Sustainable nitrogen management: Ministry decides to reach out to stakeholders

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC) has decided to consult stakeholders on South Asia Roadmap for Sustainable Nitrogen management aimed at proposing a mechanism to minimize its affect on fertility of land, well informed sources told Business Recorder.

MoCC&EC maintains that nitrogen is a critical element for agriculture and food production, but its excessive/ inefficient use can lead to several environmental problems such as air and water pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss.

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This requires a sustainable nitrogen management for both sustainable food production and achieving various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, climate action, life below water and life on land.

South Asia Co-operative Environment Program (SACEP) in collaboration with South Asia Nitrogen Hub (SANH) has framed a draft on “South Asia Roadmap on Sustainable Nitrogen Management”, which was shared with member states for discussion before its submission to the Governing Council meeting. The roadmap aims to set the regional policy framework for actions with clear and measurable targets to promote sustainable nitrogen management in South Asia and for this purpose motivate the necessary change by national actions, networking, knowledge and technology sharing, as well as by mutual learning among member countries in the region.

The draft has been revised and updated as per discussions in two online and one in person meetings of delegates of the member states. The SACEP has shared the updated draft for final comments before its adoption at Governing Council Meeting scheduled in June 2024.

In the light of the global fertiliser price crisis of 2021-2023, the work has emphasised how a goal to halve nitrogen waste would save around $150-300 billion per year globally, illustrating how sustainable nitrogen management can be simultaneously good for environment, food security and economy.

Informed by the latest developments, including the projected emergence ‘green ammonia’ as a future fuel, SACEP and SANH have cooperated in preparing the draft “South Asia Roadmap for Sustainable Nitrogen Management”.

In this regard, two online and one in-person meeting were conducted by SACEP and the draft was revised accordingly. The updated/ revised draft Roadmap is now open for final comments by SACEP member states before its submission to the 16th Governing Council meeting.

According to MoCC&EC as Nitrogen pollution is linked with many of the sectors including agriculture, energy, transport, industry, waste management; etc., and sustainable nitrogen management is key; hence, a consultative session is needed to take on board all the relevant sectors and to have their comments / reservations for improvement of the draft roadmap. In this regard, Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination in collaboration with SANH, UAF and INI has planned a consultative workshop on May 9, 2024 in Islamabad.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024