Böll·Europe Podcast #17 | Soil Atlas 2024 (Part 1)

The fertiliser trap
Shortly after Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, prices for synthetic fertilisers skyrocketed. In 2022 in particular, many conventional farmers could barely afford the expensive artificial fertiliser. The “fertiliser crisis” should have been a good opportunity to break away from dependence on artificial fertilisers and use more environmentally friendly methods to increase soil fertility and improve soil health. However, conventional agriculture's dependence on fertilisers continues to grow, even though the climate footprint of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers in particular is devastating. Studies show that in 2018, the global nitrogen fertiliser supply chain was responsible for more than 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the nitrous oxide released due to an overuse of fertilisers is 300 times more harmful to the climate than CO2. The global fertiliser industry is now presenting more climate-friendly solutions, but what can we make of them?
A Böll·Europe Podcast episode with:

• Inka Dewitz, Senior Program Officer at Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin

• Harun Warui, Programme Lead Agroecology and Food Rights, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Nairobi

• Dr. Gideon Tups, University of Cologne, Cologne

• Lena Luig, Head of International Agricultural Policy Division, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin

• Lisa Tostado, Agrochemicals and Fossil Fuel Campaigner, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Paris

Links:
New Soil Atlas 2024: Facts and figures about a vital resource (eu.boell.org/e...) , Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and TMG Think Tank for Sustainability, November 2024

• Study: “The fertiliser Trap (www.iatp.org/t...) ” by The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, IATP, GRAIN, Nov 8, 2022

• Study: “The Human Costs of the Food Crisis: How Price Spikes are Wreaking Havoc Across the Globe (actionaid.org/...) ” by ActionAid, June 2023

• Article: "Growing foothold: how Russia donates fertiliser to deepen African alliances (www.theguardia...) ", Guardian, March 2023.

• Article: “Surge in fertiliser prices from Russia-Ukraine war adds to pressure on UK farmers (www.theguardia...) ”, Guardian, March 2022

• Study: “Global Fertilizer Market Challenged by Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine” by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, September 2023

Podcast episode team:

• Author: Peter Kreysler

• Production: MonoBeat

• Editing: Lena Luig

• Speaker: Marianna Evenstein and Warner Poland