The Sustainable Nitrogen Alliance (SNA) has produced a report which calls on the government to take a more ambitious and more integrated approach to nitrogen policy. It draws upon research commissioned by the Alliance, specifically the UK-Nitrogen Balance Sheet and A Nitrogen Policy Review, in addition to recommendations made by the Nutrient Management Expert Group (NMEG) in a recently published report.

Next steps for Nitrogen Policy sets out the current status of progress towards meeting statutory targets on nitrogen and the international commitment within the Global Biodiversity Framework of halving nitrogen waste by 2030. The UK-Nitrogen Balance Sheet, commissioned by WWF in 2023, identifies that the greatest nitrogen losses originate in the food and farming system, with runoff and leaching exhibiting as the largest loss to the environment - although size of flow does not equate directly to the size of impact of these losses.
The report then goes on to set out the need for government action on different nitrogen flows to provide benefits to biodiversity, air quality, water quality and climate, while providing economic savings for farmers through increased nitrogen use efficiency. There are a number of policy gaps relating to key policy commitments that were identified in the Nitrogen Policy Review, including the exclusion of large indoor cattle units from environmental permitting regulations, a lack of effective measures to reduce losses from inorganic nitrogenous fertilisers and the absence of environmental targeting of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, to name a few.
Finally, the report sets out two scenarios which represent pathways that the government could pursue to meeting nitrogen targets. The first, named 'sector-specific', is characterised by a continuation of the current approach, by ramping up action to reduce nitrogen through policy measures implemented by individual departments. The second, name 'system-wide', is to design an approach to nitrogen reductions that considers the whole system, joining up action across all relevant departments to capitalise on co-benefits and mitigate trade-offs or pollution swapping. These scenarios are not prescriptive, but are meant to be illustrative of the types of approach that the government could take to reducing nitrogen pollution. Then, the Alliance sets out a range of recommendations are made which we encourage the Government to consider, building on those made in the NMEG report.
Get in touch with any questions or clarifications at eroxburgh@soilassociation.org
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