Pesticides, 99% of which come from fossil fuels, are exacerbating the climate crisis, but their reduction is underemphasized in the fight against climate change, according to an NGO report on Wednesday that called on the UK government to “significantly reduce their use.” ‘ is prompted.
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According to a press release from NGO PAN UK (Pesticide Action), the use of pesticides, widely accused of causing a biodiversity collapse, is also “exacerbating the climate emergency throughout their life cycle”, from manufacture to use, including packaging and transportation network).
However, “reducing pesticides as a solution to the climate crisis has been largely ignored in government strategies,” say the authors of this report, published with the Pesticide Collaboration, a coalition of organizations working to reduce these common substances. in agriculture in the UK.
Worse still, the use of pesticides is even being presented by the agrochemical industry as a strategy to contain the climate crisis, “perpetuating the myth that (…) the continued use of harmful chemicals is the only way to ensure global food security.” “.
For example, use of the controversial herbicide glyphosate is increasing in the UK, according to data released on Wednesday, with CO2 emissions rising 16% from 2016 to 2020 to 81,410 tonnes per year – the equivalent of “over 75,000 flights from London to Sydney”.
The UK’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 “cannot be achieved without a transformation of agriculture, which includes a significant reduction in the use of pesticides,” according to the authors of this report, focusing in particular on the conclusions of a study published in January by PAN North America.
It is a vicious circle, explains Doug Parr from the NGO Greenpeace UK, who is quoted in the PAN UK press release: “As temperatures rise, the number of pests increases and the resilience of crops decreases, which requires ever greater amounts of pesticides. “
“Reducing the use of pesticides would be at least a double victory in combating both nature’s decline and the climate crisis,” he says.