Page 54 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 18

Innovate Afrika
Economy

Yara Belle Plaine fertiliser plant in Canada. Photo: The Cosmo-
naut/Wikimedia Commons

50 Year Binge

on chemical fertilisers must end

To Address The Climate Crisis

by GRAIN, Greenpeace International & Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)

he rising costs of synthet- emissions from agriculture (5,800
ic nitrogen (N) fertilizers, The new research-- undertaken million tonnes). For comparison, the
triggered by a spike in by three scientists working with global emissions from commercial
Tnatural gas prices, has Greenpeace, IATP and GRAIN-- aviation in 2018 were around 900
governments panicking about a provides the first estimate of the million tonnes of CO2.
catastrophic global food crisis. At global climate impacts of synthetic
the same time, new research shows N fertilizers to cover the entire The majority of emissions from
that synthetic N fertilizers are a production chain, from manufactur- synthetic N fertilizers occur after
major driver of the climate cri- ing to soil application. It finds that they are applied to the soil and enter
sis, responsible for 1 out every 40 the production and use of synthetic the atmosphere as nitrous oxide
tonnes of GHGs currently pumped N fertilizer accounts for 2.4% of (N2O)- a persistent greenhouse gas
into the atmosphere. As the 26th global emissions, making it one of with 265 times more global warm-
UN Climate Change Conference the top climate polluting industrial ing potential than CO2. But, what
gets underway, now is the time for chemicals. The synthetic N fertilizer is less discussed is that almost 40%
the world to kick its addiction to supply chain was responsible for of the greenhouse gas emissions of
synthetic N fertilizers and urgently estimated emissions of 1,250 million synthetic N fertilizers occur in pro-
transition to farming without fossil tonnes of CO2e in 2018, which is duction and transport, largely in the
fuels and chemicals. roughly 21.5% of the annual direct form of CO2 caused by the burning

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