How Nitrogen giants are shaping climate policy and why it must be stopped

Over the next few weeks, we will be inundated with news from COP30 in Belém. As you follow the developments, bear this question in mind: How much are you hearing about the influence of the fertiliser industry? 

The lobbying prowess of oil and gas is not big news – and the first blog in our COP30 series outlined how the agribusiness lobby has been showing up in high numbers at recent UNFCCC climate talks.

But another powerful force is increasingly muscling in on these negotiations: the nitrogen fertiliser industry. 

New analysis by Foodrise shows that the number of nitrogen fertiliser lobbyists has tripled since COP26. But the extent of their influence is slipping below the radar.  

The hidden polluter behind our food

While we have long known that food systems account for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, nitrogen fertiliser is an unrecognised but critical contributor to this figure.  

What most people don’t know is that nitrogen fertiliser alone has a bigger climate impact than the entire aviation sector: 

‘A peer-reviewed study published in August 2022 found that the global climate impact of nitrogen fertiliser alone exceeds that of commercial aviation, contributing roughly 2 percent of all global GHG emissions.’ 

And the recently launched EAT-Lancet Commission’s report delivers the starkest warning yet: the nitrogen crisis is a food systems crisis. 

However, this is not what we are hearing from the fertiliser industry, who have deflected responsibility for the nitrogen crisis onto farmers, and doubled down on an insidious narrative that they ‘feed the world’. 

The lobbyists in negotiation rooms

The nitrogen fertiliser industry has sent lobbyists to every climate summit since COP26. And this year is no exception, with 17 in attendance – that’s more than triple the number of lobbyists compared with COP26. 

COP28, held in Dubai, maintains the record for the industry’s biggest turnout, with 48 representatives from eight major nitrogen fertiliser producers: EuroChem, Fertiglobe, Nutrien, OCI Global, PhosAgro, Pupuk Indonesia, UralChem and Yara International. 

This outnumbered the individual official delegations of Nauru (21), Cook Islands (19), Niue (24), Micronesia (26) – all South Pacific small island development states experiencing some of the deadliest impacts of climate breakdown. 

While fewer lobbyists are attending COP30, this year’s contingent is dominated by just three companies: Pupuk Indonesia, UralChem and Yara International. 

So why is this a problem?   

The real cost of ‘feeding the world’

Nitrogen fertiliser production continues to accelerate (production has increased by 20% since 2009) despite the multiple harmful consequences (soil depletion, biodiversity loss, eutrophication, air pollution), and despite the call for a required reduction by 3% every year till 2050. 

Nitrogen fertilisers are pushed by industry and policymakers as necessary for increasing yields and food production. But in reality, they trap farmers into paying for expensive inputs – not to mention that more than half of today’s fertilisers are made from fossil fuels. They are a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry, fuelling extraction and the climate crisis. 

And the biggest obstacle to change is the powerful fertiliser industry itself, who are determined to protect their profits and water down, influence and obstruct policy change. Their presence represents a blatant conflict of interest. While their actions cause environmental destruction, they are in the negotiating rooms embedding their narrative that fertilisers are ‘necessary and safe’. 

The science is clear – we can’t tackle climate breakdown without solving the nitrogen crisis. The growing number of fertiliser industry lobbyists at the climate negotiations must raise questions about power, access and influence. 

Perhaps the continued presence of the fertiliser lobby is a response to the increasing body of evidence highlighting its catastrophic impacts. Our analysis even exposed that Bernhard Mauritz Stormyr, the Vice President of Sustainability Governance at fertiliser giant Yara International, has attended every climate summit since COP26. 

We need better governance

To address this, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) must urgently implement a governance framework that mitigates conflicts of interest and ensures equal and meaningful representation for all food system actors – particularly marginalised communities (including women, small holders and indigenous communities). 

Whether you sit within the negotiating rooms at COP30, or are following along from afar, consider who might be controlling the narrative – and look out for the fertiliser industry hiding in plain sight.