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Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania

Fact sheet - Tasmania's forestry sector

Download the Action Plan Fact sheet - Forestry (PDF)

Tasmania’s Climate Change Action Plan 2023-25

Tasmania’s Climate Change Action Plan 2023-25 outlines the Tasmanian Government’s plan for action on climate change for the next two years. It will support Tasmania’s transition to a low emissions economy, to help us reach our target to maintain net zero greenhouse gas emissions, or lower, from 2030.

Action plan priority areas

  1. Information and Knowledge

    We will ensure our businesses, industries, governments and communities can make informed decisions by providing up-to-date, high quality and user‑friendly information about Tasmania’s emissions, our future climate, and emissions reduction, sequestration and adaptation opportunities.

  2. Transition and Innovation

    We will reduce our emissions and increase our carbon sequestration by making the most of opportunities using existing and emerging technologies, and support business, industry and the community through the transition to a low emissions economy.

  3. Adaptation and Resilience

We will manage the risks and take advantage of the potential opportunities from climate change, support planning and decision making, and build the resilience of our communities, environments, industries and infrastructure.

Developing the plan

To develop the action plan, we consulted state and local government, business, industry, non‑government organisations and the community. We used the best available science and were informed by the outcomes of the most recent independent review of the Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008 and the Tasmanian Emissions Pathway Review. The action plan aligns with other Tasmanian Government policies and considers developments in other Australian jurisdictions, including the Australian Government’s climate change initiatives.

Supporting Tasmania’s forestry sector in the transition to a low emissions economy

The Tasmanian forestry industry contributes to the state’s economy and supports employment in regional communities. The industry also has an important role to play in combating the effects of climate change, by sequestering carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it in wood products. Forestry provides a renewable, low emissions alternative to other non‑renewable materials.

Greenhouse gas emissionsThis figure includes a solid line chart that shows emissions from the LULUCF sector from 1990 to 2021 and a dashed line showing total emissions excluding LULUCF. It shows that emissions from LULUCF fluctuated significantly since 1990, from 10.55 Mt CO2-e in 1990, to 10.57 Mt CO2-e in 2000, decreasing in stepped increments to become a carbon sink for the first time in 2007 with minus 0.28 Mt CO2-e, increasing to 2.53 Mt CO2-e in 2008, before again falling sharply in 2012 with minus 6.59 Mt CO2-e, and reaching minus 13.13 Mt CO2-e in 2021. The dashed line shows Tasmania’s emissions excluding LULUCF remained relatively steady, from 8.30 Mt CO2-e in 1990 to 8.33 Mt CO2-e in 2021.

In 2021, Tasmania’s land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector was a net carbon sink, recording minus 13.13 megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e).

This sink offset the emissions from all other Tasmanian sectors, which had a combined contribution of 8.33 Mt CO2-e.

More information about Tasmania’s emissions is available in the greenhouse gas report, published annually by the Climate Change Office and available on the ReCFIT website: www.recfit.tas.gov.au/tasmanias_greenhouse_gas_emissions

The Tasmanian Emissions Pathway Review identified that emissions reductions for the LULUCF sector can be achieved by

  • increasing plantations, including agroforestry
  • reducing the conversion of plantations to other land uses
  • increasing the proportion of forestry logs directed to long-term wood products
  • introducing initiatives to reduce the risk of bushfires.

Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plans

We will work with business and industry to develop an Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plan for the LULUCF sector by November 2024. That plan will ensure that we take a practical and balanced approach to reduce emissions from the sector and build its resilience to the impacts of a changing climate.

Taking practical action over the next two years

The government recognises the need to take action on climate change while the sector-based Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plans are being developed.

The action plan includes an action to support Private Forests Tasmania to deliver grants for land owners to increase tree plantings on their properties. This is aimed at increasing carbon sequestration and has other benefits including improved farm productivity, water quality and biodiversity and reduced soil erosion.

The action plan also includes the following existing government commitments to support emissions reduction and resilience in Tasmania’s forestry sector:

  • Support the forestry sector to
    • identify barriers to agroforestry and plantation forestry
    • promote plantations and wood products
    • promote using locally-sourced timber, where feasible, in government construction projects instead of more emissions-intensive building materials (through the Tasmanian Wood Encouragement Policy)
    • explore opportunities for bioenergy and biofuels to reduce fossil fuel use.
  • Support Private Forests Tasmania and the Tasmanian Forestry Hub to deliver the Farm Forestry Carbon Tool, to enable landowners to estimate their carbon emissions and sequestration, and identify potential tree offset opportunities. The goal of the tool is to encourage landowners to plant more trees on their properties.
  • Continue delivering the Statewide Fuel Reduction Program and initiatives to reduce the risk of bushfire ignition on the road verge, to help protect our forests from bushfires.