New Zealand’s Forestry ETS – Making It Up As They Go.

When New Zealand’s forestry ETS was implemented, there wasn’t a single farmer on my books who understood how it worked, and that it involved them and they had to be active on planning so as not to be either penalised or miss an opportunity (albeit a farcical one). I managed to get those with woodlots to the meetings that were held at the time, and (I hope) most who needed to applied for their under 50ha exemptions, because the system is almost incomprehensible. I was up with it at the time, but have to say, given my tax compliance load, am hell of a vague on it now, and my clients report of farmer friends who are affected yet have no idea they are because this largely fell through the professional adviser cracks – too hard to handle. It’s complex nonsense setting up a carbon trading scheme which in terms of treating any supposed global warming will have 0% effectiveness – even those who push for this ludicrous carbon trading don’t believe this means has a hope of its ends.

But I notice from the latest issue of Sustainable Forestry this hasn’t stopped the government embarking on prosecutions for not filling in enough forms, or for those which were filled, wrongly:

Recent ETS Prosecutions

MPI has recently undertaken prosecutions of post-1989 forestry participants in the emissions trading Scheme for breaches of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 [FFS]. Two prosecutions were recently concluded. The participants had failed to collect the prescribed data or other prescribed information, failed to calculate emissions and keep records; and failed to file a Mandatory Emission Return.

Yes, lets prosecute people for not complying with laws that achieve no useful purpose; are admitted as pointless even by those who promote them; and are impossible to comply with from the get-go anyway. If you want to see what nonsense this paper shuffling is, wrap your eye-ware around this from the same issue:

KYOTO Protocol Units in The NZEUR

Changes to the validity of Kyoto Protocol emission units in the New Zealand emission unit register (NZEUR) will come into effect after 18 November 2015.

The units affected are CERs, ERUs, RMUs and AAUs:

» If you have any of these Kyoto Protocol units from the first commitment period, you will no longer be able to trade these units internationally after 18 november 2015; and

» New Zealand will be required to cancel these units once it has completed all of its obligations from the first commitment period. this is expected to occur in mid-2016. However, the deadline for this process has not yet been set.

For holders of NZ AAUs: the Government will ensure that holders of NZ AAUs retain access to valid units. Options for the ongoing use of these units are currently being worked through, and the EPA will provide updates to holders once the process has been confirmed …

Oh bugger off, and stop pinning honest lives under the weight of horseshit like this. Even scant reading is enough to see they're making it up as they go.