Protecting productive farmland from ETS

The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme Forestry Conversions) Amendment Bill has been passed in Parliament.

The Government says the legislation will restore certainty for rural NZ, protect farmland, and support farmers and growers to produce high-quality, safe, sustainable food and fibre.

Key changes in the Bill include:

• Limits on exotic forestry registrations for actively farmed Land Use Capability (LUC) classes 1–6 — New Zealand’s most productive farmland.

• Flexibility for farmers to plant and register up to 25% of their productive land in forestry.

• Exemptions for certain classifications of Māori-owned land.

• Two annual ballots allowing up to 15,000 hectares of new exotic forestry on LUC 6 land.

• Transitional provisions for those who invested in forestry in good faith before December 2024.

• A review of the annual hectare limit in 2028, providing an additional safeguard to ensure the settings are working as intended.

The legislation will come into force in October 2025.