Speeding up access to emission-reducing tools for NZ farmers
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) plays a key role in efforts to lower New Zealand’s agricultural emissions.
The Government has committed more than $400 million over the next 4 years to the important work.
The aim of the accelerating new greenhouse gas mitigations programme is to:
- unite efforts to accelerate research and development
- get new tools, technology, and practices to lower on-farm emissions to farmers faster.
The Government’s structured accelerated mitigations programme includes:
- a joint venture with industry through AgriZeroNZ
- scaled-up investment in the Ag Emissions Centre (formerly the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre).
Innovative technology is key to ensuring efforts to cut on-farm emissions do not undermine New Zealand’s agricultural production and profitability.
MPI is a key funder and shareholder, as well as the lead government agency on reducing agricultural emissions. MPI oversees the Crown investment and helps facilitate effective and efficient domestic and international policy settings, regulatory pathways, and market access.
AgriZeroNZ
AgriZeroNZ is a public-private joint venture focused on helping farmers cut emissions while maintaining their competitive edge. It is half owned by the Government through MPI and half owned by private sector agribusiness companies. Private sector funding is matched by government, dollar-for-dollar.
AgriZeroNZ takes a commercial, venture capital approach to its investments. It acts as a catalyst for fast-tracking the development and commercialisation of new technologies for uptake on-farm. It is at the forefront of emerging trends, developing global partnerships, and engaging to create change in the agricultural sector.
Ag Emissions Centre
The Ag Emissions Centre focuses on accelerating science and research to help reduce New Zealand’s agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Fully funded by Government, the centre shapes, funds, and manages a portfolio of research and development to develop sustainable and cost-effective agricultural emissions mitigation solutions.
How it works
Show/hide information on this poster:
The infographic has a semicircular structure with interconnected sections.
The first section showcases the Ag Emissions Centre logo and the organisation as being the ‘research accelerator’. This section also shows some cartoon-like characters – a person feeding a cow, a person looking through a microscope, and a person looking at computer codes in a monitor.
The second section showcases AgriZeroNZ's logo and the organisation as being the ‘commercial accelerator’. This section also shows some cartoon-like characters – 2 people shaking hands, a person looking at his phone, water pipes, and a lake.
Between the 2 accelerators, there are 6 stages of development that leads to ‘adoptable solutions for farmers’. The first stage is 'fundamental research', the second stage is 'solution discovery', the third stage is 'proof of concept', the fourth stage is 'field trials/pilots', the fifth stage is 'scale up', and the final sixth stage is 'market entry'.
A green field with cows and trees is shown behind these sections.
The following statement connects the semicircular structure: "Through research and commercial ventures, individually or collectively, we provide solutions to farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions".
At the bottom of the infographic is the Ministry for Primary Industries logo.
Why the agriculture sector needs extra support
Agriculture contributes about half of New Zealand's gross greenhouse gas emissions. Around 91% of our biogenic methane emissions are from agriculture.
Agriculture needs to contribute to meeting our climate goals, and the goals of our global customers and trade partners.
It's important for the long-term economic and social resilience of our rural communities that the right tools, technology, and support are in place to enable producers to make changes that reduce their biological emissions.
Projects and activities
Read about AgriZeroNZ's investments
Methane research programme – New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre
