16 December 2014
UNECE Region Adopts Framework to Reduce Air Pollution from Agriculture
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Parties to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) have adopted an ‘Ammonia Framework Code' to help countries reduce ammonia emissions from agriculture, which threaten human health, causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

Atmospheric ammonia, a major contributor to air pollution, also leads to acidification and excessive nutrient loading, resulting in biodiversity loss in many of the most vulnerable ecosystems.

UNECE12 December 2014: Parties to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) have adopted an ‘Ammonia Framework Code’ to help countries reduce ammonia emissions from agriculture, which threaten human health, causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Atmospheric ammonia, a major contributor to air pollution, also leads to acidification and excessive nutrient loading, resulting in biodiversity loss in many of the most vulnerable ecosystems.

In 2012, the agricultural sector accounted for 88.4% of total ammonia emissions in the UNECE region, excluding Canada and the US, mainly from manure produced by livestock and from mineral nitrogen fertilizers.

Welcoming the framework, UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach said he hopes the decision will stimulate new emission reduction measures in the agricultural sector, and create a broader understanding of the benefits of reducing ammonia and nitrogen for human health and the environment.

The new framework code updates a previous version adopted in 2001 under the Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol), providing guidance for countries to establish their own national codes. The framework includes: good practices on nitrogen management and livestock feeding strategies; measures to reduce emissions from animal excretions; low-emission techniques to store and spread manure on fields; low-emission animal housing systems; and measures to limit emissions from mineral fertilizer use.

In many parts of the UNECE region: over-fertilization and deposition of too much atmospheric nitrogen acidify natural and agricultural soils, leading to a loss of arable land; excess nitrogen affects water quality and can lead to contaminated aquifers; and interactions with nitrogen and its transformations impact on the atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) balance with climate change consequences.

The LRTAP, which currently has 51 parties and was established in 1979, has added eight protocols on specific measures to cut emissions of air pollutants. The Gothenburg Protocol, which entered into force in 2005, sets: emission ceilings for pollutants, such as sulphur and nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and ammonia; and limit values for specific emission sources.[UNECE Press Release] [LRTAP Website]

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