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Download AudioMāori Climate Commissioner Donna Awatere Huata says making the crown the only buyer for carbon credits will drive away investment from Māori land.
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has floated the idea as the Government tries to work out how it will treat native and exotic forests in the emissions trading scheme.
Ms Awatere-Huata says carbon farming offers the only hope for many Maori owners to develop marginal land – and could add up to $16 billion to the Maori economy if the crown doesn’t grab the profit.
“If Shaw’s got another idea of how Maoridom in rural areas can generate that kind of income, I’d like to hear it. This idea we have to sell to the government, they’ll then auction it and take the profit, which is simply going to drive away investment. It’s like just another confiscation,” she says.
Ms Awatere Huata says Maori landowners have already had to fight against permanent forest being taken out of the emissions trading scheme.
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