Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) with special responsibility for research and innovation, Martin Heydon has today (Tuesday, May 9) joined New Zealand Minister for Agriculture, Damien O’Connor to launch the second Ireland – New Zealand Joint Research Call on agriculture and climate change.
The two ministers made the announcement following a bilateral meeting held during the Agricultural Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate Summit in Washington DC.
The DAFM and the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries launched the first joint call in 2022, following the signing of a Memorandum of Arrangement between both organisations in May 2022.
This provided for the establishment of a three-year pilot Joint Research Initiative (JRI) over the period 2022 to 2024 in recognition of the common challenges facing the agri-food sectors in both Ireland and New Zealand.
Over €7 million in joint funding was awarded to four research projects in the 2022 call.
Making the announcement, Minister Heydon said: “Today I held a very positive and constructive meeting with Minister O’Connor on the margins of the AIM for Climate Summit that we are both attending.
“Our discussions focused strongly on how we can develop and grow our bilateral cooperation in the area of agricultural climate change research and innovation, building on initiatives such as the Global Research Alliance for Agricultural Greenhouse Gases [GHGs] and AIM for Climate.”
Minister O’Connor added: “Tackling climate change globally will take strong collaboration. New Zealand is proud to be partnering with Ireland in this Joint Research Call.
“As strong agricultural nations, we can lead the way in driving important research that will lead to vital new and improved tools to drive down environmental impacts, backed by cutting-edge science.”
Research aims
The 2023 research call between the DAFM and New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries will aim to investigate:
- Land management on organic agricultural soils to support the development of GHG mitigation and carbon sequestration;
- Refinement of agricultural GHG emissions inventories through the development of emission factors for methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide (CO2);
- Identification and development of technologies for the mitigation of GHGs from ruminant systems;
- Digitalisation and data to support climate-related action and management practices in agriculture.
Concluding, Minister Heydon remarked: “This new research call widens the offering to researchers with two new research topics on the development of digital tools and data, and land management on agricultural organic soils to support the livestock sector to reduce its impact on the environment and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
“This unique research call between Ireland and New Zealand shows the high level, ongoing commitment by both countries to accelerate the pace of development of innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gases from livestock-based, pasture systems and I strongly encourage Irish researchers to apply.”
The 2023 Joint Research Call between Ireland and New Zealand will open tomorrow (May 10, 2023) at 12:00p.m.
Eligible Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) from Ireland are invited to submit joint research proposals, with collaborating partners from New Zealand.
The Joint Research Call follows a one-stage submission procedure with a deadline for the submission of full proposals on July 28, 2023.
Indicative Research Call timelines are outlined in the table below.
May 10, 2023 at 12:00p.m Launch of the Joint Research Call May 25, 2023 at 10:00a.m Webinar for potential applicants July 28, 2023 Submission deadline for proposals October 2023 Communication of funding decision November 2023 Funding awarded and announcement of successful projects Jan-Mar 2024 Estimated starting date for funded projects