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Update on the International Nitrogen Assessment
The International Nitrogen Assessment (INA) is a core output of INMS that will bring together evidence from across the Project in the form of a global assessment on nitrogen; including sources, flows impacts and solutions, cost-benefit analysis, examination of barriers and opportunities and a synthesis of emerging messages from regional activities. The INA is made up of 28 chapters across 5 Parts and is set to be published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in 2024.
Progress on the development of the INA is well underway with the majority of chapters now either going through, or finishing, the external peer review process. Editor and author teams will then finalise chapters before submitting them to the Managing Editor team for further completion and submission to CUP. Work also continues on the Technical Summary and the Summary for Policymakers.
Our thanks goes out to all members of the INMS community who have contributed to the development of the INA through editing, authorship and peer review.
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INMS Guidance Document Series
As the INMS project is coming to an end, it reaches its output stage, resulting in the publication of the INMS Guidance Document series later this year. This is a preview of three of these documents.
The Guidance Document on National Nitrogen Budgets explores the concepts and foundations of nitrogen budgets using the CHANS (Coupled Human and Natural Systems) model and the EPNB (Expert Panel on Nitrogen Budgets) approach with country examples. National nitrogen budgets provide the input necessary to derive valuable indicators such as nitrogen use efficiency, nitrogen surplus/deficit or nitrogen recycling rate.
The Guidance Document on Improving Nitrogen Management using Nitrogen Budgets for Dairy Farms looks at the inefficient conversion of nitrogen inputs into feed and from feed-nitrogen to milk, with the subsequent high nitrogen content of excreta. This results in various nitrogen transformations and loss pathways with a cascade of environmental impacts, including land, water and atmospheric pollution.
The Guidance Document on Nitrogen Impact Assessment Methods provides guidelines for assessing nitrogen impacts on the environment and humans at all scales, from local to regional to global. It describes impacts on greenhouse gases, human health, terrestrial ecosystems, agricultural products, aquatic ecosystems, cultural services, and non-agricultural products.
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How to reach the Nitrogen target of the Global Biodiversity Framework
At COP15 in 2022, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) adopted a new global target to at least halve excess nutrients lost to the environment by 2030 (see target 7: pollution). This landmark global agreement to safeguard biodiversity was also a key event in nitrogen policy, given that target 7 is the most ambitious global nitrogen target ever adopted.
However, progress made on meeting past less ambitious nitrogen objectives was limited, which means it will take far stronger commitments by all actors to accomplish the new target.
A team of experts published a comment in Nature Ecology and Evolution criticising the currently proposed indicators for nutrient pollution that would be used to monitor target 7. They claim the targets are inadequate both for tracking progress and for informing policy.
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Frontiers Planet Prize Awarded
In April, Dr. Baoijing Gu was awarded a Frontier Planet Prize for the paper, Abating ammonia is more cost-effective than nitrogen oxides for mitigating PM2.5 air pollution, published in Science and co-authored by several scientists of the INMS Network.
The Frontiers Research Foundation has launched the Frontiers Planet Prize in 2022 with the ambition to accelerate scientific solutions for healthy lives on a healthy planet.
Dr. Baojing Gu's institute received the prize of half a million Swiss francs (~ £446,550) to accelerate their research.
Congratulations to Dr. Baoijing Gu and the collaborating scientists!
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New free Nitrogen MOOCs available
Our sister project the South Asian Nitrogen Hub recently launched two new Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.
Nitrogen-related field measurements provides training in: greenhouse gas flux measurements with closed static chambers, ammonia flux measurements with a dynamic chamber, a suite of widely-used plant and soil nitrogen measurements.
The Role of Social Sciences in Nitrogen Research introduces the relationships between nitrogen, society and the social sciences and provide overviews of the types of social science methods applicable in nitrogen research, such as semi-structured interviews; policy analysis; and participatory approaches.
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Nitrogen News
- Beaver dams as a natural method to reduce excess Nitrogen (JGR Biogeosciences)
- Upcoming: 4th meeting of the UNEP Working Group on Nitrogen (September 28-29, 2023)
- Overview of the 3rd meeting of the UNEP Working Group on Nitrogen, April 2023 (UNEP)
- The greenhouse gas you don’t hear enough about (Catalyst Podcast)
- How much can changes in the agro-food system reduce agricultural nitrogen losses to the environment? Example of a temperate-Mediterranean gradient (Journal Article)
- Nitrogen still a major threat to ecosystems in large parts of Europe (UNECE)
- Safe and just Earth system boundaries (Nature)
Credits:
Created with images by Günter Albers - "Landscape in summer with trees and meadows in bright sunshine" • lightpoet - "Gardening - man digging the garden soil with a spud" • Ivelin - "Representing soil chemistry with symbols of Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus, Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc sticking out of the ground next to growing young plant" • Chatchawal - "A technician in overall protective suit collecting samples of soil potentially contaminated by toxic material ,soil quality monitoring concept ,ph checking on field." • terovesalainen - "Online news in mobile phone. Close up of smartphone screen. Man reading articles in application. Hand holding smart device. Mockup website. Newspaper and portal on internet."