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TAX breaks for tree planting should be given to organisations that can prove they will offer other environmental benefits such as restoring degraded land and boosting the number of native plants, Australia’s largest environment group, Greening Australia, says.
The organisation supports the Government’s plan to give tax breaks to companies that plant trees as part of the emissions trading scheme but says the definition of a carbon sink is too vaguely defined.
“One of our great fears is that loose regulation around the development of the potentially enormous biosequestration market will see a combination of negative environmental and social outcomes,” Greening Australia’s submission to the Senate committee investigating the emissions trading scheme says.
Unless the definition is tightened, Greening Australia argues it will be too easy for unscrupulous operations to set up a sink only to sell it or harvest its trees for a quick profit.
It wants the Government to demand that any trees planted as part of the scheme cannot be cut down for at least 100 years. This would maximise the amount of gases, such as carbon dioxide, that could be removed from the atmosphere.
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