MPI Invites Research Proposals To Measure New Zealand’s Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The annual funding round for the Ministry for Primary
Industries’ (MPI’s) Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research
fund opens on 14 July, with $2.1 million on
offer.

“We’re seeking research proposals to
maintain and improve our agriculture, forestry and land-use
inventory,” says Steve Penno, MPI’s director of
investment programmes.

“The inventory calculates and
records greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in New
Zealand, as well as carbon sequestration from
forests.

“It will be used to account for mitigation
technologies as they are developed and implemented on farms
in New Zealand.

“It’s also an important tool in
enabling New Zealand’s reporting to the New Zealand
Greenhouse Gas Inventory and the United Nations under the
Paris Climate Agreement.”

Steve Penno says this year
MPI is seeking proposals on nine priority areas, ranging
from methane to the effects of plants on
emissions.

“Accurate information is essential for
developing policy and verifying that we’re on the right
track in efforts across Aotearoa to reduce agricultural
emissions,” says Mr Penno.

“The fund provides a
point of focus and coordination for world-leading climate
change research.”

Through Budget 2022 the Government
committed $339 million through the Climate Emergency
Response Fund to accelerate development and uptake of
high-impact agricultural mitigation technologies. Of this,
$1.5 million was added to the Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Research fund for 2022/23, taking available funding to $2.1
million for new projects over the next 12 months.

Mr
Penno says the fund also contributes to world-wide efforts
to drive down agricultural emissions.

“As one of the
only developed countries with a largely pasture-based
agricultural economy, we’re also able to share our
research outcomes with less developed countries with similar
agricultural sectors to boost their knowledge,” says Mr
Penno.

“The research generated through this fund
provides us with invaluable baseline data to continue
efforts to mitigate New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions
from agriculture.

“It goes hand-in-hand with the
goals of the Government and sector roadmap Fit for a Better
World, a key part of which is retaining our position as a
global leader in producing high quality food and fibre,
while reducing the sector’s carbon footprint.”

The
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research funding round is open from
14 July to 12 August. Successful proposals are expected to
be announced in October.

More information is available
on MPI’s
website.

Notes

The nine
priorities for this year’s funding round are:

·
methane

· plant effects on emissions

·
top-down emissions verification

· modelling and
data

· sequestration, land use and land-use
emissions

· reviews and updates to existing inventory
items

· projections and targets

·
policy-driven research

· nitrous oxide.

The
priorities paper for 2022 is on MPI’s Applying
for Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research funding
webpage.

Previous examples of projects funded by the
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research fund are on this
webpage.

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