A new report Pesticides and The Climate Crisis: A Vicious Cycle. published by The Pesticide Action Network (PAN UK) / The Pesticide Collaboration (includes ORC) calls for the UK Government to reduce the contribution of pesticides to greenhouse gas emissions and improve the climate resilience of food and farming systems.
Globally, food systems account for over one-third of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which includes agriculture and pesticide use. Pesticides exacerbate the climate emergency throughout their lifecycle via manufacturing, packaging, transportation, application, and even through environmental degradation and disposal.
Many of the world’s biggest oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and ChevronPhillips Chemical produce pesticides or their chemical ingredients.
- 99% of pesticides are derived from fossil fuels, and many of the world’s biggest oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and ChevronPhillips Chemical produce pesticides or their chemical ingredients.
- The use of glyphosate in the UK is rising. 2.6 million kilograms of glyphosate were sprayed in the UK in 2020, resulting in 81,410 tonnes of C02e. This is equivalent to over 75,000 flights from London to Sydney.
- We will need more and more pesticides as we find ourselves in a vicious cycle between chemical dependency and worsening climate breakdown: this vicious cycle must be broken.
Despite this, pesticide reduction as a solution to the climate crisis has largely been ignored. Pesticide use is even presented as a climate mitigation strategy by the agro-chemical industry, which perpetuates the myth that intensifying food production through the continuous use of harmful chemicals is the only way to guarantee global food security while protecting precious habitats.
Unless we change our approach, the impacts of the climate emergency are expected to lead to an increase in pesticide use, which will create a vicious cycle between chemical dependency and worsening climate breakdown. As temperatures rise, the amount of pests increase and crop resilience goes down, requiring ever-larger amounts of pesticides. This rise in pesticide use will cause insects and weeds to develop resistance to herbicides and insecticides in greater numbers, while also continuing to harm human health and the environment.
The UK government must take action to transform agriculture in order to avoid the worst effects of today’s climate and nature crises. Governmental policies addressing climate change should, therefore, include a focus on pesticide reduction as a key strategy for tackling greenhouse gas emissions and improving the climate resilience of food and farming system. Policies should be based on an approach underpinned by the growing body of evidence showing that pesticide use is both a direct and indirect driver of climate change, and not part of the solution.
Read the new report here: https://www.pan-uk.org/pesticides-and-the-climate-crisis
