Introduction
Both at the point of production and when applied to stimulate crop growth, fertilizers have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions and other aspects of climate change. Taken in isolation, fertilizer production leads to inevitable emissions of some greenhouse gases. But these can be minimized, and the fertilizer industry has taken great strides to improve its performance in this area during recent years. Depending on management practices, crop fertilization can either produce a positive, negative or neutral impact on climate change. This is true regardless of whether farmers are using fertilizers, other sources of crop nutrients or a mix thereof.
Key resources on fertilizers and climate change
- FAO/IFA (2001) Global estimates of gaseous emissions of NH3, NO and N2O from agricultural land . Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Rome, Italy. / International Fertilizer Industry Association. Paris, France.
- IFA (2007) Fertilizer Best Management Practices: General Principles, Strategy for their adoption and voluntary initiatives versus regulation . Paris, France.
- IFA (2007) Sustainable Management of the Nitrogen Cycle in Agriculture and Mitigation of Reactive Nitrogen Side Effects . First edition. Paris, France.
- Kongshaug, G. (1998) β Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Fertilizer Production β. IFA Techical Conference Marrakech Morocco. September/October 1998.
- Mosier, A.R. et al. (ed.) (2004) Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle: Assessing the impacts of fertilizer use on food production and the environment . Island Press: Washington, DC, USA.


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