Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research fund
Find out about Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research (GHGIR) funding.
About Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research funding
The Greenhouse Gas Industry 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 Industry's (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
- reporting of emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land use.
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.
The GHGIR Fund has $1.9 million of funding available for new projects in the 2023-2024 financial year and $7 million is available over the following two financial years.
Examples of GHGIR research
GHGIR has funded 106 projects in the last seven 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 2023 priorities [PDF, 373 KB]
Projects approved from the 2022 funding round
Project | Research organisation | Funding | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Integrative GHG evaluation of forages |
AgResearch |
$211,000
|
This project will integrate the effects of different forages on all key greenhouse gases (methane, nitrous oxide) and soil carbon.
|
Reporting of top-down methane emissions |
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) |
$199,640
|
This project will develop and trial a reporting framework for quarterly to biannual assessment of methane emissions using top-down methods including in-situ and satellite observations.
|
Improving organic soil activity data |
Manaaki Whenua -Landcare Research (MWLR)
|
$198,000
|
This project will enable Aotearoa New Zealand to implement Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2013 Wetland Supplement methods for estimating anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gases from wetlands and drained soils. It aims to enhance the accuracy of organic soil emissions estimates.
|
Carbon in native remediation plantings |
Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR)
|
$181,520 |
This project aims to quantify and improve understanding of carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas fluxes in native ecosystems growing in high-nutrient environments. This includes ecosystems generated by land application of organic waste, treated effluent, or farm run-off.
|
Summer N2O emission factors |
AgResearch |
$900,000
|
This project aims to conduct targeted summer field studies followed by statistical analysis of an updated EF3 database to determine temporal N2O EF3 values.
|
Emissions from non-manure organic fertilisers |
AgResearch |
$61,000 |
This project aims to review and update recommendations for N2O emissions from the non-manure components of organic fertilisers.
|
Post-1989 deforestation and permanent forest |
University of Canterbury |
$124,000 |
Survey to forecast the level of post-1989 deforestation and management of existing post-1989 forest as permanent forest.
|
Splitting emissions between venison and velvet in the deer Industry
|
AgResearch |
$70,950 |
This project aims to develop a population-based methodology to determine the relative contributions of venison and velvet production to total deer industry emissions.
|
GHG activity data for whenua land |
Scion |
$250,000 |
This project aims to develop a database of activity and emission data for whenua land and identify data availability shortfalls. The project also aims to provide spatial data layers accessible and usable by other parties.
|
Manure management systems |
AgResearch |
$80,000 |
This project will collect and provide data on the use of different manure/effluent management systems in New Zealand dairy farms, which will help MPI improve the NZ GHG inventory.
|
Planted forest methane sinks |
Scion |
$263,969 |
This project aims to is to resolve uncertainty in the role of planted forest soils in methane cycling and to improve understanding of the national methane-associated GHG inventory.
|
An inventory methodology for ERW |
Lincoln University |
$71,606 |
Desktop research to develop Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) methodology based on an international literature review, high level assessment of national potential and gaps analysis for field scale roll-out.
|
National repository of relative genetic merit of NZ sheep
|
AgResearch |
$66,196 |
This project will update the national B+LNZ database to enable registered commercial producers to regularly determine changes in the predicted methane emissions for individual flocks and the national flock as a whole.
|
Sheep gene-flow inventory sub-model
|
AbacusBio |
$68,150 |
This project aims to develop a gene-flow sub-model for sheep that can be incorporated into the inventory model to account for industry use of low-methane rams.
|
Gene-flow model for NZ sheep
|
AgResearch |
$68,400 |
This project will create a gene-flow model to estimate the impact over time from using low methane breeding value rams in commercial flocks.
|
Minor animal category emission estimates
|
AbacusBio |
$71,260 |
The aim of the project is to review the input parameters used to estimate GHG emissions from the minor animal categories, including development of a multiyear population model for goats.
|
Who to contact
If you have questions about the GHGIR fund, email funding@mpi.govt.nz