NZ talks on farm emissions start today

The first meeting of the Government's Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases starts in Wellington this morning.

More than 80 science and policy representatives from 28 nations are attending the first meeting of the alliance which aims to get international collaboration on research into growing food producing fewer emissions. Climate activists have said they will protest outside the Te Papa venue.

Prime Minister John Key will open the three-day meeting.

The Government has budgeted $45 million over four years to the alliance, the United States has promised $NZ127m over five years, and Canada $NZ37m over four years.

Separately, the Government is spending $50m on a domestic Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, based in Palmerston North.

Agriculture accounts for 48 percent of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions -- much of it made up of methane emissions from livestock, and nitrous oxide from the urine of cattle and sheep.

Climate Change Negotiations Minister Tim Groser previously said he hoped this week's meeting would result in having working groups set up, a process for conducting a stocktake of existing research developed, and priorities set as well as opening up opportunities for encouraging wider participation.

The alliance is expected initially to divide its work into four sectors: extensive livestock -- the kind of pastoral grazing common in New Zealand -- intensive livestock, arable farming and cropping, and rice paddy.

Camp for Climate Action Aotearoa said yesterday it would call for "real solutions" to climate change, outside the meeting.

"It is likely that this meeting will result in the promotion of technological quick fixes, genetic modification and offsets from agriculture," spokeswoman Jessie Dennis said.

"This amounts to paper shuffling and number crunching, as opposed to real solutions that tackle the root causes of climate change."