The Expert Panel on Nitrogen and Food (EPNF) of the UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen recently released a second special report on nitrogen. The report shows that a combination of diet changes towards plant-based diets and technical measures across the food chain in Europe can reduce nitrogen waste (the sum of all nitrogen losses) by 50%.
While EPNF’s first special report, ‘Nitrogen on the Table’ (2014), showed how the encouragement of increased plant-based diets could promote human health and reduce nitrogen emissions, EPNF's new report, ‘Appetite for Change’, builds on these foundations by exploring pathways towards more sustainable nitrogen and food choices.
Global nitrogen losses pose a serious threat to environmental sustainability and could compromise the ability of the agricultural sector to feed a growing population. The report states that,
“Leakage of reactive nitrogen (Nr) from food systems threatens the environment and human health by causing air, water and soil pollution while contributing to climate change and biodiversity loss. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of the EU food system was only 18% in 2015. Most of the remaining 82% was wasted by loss to the environment contributing to these environmental and health threats.”
The report highlights the close relationship between the nitrogen cycle, food system, environment and health. It further identifies ambitious and systemic actions to transform the food system. There are excellent opportunities for reducing nitrogen losses from food production and consumption while benefiting nutrition and public health. For long-term sustainability, nitrogen management needs to be based on a systems approach and requires responsive governance action across inter-connected policy sectors, while engaging a wide set of food system actors.
Professor Mark Sutton, co-chair of the UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen and Director of the UNEP/GEF INMS Project, emphasizes,
“Action does not begin and end at the farm gate; it requires a holistic approach involving not only farmers but policymakers, retailers, water companies and individuals. It is also not saying we should all become vegan. Our analysis finds that a broad package of actions including a demitarian approach (halving meat and dairy consumption) scored most highly in looking to halve nitrogen waste by 2030.”
The report also outlines the critical need to address the ‘vulnerability of the food system.’ Lead editor and scientist from the European Commission, Dr. Adrian Leip, highlights,
“The unprecedented rise of energy, fertilizer and food prices since 2021 underlines the need to address the vulnerability of the current food system. Plant-based diets require less land and fertilizers, reduce energy use and increase our resilience to the current multi-crises: food, energy, climate.”
On a policy level, 'Appetite for Change' sets out a path to reach agreed targets in the Colombo Declaration, the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with the report stating that a “range of policies addressing consumer food choices is available for public authorities to support dietary change towards lower nitrogen footprint diets.”
‘Appetite for Change’ was successfully launched through the Science Media Centre in London in December 2023, with more than 400 mentions online, including stories in The Telegraph and The Independent.
Read the full report here
Read the executive summary here
About the INMS project
INMS is a global science-support system for international nitrogen policy development established as a joint activity of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI). It is supported with funding through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and over 80 project partners through the ‘Targeted Research for improving understanding of the global nitrogen cycle towards the establishment of an International Nitrogen Management System’ project or ‘Towards INMS’ (2017-2024).
INMS presents a key opportunity to pull together a global and critical mass of scientific evidence on the nitrogen cycle and develop a sustained process that brings together science, governments, businesses, and civil society to build a common understanding and deliver real change. A vital part of the task so far has been to show how the management of the global nitrogen cycle can deliver measurable benefits for oceans, climate, the atmosphere, land ecosystems, and global society.
For more information on the GEF/UNEP INMS Project, please contact the INMS Project Coordination Unit (inms@ceh.ac.uk), visit the project page on iwlearn.net or the project website.
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