We may cancel the pause in carbon accounting if you do not meet your responsibilities
In the ETS, your carbon accounting liabilities can be paused while post-1989 forest land is damaged. This is known as a temporary adverse event suspension. If you apply to pause carbon accounting and we approve your application, you do not need to pay (surrender) New Zealand Units (NZUs or units) for the damage. This is on the condition that you re-establish the forest.
Find out more about how to apply for a pause in accounting
If you do something that goes against re-establishing the forest, such as clearing the new growth, we will cancel the suspension.
The land will become normal post-1989 forest land again if:
- the forest is re-established 4 years after the event (this is called the re-establishment date), and
- the land recovers the amount of carbon per hectare that it stored before the event.
Find out more about re-establishing your forest and your responsibilities
Clearing the land before it recovers the amount of carbon it had before the event
This applies if you:
- do anything that goes against re-establishing the forest (such as clearing, or converting the land to have a purpose other than forestry) before the re-establishment date, or
- clear the land after the re-establishment date but before it recovers the amount of carbon per hectare it had before the event.
In this situation:
- carbon accounting will resume
- the land is considered to be deforested, and
- you will be liable for the emissions from the event and any additional clearing.
These emissions are treated as if they happened on the date you started clearing or converting the land. You must account for them in the next emissions return due for the land.
As the land is considered deforested, you must remove it from the ETS.
Find out about removing post-1989 forest land from the ETS
If the land fails to meet the criteria for forest land after 10 or 20 years
This applies if, 10 or 20 years after the event:
- the land has not yet recovered the amount of carbon per hectare that it had before the event, and
- the forest on the land does not meet the stocking and growth criteria to still be forest land after clearing.
Find out the stocking and growth thresholds for 10 or 20 years after clearance
If your land fails to meet these criteria on either of these dates while accounting is paused, the suspension will be cancelled. You must pay units for the emissions from the original damage and any further clearing as if the accounting was never paused. These emissions are treated as if they happened on the date the land failed to meet the criteria. You must account for them in the next emissions return due for the land.
Failure to meet these criteria 10 or 20 years after the land is cleared is one way land is considered deforested in the ETS. You must remove this land from the ETS.
