Climate change is the major challenge of our generation and is of specific concern to Pacific island nations. Over two decades we have redirected our research to focus on understanding Aotearoa New Zealand’s emissions balance, supporting mitigation, and enabling adaptation and resilience to climate change.
Our research has supported AoNZ’s international emissions reporting, and has also provided an understanding of carbon stocks in our indigenous forests and in the soil. We have designed and supported pathways for carbon sequestration and for businesses and communities to take meaningful climate action.
A number of inter-related research programmes focus on measuring and reducing land-based greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike most developed countries, half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions are methane and nitrous oxide resulting from agricultural practices. As these gases are emitted at landscape scales and atmospheric concentrations are very low, there are high uncertainties in measurement.
