THROUGH THE TREES

With the acceptance that the massive amount of carbon dioxide emitted into our atmosphere is causing worldwide climate change, governments around the world have had to develop plans to reduce their carbon emissions. Iwi including Ngāi Tahu have had an interesting role in shaping the finer details of New Zealand's second attempt at an Emissions Trading Scheme. Kaituhituhi Karen Arnold reports.

After almost two years of urging the Government to consider the impact an Emissions Trading Scheme would have on Ngāi Tahu's historic 1997 settlement, an agreement has been struck to make 35,000ha of Crown land available for forestry to the iwi and four other similarly affected iwi, for 70 years. It was deemed enough time for those iwi to recoup their losses.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu kaiwhakahaere Mark Solomon says the planting of permanent forests will literally breathe new life into the environment. That will have a flow-on affect to the people and species that share it. "We will pay for these forests and future generations of Ngāi Tahu and all New Zealanders will benefit."

Solomon says a decade ago when Ngāi Tahu agreed to buy pre-1990 Crown forestry land as part of its Treaty settlement, the Crown knew emissions trading would be introduced in the future. He says that meant the Crown was in breach of its disclosure obligations as set out in the Deed of Settlement. Had the iwi known about plans for an ETS, it might have made different choices.

"We will pay for these forests and future generations of Ngāi Tahu and all New Zealanders will benefit."

MARK SOLOMON
Kaiwhakahaere, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

New Zealand has obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets for the greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries for the period 2008 to 2012. It has undertaken to ensure its average annual emissions during this five-year period are the same as 1990 emissions, after allowing for any international transfers of Kyoto-compliant carbon credits. The next commitment period, rules and targets are currently being discussed by world leaders at Copenhagen.

Currently, Kyoto Protocol rules allow New Zealand to use increases in forestry to offset its growth in gross emissions.

Forests planted after 1990, on land that was not previously forested (such as marginal agricultural land), can earn credits because carbon dioxide has been taken out of the atmosphere by the growing trees (also known as forest sinks). At the same time, forests that existed before 1990 and are felled and not replanted create a debit, because it is assumed that all carbon stored in these trees is released back into the atmosphere. That placed Ngāi Tahu in a bad position given its extensive investment in pre-1990 forestry as part of its Settlement. It had intended to convert much of those forests into dairy farms.

Back in February last year, Ngāi Tahu began talks with the Labour-led government concerning its unique position. Labour agreed if the Climate Change Bill proceeded, Ngāi Tahu would suffer between $70 and $120 million in direct losses as a result of deforestation liabilities on its pre-1990 forest land. After a valuation was completed, the scheme was redesigned to grant pre-1990 forest owners carbon credits to compensate for the loss of land value. As a result, the ultimate loss Ngāi Tahu would experience was $40 to $50 million.

Initially, Treaty Negotiations Minister Dr Michael Cullen signalled he would seek a Cabinet mandate to negotiate with Ngāi Tahu. Instead, the government changed tack in July last year, cancelled all meetings and ordered an assessment, which would become known as the Aikman Report.

The iwi received a copy of the report in December 2008 – three months after the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading) Amendment Act had been passed. Te Rūnanga, which had no input into the terms of reference, or in appointing the reviewer, says the report was not an independent assessment.

The official response from Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to government noted Helen Aikman QC, while esteemed, could not "fairly be described as independent". Among other factors, Aikman previously held a role within Crown Law's Treaty team at the time of the Ngāi Tahu Settlement and the position of Deputy Solicitor General (Constitutional) during the disclosure period.

Donald Brown (Ngāi Tahu) plants a tōtara seedling at Ahuriri, near Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere).

It said the report used inappropriate methodology because it relied upon "insufficient, unsuitable for purpose and non-verified evidence".

But by December last year, there was a new National-led government in charge, which unexpectedly brokered a deal with New Zealand's newest political force, the Māori Party.

The party had already signalled it would be reviewing Labour's controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act, which was the reason why it was first formed. However, the ETS was also under scrutiny.

Co-leader Dr Pita Sharples said the scheme did not respect the rights of Māori and iwi, leading to the party's willingness to talk with National. "Labour did not provide for whānau, whenua, the Treaty of Waitangi and the Māori economy. These are four outcomes we have pursued vigorously throughout our negotiations," says Sharples.

At the same time, tribes nationwide were keen to follow Ngāi Tahu's lead and its desire for an afforestation (the planting of forests) agreement. A series of hui were held and support garnered for an all-iwi deal, over and above the one being pursued by Ngāi Tahu.

In May this year a group of high-level ministers – Finance Minister, Bill English; Climate Change Issues Minister, Dr Nick Smith; Agriculture and Forestry Minister, David Carter and Climate Change Issues (International Negotiations) Associate Minister, Tim Groser – met with the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Group (ILG), the Māori Reference Group Executive (MRGE) and other iwi representatives.

The Climate Change Iwi Leadership Group (ILG) is a collective of Iwi and Maori economic entities that have come together to respond to common issues relating to Climate Change. The representatives of the ILG are Dr Apirana Mahuika (Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou chaiman), Timi Te Heuheu (Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board deputy chairman), Paul Morgan (Federation of Māori Authorities chief executive) and Mark Solomon.

At this meeting the government acknowledged the constructive role Māori had played in the design and development of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) throughout 2008 and committed to engaging with Māori as possible changes to the ETS are developed and considered.

That commitment was re-stated in a letter from Smith to Iwi Leaders Group (Climate Change) chaired by Mahuika.

The group had regular scheduled talks with Smith in the lead-up to the crucial first reading of the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill on November 24. Central to getting the numbers to pass the Bill was an agreement brokered with the Māori Party, confirming the government's willingness to address Māori concerns, including those of Ngāi Tahu.

"The [Emissions Trading Scheme] would have been delayed further had agreement with the Māori Party not been reached."

DR NICK SMITH
Climate Change Issue Minister

Smith said the arrangement struck the right balance in protect-ing the future of the New Zealand economy and its environment. "It will halve the cost increases for households and make the scheme workable for business while ensuring New Zealand does its fair share to combat climate change."

He said New Zealand had been going round in circles for a decade debating how to impose a cost on carbon pollution. "The scheme would have been delayed further had agreement with the Māori Party not been reached."

For Ngāi Tahu, it also means a solution has been reached – a solution that was developed by the iwi and then adapted by government. It will form a commercial entity with four other iwi – Waikato Tainui, Te Uri o Hau, Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa – that settled Treaty claims before the New Zealand ETS was introduced. Between them they will share 35,000ha of low conservation-value Crown land for forestry for 70 years. During that time the entity will retain 100 per cent of any carbon credits earned. At the end of the 70-year period, all rights to the land revert back to the Crown.

Solomon regards the deal as a satisfactory outcome: "The ledger is made even through the support and wisdom of the Māori Party and the actions of National to honour the Crown's contract with Ngāi Tahu and affected iwi.

"We commend the government for doing what is right. The ability of Ngāi Tahu to make an informed choice about the purchase of its Settlement forests was always impaired and we have fought loudly and long to rectify the situation. We are very pleased to be able to reach a pragmatic solution," he said.

Māori Party Te Tai Tonga MP Rahui Katene also applauded the deal: "(It) recognised the constructive engagement that has taken place between the iwi and the Crown, to try to address a situation in which they had been unknowingly disadvantaged. It reflected the generosity of spirit entered into between the Crown and the Treaty Partner."

Pita Sharples is equally pleased with the result of negotiations. He told TE KARAKA the gains made by the Māori Party under the ETS agreement with the government, weren't just for iwi forestry owners.

"As well as protecting the rights of iwi, our emphasis has been on looking after all Māori, and ensuring the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are recognised in ETS legislation."

Sharples said any ETS, whatever way it was structured, was going to impose costs.

"Given that we are coming out of a recession, and over 10,000 Māori are unemployed, we opted to secure immediate relief for the most vulnerable families."

Key gains included an extra $24 million to insulate houses lived in by Community Service Card holders. "This would lead to lower power costs and contribute to better health," he said.

"Families living in non-insulated houses not only have higher power bills, they also have higher chances of getting sick, so we are pleased the government has heard our call on this issue."

"Our people are heavily involved in fishing, farming and forestry, all of which are affected by the scheme. We are working to make sure that our people's businesses are not the hardest hit by the scheme, so that the outcomes are fair and our economy can grow."

DR PITA SHARPLES
Māori Party co-leader

The Māori Party also wanted a focus on increased environmental sustainability across a number of policy areas and for iwi and Māori to get environmental, customary and economic benefit from carbon farming (carbon farming is planting trees to earn credits).

A clause, recognising the Treaty of Waitangi, has also been included in the ETS, specifically setting out which matters the Crown has an obligation to consult on.

Other gains include: Crown/iwi partnerships for afforestation programmes, assistance given to the fishing industry by way of increased quota allocation; the formation of a specialised agriculture advisory group on ETS – the membership to include Māori agricultural interests; and the involvement of Māori representatives in international climate change negotiations.

Since the ETS agreement was reached, Labour MPs have been highly critical of the deal and have tried to malign Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu as a corporate entity rather than an organisation repre-senting whānau and iwi. Katene refutes this distinction. "Hapū and iwi are built upon the very foundations of whānau – there can be no iwi without whānau.

"As a descendant of Kāi Tahu, the broad mission of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu is to promote and enhance the social, cultural and economic well-being of Ngāi Tahu Whānui."

The package included a range of environmental outcomes and recognised the importance of biodiversity to all people "so that future generations inherit a country that is a better version of the clean, green Aotearoa than the one we inhabit today".

But the work on behalf of Māori is far from done. The new Emissions Trading Scheme will require detailed and complex regulations to make it work and there is also more work to do on preparing for further negotiations on the Crown-Iwi partnership in afforestation.

Nick Smith has committed to the ILG having a key role to play in both of these pieces of work which has seen ILG secretariat Willie Te Aho spending much of December taking the Crown's afforesta-tion partnership offer to Iwi. The ILG has a 20-year target for afforestation that would see it amass 700,000 hectares of bare land for planting into forestry, much of it indigenous.

This partnership will see iwi and hapū generating a double dividend of enhancing national biodiversity while participating in the new carbon market.

Through The Trees

Roger Pikia

TE KARAKA caught up with Roger Pikia (Ngāti Tahu Ngāti Wharoa/ Ngāti Hikairo) the day before he flew out of New Zealand to attend the international summit on climate change in Copenhagen. [More...]

Aikman Report And Ngāi Tahu Response

When former Minister in Charge of Treaty Negotiations Dr Michael Cullen called for an independent review of how the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme as it stood in 2008 would impact on Ngāi Tahu, Te Rūnanga accepted the decision in good faith. [More...]

THROUGH THE TREES

Through The Trees

Roger Pikia

Aikman Report And Ngāi Tahu Response

Ngāi Tahu Integrated Forestry And Carbon Credit Opportunities Project

Inside Issue 45

SEARCH FOR CALM WATERS

THROUGH THE TREES

MEETING TŪTOKO

ULVA'S ISLAND

ARM STRONG

COUNTRY EXPEDITION

HAVE YIKE, WILL TRAVEL