.
Forest & Bird cautiously welcomes today's government announcement on the development of a high integrity ' voluntary nature credits market ' in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Launched during the national Fieldays at Mystery Creek in Hamilton by Minister Hoggard, the news indicates the direction the Government is taking to establish a voluntary system that matches investors with conservation projects focused on protecting biodiversity and reducing carbon emissions.
As participation in this market is completely voluntary, it is separate from compulsory emissions trading systems (ETS) requirements and RMA offset regulations, which are tied to regulatory consenting processes.
'While we see this as a useful step, and it will help support people and organisations who wish to voluntarily invest in biodiversity, we have reservations that it could become a vehicle for offsetting environmental harm,' says Richard Capie, Forest & Bird's, Group Manager, Conservation Advocacy and Policy.
Forest & Bird's fear is that international and domestic investors – including developers, oil, mining, and primary industry interests – will engage in this market to cover up damage being caused to New Zealand's vulnerable ecosystems and wildlife.
'We're concerned they will use this market to 'greenwash' their public image,' says Mr Capie. 'We need to ensure that any external biodiversity incentive system has high integrity and is sustainable – that real, enduring outcomes for nature are achieved and it is not used to mask environmental damage.
'This new market should not undermine or replace government investment in nature, and it should bring additional resources to restore and protect our important flora and fauna. Ultimately, New Zealanders rightly expect government to look after our incredible wildlife and wild places and invest accordingly. Forest & Bird will be watching with interest to see how this develops.'
The Ministry for the Environment says that the intention of the new system is not to create a platform to offset effects on the environment, instead, the government wants to create a system where individuals or organisations can voluntarily invest in nature. This would come with assurances that their investment adheres to recognised standards developed through this new system. There will be guiding principles in place, one of the key principles being that any project must deliver additional benefits to the environment.
Nine pilot projects are already underway, all privately funded. However, the original intention of a voluntary nature credits market (or biodiversity credit system) was to sit alongside and compliment the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB), so landowners could be appropriately compensated for looking after 'significant natural areas' (SNA's) on their property – supporting on-the-ground conservation, such as reforestation, wetland restoration, or planting native vegetation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
13 hours ago
- Scoop
Tuatahi First Fibre Extends Service Partner Agreement With Ventia
Press Release – Tuatahi First Fibre Tuatahi First Fibre has signed a new service partner agreement with Ventia, strengthening a partnership that continues to support the delivery of fast and reliable fibre broadband. Ventia has been a strategic partner to Tuatahi since 2011 and has extensive experience delivering services including design, build and maintenance, reactive support, field service supervision and project management. The new agreement, valued at more than NZD$110 million over an initial five-year term, positions Ventia as Tuatahi's primary service delivery partner for network build, customer connections, and maintenance activities across their fibre network. The agreement takes effect from 1 July 2025. Tuatahi CEO John Hanna said Ventia has a proven track record in fibre services and shares their commitment to customer excellence. 'We've built a strong and trusted relationship with Ventia over the past 14 years, and this new agreement is a critical step in our ongoing commitment to delivering excellent service to fibre broadband retailers and consumers,' Mr Hanna said. 'As demand for reliable, high-speed broadband continues to grow, we're confident this partnership will help us scale effectively, respond quickly, and maintain high performance across our network – connecting more New Zealanders to world-class fibre broadband.' Ventia Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Dean Banks said the company is proud to continue supporting New Zealand's connectivity needs. 'We are proud of our long-term partnership with Tuatahi and are excited to further extend our relationship with a model that enables growth and operational efficiencies,' Mr Banks said. 'Ventia maintains a strong presence in New Zealand and is committed to supporting the country's digital future as a leading provider of telecommunications and digital infrastructure services.' The renewed partnership is part of Tuatahi's strategy to ensure ongoing quality and innovation in fibre broadband delivery, while continuing to support local communities and the evolving needs of New Zealand's digital economy. About Tuatahi First Fibre Tuatahi First Fibre is a fibre telecommunications wholesale business established in 2010 to deliver the ultrafast broadband (UFB) initiative with the government. Majority owned by Igneo Infrastructure Partners, we operate New Zealand's second-largest fibre network, with approximately 15% of the nationwide UFB footprint, and employ approximately 240 staff. We partner with internet service providers (ISPs), who in turn offer a diverse range of plans and services to customers using our robust network. This collaboration has enabled us to reach over 254,000 households and businesses across regions including Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay,Taranaki,Manawatū-Whanganui,and Wellington. About Ventia Ventia is a leading essential infrastructure services provider in Australia and New Zealand, proudly providing the services that keep infrastructure working for our communities. Ventia has access to a combined workforce of more than 35,000 people, operating in over 400 sites across Australia and New Zealand. With a strategy to redefine service excellence by being customer-focused, innovative and sustainable, Ventia operates across a broad range of industry segments, including defence, social infrastructure, water, electricity and gas, resources, telecommunications and transport.
Scoop
13 hours ago
- Scoop
Farmers Still Rushing To Convert Land To Forestry
Article – RNZ Whole farm-to-forest conversions continue, according to a new report released by Beef and Lamb New Zealand. Gianina Schwanecke, Producer/Presenter Whole farm-to-forest conversions continue, according to a new report released by Beef and Lamb New Zealand. The research, carried out by Orme and Associates on behalf of Beef and Lamb, found close to 40,000 hectares of sheep and beef farms had been sold for forestry since September last year. The report also confirmed 29,518ha had sold in 2023 and 30,483ha in 2024. It brings the total amount of farm-to-forestry conversions since January 2017 to more than 300,000-ha. Beef and Lamb estimates this has resulted in the loss of more than 2 million stock units since 2017. Chair Kate Acland said the data underpinned longstanding concerns about whole farm-to-forestry conversions. 'The numbers show whole-farm sales for conversion to forestry for carbon credits are continuing at pace,' she said. 'What we're really concerned about is whole farms, really good productive land getting planted into trees.' The research showed Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Wairarapa remained preferred locations, while Southland had also seen a notable increase. There was a significant slowdown in the Gisborne region, likely due to the environmental impacts of adverse weather events such as Cyclone Gabrielle and tightened harvesting conditions being set by regional councils. Acland said they were not against incorporating forestry within farms, adding if most farmers planted 10 percent of their least productive land in trees, they could still maintain production. 'We're very supportive of incorporating trees within farms. and I think there's a real opportunity here for farmers to be part of the solution.' This week the government introduced new legislation to restrict farm-to-forest conversions on Land Use Classification (LUC) 1-6 land. Under the changes, which will retroactively take effect from December last year when the policy was originally announced, up to a quarter of farms can be planted in forestry for the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). There will also be a ban on full farm-to-forest conversions entering the ETS for actively farmed land and an annual cap of 15,000ha for forestry entering the ETS for lower quality farmland. Acland said while the government putting restrictions around whole farm to forest conversions was positive, she wasn't sure it went far enough. 'Anecdotally we're still hearing of a significant number of farms being sold this year, despite the government announcing the limits last year. 'We're concerned that some sales are continuing on the basis of intent to purchase land before the limits were announced. We urgently need the government to tighten the criteria around proof of intent to purchase.' Additionally, she was particularly concerned about class 6 land, which she said was 'some of the most productive sheep and beef breeding country'. Acland said carbon forestry had a comparatively 'short-term return' when compared to sheep and beef. 'I think we need to recognise the importance of the red meat sector for the economy of this country.' Federated Farmers national president Wayne Langford echoed some of these concerns, saying the country was approaching critical mass for sheep production. He said the new forestry conversion rules were moving 'slowly'. 'We're gonna see more processing plants close, we're gonna see a lot more communities close down unless we do something about this issue across the country.' The legislation is now before Parliament and is to come into force October 2025.
1News
14 hours ago
- 1News
Kiwi businesses reporting large losses to online scammers
People are losing more money to fraud and online scams, with recent months bringing the second highest total loss figure on record. There has been a 14.7% quarterly increase in financial loss reported by New Zealanders, according to the National Cyber Security Centre's Cyber Security Insights report for the year's first quarter. From January 1 to March 31, a total of 1369 incidents were reported. Of those, 77 were triaged for specialist support because they were of "potential national significance". It equalled a financial losses of $7.8 million, up from $6.8 million in the previous quarter. ADVERTISEMENT The largest ever was $8.9 million, recorded in the third quarter of 2022. Mike Jagusch from the National Cyber Security Centre explains who's being targeted and how it's happening. (Source: Breakfast) Response and investigations team lead Tom Roberts said many of those losses came from scam and fraud. "Particularly through business email compromise — where an attacker targets the email systems of a business to obtain money or information — and unauthorised money transfers," Roberts said. "The true scale of losses is likely to be much greater, since we know only a small proportion of losses are reported to us. We urge people to be cautious online because bad actors are always waiting for an opportunity to steal money or information." Director of mission enablement Mike Jagusch said the difference this quarter was that it was mostly businesses reporting losses, rather than individuals. The report showed more than half of the losses reported to the NCSC were to businesses, with criminals often targeting law firms or real estate agencies which handled large transactions. ADVERTISEMENT The morning's headlines in 90 seconds including Air India crash, ferry still out of action, and ignoring TikTok KiwiSaver hacks. (Source: 1News) "A business email compromise is an attack where a bad actor looks to gain access to an organisation's email system, and then they use that email access to trick staff, or clients, or another organisation, into paying them money." That could take the form of a fake invoice, sent from the organisation's own email account, listing the attacker's email address as the destination for payment. Jagusch said organisations should make sure staff were using long, strong, unique passwords and that they have multi-factor authentication turned on, to make it harder to break into their email systems. According to the report, there were 10 recorded incidents in which more than $100,000 was lost. With 486 total reports, "scams and fraud" was again the most reported incident category. The second-highest was "phishing and credential harvesting" with 440.
