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Everywhere and Invisible: Recent successes in a world full of hidden nitrogen opportunities

GEF/UN Environment International Nitrogen Management System

By IW:LEARN

June 28^th, 2019

Nitrogen is everywhere. It makes up almost 80 percent of the air that we breathe and is in everything from our DNA to our toothpaste. It’s also invisible, although its effects are often not. Civilization as we know it would not exist without it, and yet if not managed properly, nitrogen is arguably one of the greatest threats to humankind today. How can something so magnificent and life-giving also be so threatening?

Part of the answer is that nitrogen comes in many forms, often changing from one form to another very quickly. Each form has its own impacts, both positive and negative, on its surrounding environment. As mentioned above, regardless of the form that it’s in, nitrogen is mainly invisible, which makes managing it and its effects all the more harder. For a long time scientists have mainly studied nitrogen and its forms separately, and policy-makers have made legislation without knowing how to take into account the full picture of the nitrogen cycle. Moving forward, what we need is a cohesive and coordinated approach towards nitrogen science, management and policy - and we need it soon.

One of the solutions put forth so far has been the project Towards an International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) led by Professor Mark Sutton. The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by UN Environment as part of its International Waters portfolio. The connection with international waters is important because not only will better nitrogen management decrease water pollution, it will also deliver significant co-benefits such as improved air quality and decreased effects of climate change.

INMS is a science-led support process for policy development and along with over 80 partners worldwide, it is currently working to prepare the first ever Global Nitrogen Assessment for launch in 2022. The creation of INMS has also highlighted the need for better coordination across nitrogen policies.

Algal blooms associated with N and P pollution (An image from China prior to the Beijing Olympics 2008) . Credit: Daypic

A major success year was at the recent Fourth Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4) where, with support from INMS, the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), and the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI), India championed the passing of the first Resolution on Sustainable Nitrogen Management (UNEP/EA.4/L.16). This historic document called on the Executive Director of UN Environment to:

“Consider the options to facilitate better coordination of policies across the global nitrogen cycle at the national, regional and global levels, including consideration of the case to establish an intergovernmental coordination mechanism on nitrogen policies…”.

Directly following UNEA-4, and propelled further by the momentum gained from the success of the passing of the Nitrogen Resolution, INMS held its Fourth Plenary Meeting at UN Environment’s Global Base in Nairobi from 29thApril – 2ndMay, 2019.

Attended by over 120 people from 36 countries, INMS-4 included high-level segments, facilitated by Susan Gardner, UN Environment Director of Ecosystems Division, Isabelle van der Beck, UN Environment Task Manager for INMS and Professor Mark Sutton, that directly engaged with members from the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR). In these sessions, it was further established that the intergovernmental coordination mechanism would consist primarily of and for countries, and that it would stimulate international coordination between countries and between multi-lateral agreements (MEAs) relevant for nitrogen. It would also stimulate national coordination within countries, as well as the coordination of scientific and technical support for national and international policy processes, under the guidance of governments.

INMS-4 also included an evening reception addressed by Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director of UN Environment. Msuya’s address at the event echoed the call in her Foreword of the recently published 2019 Frontiers Report from UN Environment:

“Ultimately, the recovery and recycling of nitrogen, as well as other valuable nutrients and materials, can help us to farm cleanly and sustainably, a hallmark of a truly circular economy.”

Msuya’s words made the INMS-led Chapter of the Frontiers Report on “The Nitrogen Fix: From nitrogen cycle pollution to nitrogen circular economy” all the more timely.

The chapter noted the invisibility of nitrogen not just physically in our world, but also in the world of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where an “examination of the SDGs and the underlying indicators show that nitrogen is relevant almost everywhere, but almost equally invisible...”

In a world full of invisible nitrogen, it is becoming clear that science and policy must work together both to help us see and to help us act. With projects like Towards INMS, support from UN Environment and the promise of further coordination across nitrogen policies, it seems that nitrogen is no longer simply just “everywhere”; itis finally being noticed, which will hopefully make all the difference.

Footnotes

Header: A wide range of low-emission systems for manure spreading offer farmers opportunities to save nitrogen resources and reduce fertilizer costs. Credit: Pixabay.

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FootNotes

Header: A wide range of low-emission systems for manure spreading offer farmers opportunities to save nitrogen resources and reduce fertilizer costs. Credit: Pixabay.