Amendments to legislation governing the Forest Products Commission (FPC) will allow it to trade in carbon assets for the first time.
Introducing the Amendment Bill into Parliament, Minister for Forestry, Dave Kelly said under the existing Forest Products Act 2000, the FPC’s functions were restricted to dealing with ‘forest products’.
“This is defined to mean trees, parts of trees and similar products,” Mr Kelly said.
“The statutory expansion of the FPC’s functions will grant it the right to own, trade and otherwise deal with carbon assets,” he said.
“Carbon capture or sequestration in trees such as renewable pine plantations is one of the most effective ways to remove carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases causing climate change, from the atmosphere.”
Mr Kelly reminded Parliament that the recent State Budget contained a record $350 million investment to plant new pine plantations over the next 10 years.
“This will secure thousands of existing jobs, create new jobs and ensure the long-term supply of pine, a critical material for our building and construction sectors,” he said.
“Under the plan, up to 50 million pine trees will be planted, sequestering between 7.9 and 9.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.”
Mr Kelly said the amendments would allow the FPC to obtain and then trade Australian Carbon Credit Units, which would generate a greater financial return to the West Australian community.
