Global use of pesticides (including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides) increased by 16.7% between 2005 and 2020, according to Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK).
The group published a report stating that there is a “vicious cycle” between pesticide use and climate change, with more impacts from both.
About 99 percent of all synthetic chemicals, including pesticides, come from fossil fuels, the report states, with multiple oil companies including ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron involved in their production.
degradation
The manufacture, packaging, transport and application of chemicals all generate greenhouse gas emissions, contribute to climate change and contribute to environmental degradation, PAN UK said.
At the same time, the report noted, rising temperatures lead to the spread of insects and plant diseases, which encourage the use of more pesticides, creating a “vicious cycle”.
PAN UK said that greater use of pesticides would have a greater impact on wildlife populations already stressed by climate impacts such as warmer summer temperatures and milder, wetter winters, and that organisms would respond to chemical Substances develop greater resistance, further increasing the use of pesticides.
Activists want the government to include reducing pesticide use in climate plans, with ambitious reduction targets, support for farmers to use alternative methods to protect crops and a ban on pesticide use in urban areas.
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Josie Cohen, director of policy and campaigns at PAN UK, said: “There is an urgent need for joint government action to tackle the climate and nature crises because they go hand in hand. Solutions to these emergencies must not undermine each other.
“The UK’s net zero target cannot be achieved without changes to agriculture, including a drastic reduction in the use of pesticides, which will also have huge benefits for nature and biodiversity,” she said.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) says farmers only use pesticides when necessary, without them yields fall, prices rise for consumers and twice as much land is needed to grow the same pesticides. amount of food.
But PAN UK argues that the idea of using pesticides to ensure food security is a “myth” because they contribute to climate change, which weakens food security.
glyphosate
It cites the carbon footprint of the herbicide glyphosate, which has been embroiled in multiple legal cases in the U.S. for its alleged human health impacts, at 31.29 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of glyphosate produced .
Globally, glyphosate was used in 2014 to fuel 6.25 million cars for a year, the group claims.
According to statistics, in the UK, the use of glyphosate has increased by 16% in the four years to 2020 government data. PAN UK said this generated 81,410 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, equivalent to more than 75,000 flights from London to Sydney.
Other pesticides are themselves greenhouse gases, such as sulfuryl fluoride, which is nearly 5,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the group said.
Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientist and Policy Director at Greenpeace UK, said: “Public understanding of the role of fossil fuel companies in driving the climate emergency has grown enormously over the past few years and we now know we need to increase the pesticide industry Be included in the list of climate polluting enterprises.
“Reducing pesticide use is at least a win-win for addressing natural decline and the climate crisis,” he added.
the author
Danny Halpin is the Pennsylvania Environmental Correspondent.
