NZ hosts global look at greenhouse gases

60 per cent of our agricultural emissions comes from farm animals. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A New Zealand-led global initiative to rein in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions gets down to work for the first time today as officials and scientists from 28 countries meet in Wellington.

The Global Research Alliance on agriculture greenhouse gases was formed late last year following a proposal by Prime Minister John Key at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Speakers at today's opening session will include Princeton University research scholar, lecturer and biofuels expert Timothy Searchinger and Mr Key.

There will also be a video presentation from Indian agricultural scientist and plant breeding pioneer MS Swaminathan, one of Time magazine's 20 most influential Asians of the 20th century and, according to the United Nations, "the father of economic ecology".

The New Zealand Government has committed $45 million over four years to the alliance which aims to "produce more food with fewer emissions".

Founding alliance member countries are Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain, the United States, Uruguay and Vietnam.

It is expected the alliance's meeting this week will focus on dividing up resources among four primary streams of work dealing with: extensive pastoral and livestock farming, which is of particular interest to New Zealand, intensive livestock farming, crop and arable farming and rice paddy farming.

Issues the alliance will have to grapple with include the intellectual property rights which may apply to the work it produces.

Gas levels

* Agriculture accounts for 14 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and about 48 per cent of New Zealand's emissions

* Of our agricultural emissions, 60 per cent comes from "enteric fermentation" inside farm animals which is then expelled at either end, and about 40 per cent is nitrous oxide emitted from chemically fertilised soils

* Agricultural emissions are initially excluded from New Zealand's emissions trading scheme which takes effect on July 1 this year but are included from 2015 onward.