In partnership with Westpac New Zealand, the AERU (lead author Professor Anita Wreford) produced research assessing the risks and opportunities presented by climate change to New Zealand agribusiness, as well as the sector's vulnerabilities and potential responses.

Following on from the successful Integrating Value Chains programme, this research is testing whether the key characteristics identified in that programme as important for a successful value chain have validity for designing a new value chain for a New Zealand land-based export product.

Our land in New Zealand is used in many different ways. As our population grows and needs change, land is being used for different purposes. Our Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) Framework has been developed to enable people to explore different land use scenarios and see a broad assessment of the economic, environmental and social impacts.

In 2023, the AERU was commissioned by the New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre (NZFSSRC) to make an independent estimate of the value of the Centre to New Zealand. Case studies examined the value of the Centre by industry - namely dairy, kiwifruit, and poultry. The total conservative estimate based on case studies of the above industries was NZ$164 million per year - a significant return on the government’s NZ$2.5 million investment.

Through a suite of approaches incorporating physical science, agricultural productivity models, economic approaches and social science, this project aims to fill some of the gaps in our understanding of the impacts of climate change on agriculture.

Anita Wreford was New Zealand’s only lead author of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land (2019), the second Special Report to be produced in the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Cycle (AR6).

Since 2022, the AERU has been involved in a series of surveys aimed at measuring farmer participation in farm certification schemes.

The New Zealand Government launched a National Climate Change Risk Assessment to take place in 2019 and 2020 to provide an overview of how climate change may affect New Zealand, with the AERU’s Associate Professor Anita Wreford leading the Economy domain.

The AERU was contracted by Ihi Research and Development to perform a cost-benefit analysis of the He Toki ki te Mahi initiative, and provide an analysis of the initiative's economic impact.

The AERU is co-leading a project aiming to provide decision support tools for dynamic transition for the Taranaki region's likely future with an active volcano (Mt Taranaki).

The AERU were the principal investigators for the Matrix of Drivers, a project aiming to identify all of the known drivers and issues that affect land and water use in New Zealand, funded by the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge.

In relation to the Canterbury Regional Economic Development Strategy, the AERU has prepared a report on the state of the Food and Fibre sector of New Zealand that identified key factors that characterise successful value chains.