NZ forest credits sell to Danish Government

NZ forest credits sell to Danish Government

The sale of a bundle of New Zealand forestry credits to the Danish Government proves there is a premium market for PFSI credits, says the man who brokered the deal.

Twenty-two thousand AAUs from 1700ha of forest covered by the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative have been sold to the Danish Energy Agency in the first sale of forestry credits to a European Union government, Carbon News (www.carbonnews.co.nz) reports.

The country’s specialist intelligence service on the emerging carbon markets says the sale was arranged by Christchurch-based Permanent Forests International.
While price details are confidential, PFI managing director Mark Belton says that it was at a premium above NZUs.

“It shows that PFSI credits are recognised by buyers as having quality,” he said. “Buyers are swamped with offers all the time, and mostly they won’t buy them.”

The PFSI is separate from the Emissions Trading Scheme. Forest owners who register with it are required to keep the forest for at least 99 years. The first sale of PFSI credits was in June last year, when 1000 tonnes was sold by EcoSecurities to the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation of Japan. Belton says that it’s the permanent nature of the PFSI credits that make them appealing to discerning markets like the Europeans, who are usually reluctant to buy AAUS.

“Not all carbon is created equal,” he told Carbon News.

ENDS

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