Nitrogen Emissions in Latin America: Impacts, Drivers, and Policy Response

The lack of Information on the nitrogen cycle in Latin America is a serious impediment to provide a proper evaluation and projection on how human activity is altering nitrogen pools and turnover at regional and global scales. In the scope of the Nitrogen Human Environment Network (Nnet Project), we propose a 'conceptual framework of nitrogen emissions drivers in Latin America' to understand the complexity of nitrogen dynamics in the region, the diverse drivers and impacts on human health. Besides, the conceptual framework emphasizes the crucial role of political decisions and institutional forcefulness in providing and implementing appropriate mechanisms to deal with the 'benefits versus costs' situation of nitrogen use.

Some questions are discussed under the current socio-economic status of Latin American countries: (i) What factors are responsible for the increasing of emissions from nitrogen use? (ii) Is population growth the ultimate cause for the continuous expansion of Nr emissions? (iii) Are there other factors influencing this presumable foremost cause? (iv) What is the role of government institutions in provoking this situation and finally in controlling and reversing this trend?

Finally, we provided a wide survey to search for nitrogen in current Latin American policies, specifically in the Nnet Project case-study countries. At large, all countries have reported general measures and mechanisms to deal with nitrogen, but only as a greenhouse gas (N₂O). Specific and/or unified policies dealing directly with N emissions were not observed; however, some isolated measures with linkages to nitrogen have been considered in the legislation of some countries.