13 Nov 2009
GreenAir, a carbon credit market trader, has negotiated the sale of a parcel of New Zealand “greened” AAUs (NZUs) to a European Government compliance buyer. The transaction was the first of its kind involving multiple forestry owners.
GreenAir worked with 14 clients with forests throughout New Zealand to pool together a parcel of issued NZUs, says company chair and executive director Himanshu Dua. While GreenAir is also working with major forest growers he says he is delighted that the company was able to assist small- to medium-sized forest owners structure their carbon forestry project and complete a sale into the international carbon market.
“This transaction marks a milestone for small- to medium-sized forest owners, providing them with an opportunity to sell to large international compliance buyers,” said Mr. Dua. “Generally compliance buyers only transact in very large volumes making it difficult for small- to medium-sized forest owners to sell their credits internationally. GreenAir was able to facilitate this sale by aggregating a group of its forestry clients and providing a new market through which they can sell credits and generate revenue for their sustainable forestry practices.”
New Zealand greened AAUs are attractive to international compliance buyers as they the help address land erosion through new planting, as well as provide farmers with a viable alternative to high emission farming practices said Mr Dua. As a result, buyers are willing to pay a premium to surplus or “hot air” AAUs coming out of Eastern Europe Countries.
While the terms of the deal are confidential, GreenAir is confident that the price secured for its clients reflects the high quality of New Zealand based offsets in the international carbon market. GreenAir expects to commercialise a minimum of seven million tonnes of forestry carbon credits in New Zealand during the first compliance period of their national emissions trading scheme (ETS). GreenAir is already in talks with compliance buyers both internationally and domestically for the sale of 2008 to 2012 forestry credits (including the upcoming pre-1990 allocations).
About GreenAir Limited GreenAir Limited was founded in 2006 by Himanshu Dua as an environmental project originator and advisor. GreenAir is involved in every aspect of the carbon credit value chain, providing initial funding and expertise to commercialise projects, services to assist companies to become carbon neutral, and brokering services worldwide. As well as forestry, GreenAir’s projects include biomass power plants, landfills, wind and coal mines. In New Zealand, the company has two local agents: Stuart Orme and Allan Laurie based in the North and South Island respectively.
GreenAir’s head office is located in Sydney. For more information, contact Himanshu Dua, Tel + 61 (0) 28298 2010. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
