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Environment
- Climate change mitigation
- Environmental modelling
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- Agricultural economics
- Solutions for Freshwater Management
- Fisheries Management
- Devolution and the Resource Management Act
- Value and Natural Capital
- The Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Technologies in Agriculture
- Policy-Induced Technology Adoption: Evidence from the U.S. Lead Phasedown
- Transaction Costs and Tradable Permit Markets: The United States Lead Phasedown
- A Case Study for Devolution: The problem of preserving kiwi habitat in the Far North
- Devolution and the New Zealand Resource Management Act
- A guide to just transitions for communities in Aotearoa NZ
- Urban & regional
- Wellbeing & macro-economics
- Population & labour
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Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions
Agricultural methane and nitrous oxide make up around half of New Zealand’s total emissions.
New Zealand can potentially make a significant contribution to the global climate effort through research and policy that mitigate agricultural emissions. Motu has researched approaches to facilitating and motivating mitigation both through the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and also through a range of other private and public efforts.
From 2011-12 we ran a dialogue process to explore and road test ideas. The ideas for future action developed from the dialogue and project up to 2012 are synthesised in a Motu note. As part of this dialogue, we produced a short educational film, the New Zealand Farming Story: Tackling Agricultural Emissions. The film comes with a range of teaching materials, including an editable presentation and speaking notes, designed to make the film a good resource to use with secondary and tertiary students, farmers, or people working with farmers - anyone who eats!
Motu also developed an educational game around Agricultural Emissions Trading, which can be found here.
Our Shaping New Zealand’s Low-Emission Future project is building on this work, continuing both the research and the conversation.
Publications
Agricultural Emissions Mitigation in New Zealand: Answers to Questions from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Author: Suzi Kerr
Working Paper
Farmers change slowly
Avoid pain with clear signals
Research; replace cows.
This paper explores how New Zealand should address agricultural greenhouse gas emissions: methane and nitrous oxide. The starting point is the…
Land-use change as a mitigation option
Author: Suzi Kerr
Presentation
Mitigation through land-use change is slow – start now.
Forest expansion is the most price responsive mitigation option (to our knowledge) –extra 58,000 ha per year needed for high mitigation scenario. But this is not a permanent…
Land-use Change as a Mitigation Option for Climate Change
Authors: Sandra Cortés-Acosta | David Fleming | Zack Dorner | Adolf Stroombergen | Suzi Kerr | Suzie Greenhalgh | Tarek Soliman
Other
To meet our targets
help horticulture to grow,
let forests respond.
The main project objective is to predict the likely extent and nature of land-use change as part of a cost-effective response to land-sector mitigation…
Cool food: Agricultural emissions reduction and tech opportunities
Author: Suzi Kerr
Presentation
On-farm mitigation is not enough to meet climate targets cost-effectively. Diversifying land use is valuable anyway:
economic risks e.g. synthetic meat and milk; consumer pressure
climate change risks and opportunities
New Zealand’s freshwater reforms: what are the potential impacts on greenhouse gas emissions?
Authors: Levente Timar | Edmund Lou | Suzi Kerr | Adam Daigneault | Suzie Greenhalgh | Alec MacKay | Mark Shepherd | Sandy Elliot | Leah Murphy | Sanjay Wadhwa
Note
Clean water is good
Does it reduce climate change?
Alas, not that much.
This report is a synthesis of results from two independent studies and was originally prepared for the…
Freshwater contaminant limit assessment of the regions
Authors: Suzie Greenhalgh | Leah Murphy
Other
This report provides freshwater contaminant limit assessments for the regions for phosphorus, nitrogen, E. coli, and sediment. The assessments will be used for a national modelling exercise using New Zealand Forestry and Agricultural Regional Model…
Land-use Contaminant Loads and Mitigation Costs
Authors: Adam Daigneault | Sandy Elliot
Other
A great deal of research has been carried out to quantify the processes, transformations and effects of contaminant loss from land to water, as well as to identify strategies to mitigate contaminant losses to freshwater…
Empirical evidence on mitigation and co-benefit potential on dairy and sheep-beef farms with currently used farm practices
Author: Edmund Lou
Other
In 2014, the New Zealand government released the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, largely aiming at controlling nutrient leaching across the country. What effects will this reform be likely to have on greenhouse gases?
This…
Modelling the potential impact of New Zealand’s freshwater reforms on land-based Greenhouse Gas emissions
Authors: Levente Timar | Edmund Lou | Suzi Kerr | Adam Daigneault | Suzie Greenhalgh | Sandy Elliot | Leah Murphy | Sanjay Wadhwa
Working Paper
Clean water is good
Does it reduce climate change?
Alas, not that much.
The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) establishes the need to set and manage water resources within limits. This report is…
Cows, Sheep and Science: A Scientific Perspective on Biological Emissions from Agriculture
Authors: Anna Robinson | Suzi Kerr | Cecile de Klein | Martin Manning | Mike Harvey | Michele Hollis | Dave Frame | Andy Reisinger
Working Paper
The science is clear.
When debating emissions,
consider your goals.
Biological emissions from agriculture (methane and nitrous oxide) make up almost half New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions, so their importance relative…
Implications of global emission policy scenarios for domestic agriculture: a New Zealand case study
Authors: Zack Dorner | Suzi Kerr
Article
In the post-Paris world of ‘nationally determined contributions’ to mitigation, the prospects for agricultural mitigation policies may rest on whether they are in the national economic interest of large agricultural producers. New Zealand is a…
Price, Quality, and International Agricultural Trade
Authors: Darian Woods | Andrew Coleman
Working Paper
The average value of a particular class of agricultural exports varies widely across different destinations. This raises the question: in the event of a supply shock, such as the implementation of the Emissions Trading Scheme,…
How Can Agriculture be Included in an Emissions Trading Scheme? Some Thoughts from New Zealand
Author: Suzi Kerr
Other
Why is New Zealand considering including agriculture in it's emissions trading scheme? The answer for this question is that for New Zealand, it's pretty much a no brainer. Agriculture is the source of nearly half…
Relationships between Farm Productivity, Profitability, N Leaching and GHG Emissions: A Modelling Approach
Authors: Suzi Kerr | Duncan Smeaton | Robin Dynes | Tim Cox
Article
The financial and environmental performance of a typical dairy and sheep/beef farm under contrasting inputs and systems were modelled to test associations between productivity, profitability, nitrogen (N) leaching and green house gas (GHG) emissions. GHG…
Why do New Zealanders care about agricultural emissions?
Authors: Hugh McDonald | Suzi Kerr
Article
Agricultural emissions account for more than 46.5% of New Zealand's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 13.5% of global GHG emissions. Excluding agriculture from global mitigation commitments has been shown to increase the cost of…
Spatial and Temporal Responses to an Emissions Trading Scheme Covering Agriculture and Forestry: Simulation Results from New Zealand
Authors: Levente Timar | Alex Olssen | Simon Anastasiadis | Wei Zhang | William Power | Suzi Kerr
Article
We perform simulations using the integrated Land Use in Rural New Zealand (LURNZ) model to analyse the effect of various New Zealand emissions trading scheme (ETS) scenarios on land-use, emissions, and output in a temporally…
Inclusion of agriculture in a domestic emissions trading system: New Zealand’s experience to date
Authors: Suzi Kerr | Andrew Sweet
Article
No country has previously attempted to include either agriculture in an emissions trading system. The New Zealand government is planning to include both. This paper describes how they plan to do it, what some of…
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Charges and Credits on Agricultural Land: What can a Model Tell Us?
Authors: Jo Hendy | Suzi Kerr | Troy Baisden
Article
Using the simulation model Land Use in Rural New Zealand version 1 - climate (LURNZv1-climate), we simulate the effects of an agricultural land-use emissions charge and a reward for native forest and scrub regeneration. Our…
Enhancing Value for New Zealand Farmers by Improving the Value Chain
Authors: Hugh McDonald | Caroline Saunders | Tim Driver
Working Paper
This report was commissioned by Lincoln University, Christchurch as Research Report No. 324
This report explores the opportunities for New Zealand farmers to increase their returns through higher value added for their products. The paper explores the international…
Mitigation and Heterogeneity in Management Practices on New Zealand Dairy Farms
Authors: Simon Anastasiadis | Suzi Kerr
Working Paper
Pastoral farming can result in adverse environmental effects such as nitrogen leaching and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the cost of mitigation and hence the socially appropriate level of tolerance for environmental effects is still unclear.…
Spatial and Temporal Responses to an Emissions Trading System Covering Agriculture and Forestry: Simulation Results from New Zealand
Authors: Levente Timar | Alex Olssen | Simon Anastasiadis | Wei Zhang | William Power | Suzi Kerr
Working Paper
Please note that an updated version of this paper was published in Forests 3:4, pp. 1133-56.
We perform simulations using the integrated Land Use in Rural New Zealand (LURNZ) model to analyse the effect of various New…
The International Effects of Climate Change on Agricultural Commodity Prices, and the Wider Effects on New Zealand
Author: Adolf Stroombergen
Working Paper
This research takes a closer look at the effects of climate change on New Zealand agriculture and on the wider economy, including indirect international effects such as changes in the prices of goods exported from…
Allocation of New Zealand Units within Agriculture in the New Zealand Emissions Trading System
Authors: Wei Zhang | Suzi Kerr
Working Paper
When agricultural emissions are included in the New Zealand Emission Trading System (ETS) the economics of farming will be significantly altered. Under the legislation current in October 2009, in the early years of the system…
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Charges and Credits on Agricultural Land: What Can a Model Tell Us?
Authors: Jo Hendy | Suzi Kerr | Troy Baisden
Working Paper
Using the simulation model Land Use in Rural New Zealand version 1 - climate (LURNZv1-climate), we simulate the effects of an agricultural land-use emissions charge and a reward for native forest and scrub regeneration. Our…
The Likely Regional Impacts of an Agricultural Emissions Policy in New Zealand: Preliminary Analysis
Authors: Isabelle Sin | Emma Brunton | Jo Hendy | Suzi Kerr
Working Paper
Hendy and Kerr find that an emissions charge on agricultural methane and nitrous oxide of $25 per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent would be likely to reduce New Zealand"s net land-use related emissions for…
Raising Agricultural Productivity and Land Values through Greenhouse Gas Policy: Lessons for Colombia from New Zealand
Author: Suzi Kerr
Presentation
This presentation takes empirical work from New Zealand combined with some preliminary thoughts on how some of the lessons we are learning in New Zealand could apply in Colombia. There could be some significant potential…
Why Do New Zealanders Care About Agricultural Emissions?
Authors: Hugh McDonald | Suzi Kerr
Note
The question of how to effectively address agricultural greenhouse gas emissions is of critical importance for New Zealand and the world. Ensuring that our responses are effective requires us to first consider what we aim…
Tackling Agricultural Emissions: Potential Leadership from a Small Country
Authors: Zack Dorner | Suzi Kerr
Note
This paper looks at the challenges New Zealand has confronted and potential solutions that have emerged while investigating the inclusion of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in an emissions trading scheme. We argue that a…
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