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About Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research funding

The Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research (GHGIR) fund aims to improve the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land use.

It supports the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI's) component of the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory. MPI compiles and calculates greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration from agriculture , forestry, and other land use. This is reported to:

  • New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory
  • United Nations under the Paris Climate Agreement.

Find out about greenhouse gas reporting

The fund also supports the development of land-use projections, including afforestation and deforestation. These projections show how carbon accounting rules lead to changes in land use.

The GHGIR fund was established in the early 2000s and was independently reviewed in 2020.

Independent review of GHGIR fund [PDF, 436 KB]

Aims of the GHGIR fund

The GHGIR fund supports research to improve:

  • MPI's component of the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory (agriculture)
  • reporting of emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land uses.

This research helps inform policy decisions. It also helps the agriculture and forestry sectors manage their greenhouse gas emissions.

The research includes work to:

  • review and update how emissions are calculated for items in the inventory
  • calculate emissions from items that aren't in the inventory
  • account for new forms of mitigation
  • support policymakers
  • help the agriculture and forestry sectors manage their greenhouse gas emissions.

Examples of GHGIR research

GHGIR has funded 124 projects in the past 7 years. Most of these have been related to agriculture, although 17 have focused on forestry.

List of reports from some previous GHGIR projects

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research fund 2026 priorities [PDF, 159 KB]

Projects approved from the 2025 funding round

Project Applicant  Project summary  Funding

Non-forest land-use emissions model 

Market Economics 

This project aims to fill this gap by developing a robust, user-friendly non-forest land-use emissions model that aligns with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines and Paris Agreement accounting principles. 

 

$199,000

 

Evaluation of the current GHG inventory livestock intake prediction model 

AgResearch

This project reduces the complexity associated with calculating animal energy requirements and minimises the risk of unrealistic dry matter intake predictions for cattle, sheep, and deer. 

 

 $499,036
CO2 emission factor for lime  AgResearch This project aims to determine the EFLimestone for CaCO3 when applied to representative pastoral soils with contrasting soil carbon contents. The goal is to collect data that could be used for developing a country-specific CO2 EFLimestone for lime application 

 $540,431

Remote sensing of pastures 

AgResearch

 

This project will result in a system that will enable national-scale year-round estimation of pasture quality and forage cropping

$694,534  

Sheep and beef liveweight modelling including improved modelling of dairy beef 

AbacusBio Ltd 

This project will identify suitable activity datasets and model enhancements that can support more robust modelling of liveweight and growth profiles of beef cattle and sheep to better account for non-linearity associated with seasonal growth and maturity. Additionally it will identify suitable activity datasets and model enhancements that can differentiate the growth profiles of beef and dairy beef cattle to better account for differences in production systems, management and slaughter 

 

$376,900

 

Improved regional dairy feed information 

DairyNZ 

This project will improve the accuracy of feed data and emission estimates and provide a pipeline for future data incorporation and analyses 

$150,000

 

Annual afforestation and deforestation intentions survey 

University of Canterbury 

This survey will be used for government projections of GHG emissions and removals for future commitment periods, estimating New Zealand's progress towards a low emissions economy, and an indication of the impact of policy changes on the rate of afforestation 

$250,000 

 

Improving activity parameters for deer 

 

AgResearch

This project will provide updated data for deer, including pasture quality data, an inventory of non-pasture feed, and an improved liveweight model 

$220,239 

 

Who to contact

If you have questions about the GHGIR fund, email ghgirfund@mpi.govt.nz