Applying to remove land from the ETS
When post-1989 forest land is registered in the ETS, the person registering it must choose 1 or more carbon accounting areas. This is a way to divide your forest land into individual areas for reporting in the ETS.
Read more about choosing carbon accounting areas
Once land is registered in the ETS, you can apply to remove it.
You can apply to remove:
- part of a carbon accounting area
- one or more whole carbon accounting areas
- all of your carbon accounting areas (and deregister from the ETS completely).
The information on this web page does not apply to pre-1990 forest land.
There are different considerations for post-1989 forest land registered as permanent forestry (from 1 January 2023). You can only remove this land under certain circumstances.
Read more about pre-1990 forest land
If you remove land from the ETS, you may have to pay (surrender) units for that land.
Removing part of a carbon accounting area
To remove a part of a carbon accounting area:
- complete the application form below
- supply a digital map (shapefile) of the area remaining in the ETS.
You must send a shapefile of the area remaining in the ETS.
Do not send a shapefile of the area that will be removed from the ETS.
The area remaining in the carbon accounting area must be 1 hectare or more. If one or more areas remain after the land is removed, each of these areas must be 1 hectare or more.
Application form to remove a part of a carbon accounting area from the ETS [PDF, 359 KB]
Find out how to map forest land in the ETS
Upload your completed form and shapefile to the online system, Tupu-ake.
Access Tupu-ake – Forestry ETS online services
Removing whole carbon accounting areas
To remove 1 or more whole carbon accounting areas, complete the application form.
Application form to remove one or more whole carbon accounting areas [PDF, 330 KB]
Upload your completed form to the online system, Tupu-ake.
Access Tupu-ake – Forestry ETS online services
Removing all carbon accounting areas and deregistering
You can remove all your carbon accounting areas at once and deregister completely from the ETS.
- You may have to do this if your land is no longer eligible to be in the ETS.
- You may choose to do this if you don't want your post-1989 forest land to be in the scheme any more.
Find out how to remove all carbon accounting areas and deregister from the ETS
Removing land under registered forestry rights or registered leases
If you want to remove land from the ETS, you must let certain interested parties know.
This applies when the land has a registered forestry right or registered lease on the title. The landowner and the holders of any registered rights or leases must be informed.
Find out more about forestry rights and leases and land in the ETS
Emissions returns and removing land from the ETS
If you remove a whole carbon accounting area from the ETS, you do not need to submit an emissions return. You will be informed if you need to pay (surrender) any units owing.
When you remove part of a carbon accounting area from the ETS, you must submit an emissions return within 20 working days. You must surrender the units that you earned for the area removed (the "unit balance" for this area).
If you remove a part of a carbon accounting area, you must calculate the carbon stock changes for both parts of the carbon accounting area:
- the part staying in the ETS, and
- the part being removed.
How to calculate changes in the amount of carbon for post-1989 forest land
There is a cap on the maximum number of units you pay per carbon accounting area.
Find out more about the liability cap for individual carbon accounting areas
How to submit an emissions return after removing land from the ETS
If you have applied to remove land from the ETS, we’ll let you know once it is removed. We’ll provide you with a summary of the land removed. You must then submit an emissions return.
We’ll ask you to complete your emissions return in the online system, Tupu-ake. You can:
- use the system to calculate the values for your emissions return, or
- do your own calculations manually and enter them into the emissions return.
We will pass this information to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). The EPA administers the New Zealand Emissions Trading Register (NZETR), which records transactions involving units. The EPA will contact you to direct you to surrender units or to confirm that units are allocated to your NZETR holding account.
Find out about penalties for late or inaccurate emissions returns
