New Zealand is set to host an international space mission to help tackle climate change, and the Government is pledging $26 million towards the project.
It's an international satellite that that locates and measures methane from human sources worldwide, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods announced Wednesday.
The satellite, called MethaneSAT, will provide the data to track and reduce those emissions, and a key feature of the agreement that has been signed is that the mission control centre will be located in New Zealand.
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"This is an ambitious science partnership between New Zealand and the Environmental Defense Fund," Dr Woods said, referring to the New York-based initiative.
She said it will see New Zealand "at the forefront of developing and applying world-leading technology to the global challenge of managing greenhouse gas emissions".
It's hoped the Government's multimillion-dollar investment will boost New Zealand's reputation in science and innovation by building partnerships with world-leading atmospheric scientists.
Auckland University Physics Professor Richard Easther described the announcement as "enormously exciting".
"Methane is a critical greenhouse gas and fully understanding its origins and atmospheric dynamics will be key to addressing climate change."
Dr Woods said while the initiative's priority for the mission is to collect emissions data from the oil and gas industry, New Zealand will investigate the possibility of using the data to "lead an agricultural science component of the mission".
The location of the New Zealand-based mission is yet to be announced by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Dr Peter Crabtree, general manager of science, innovation and international at MBIE and head of the New Zealand Space Agency, said the satellite mission is exactly the kind of science that New Zealand should be investing in.
The satellite is scheduled to launch in 2022.
NIWA atmosphere-ocean scientist Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher said the primary goal of the satellite is to detect methane that is accidentally leaked into the atmosphere from oil and natural gas production, processing, and transportation.
Methane has been a topic of debate in Parliament because of the reduction target proposed in the Zero Carbon Bill, which is between 24 and 47 percent by 2050. The National Party believes it's too high and is unrealistic.
The Government has already made investments in tackling climate change, by allocating $8.5 million in Budget 2019 for Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) to help with reducing agricultural emissions.
In addition, $25 million over four years went into the Agricultural Climate Change Research Platform to support research in New Zealand to help agriculture deal with climate change.
Newshub.
