Slashing N2O Emissions: From Science to Action- Launch of Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment

Nitrous oxide is the third most important greenhouse gas and the most abundantly emitted ozone-depleting substance and included as one of six greenhouse gases managed within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

National and global climate mitigation efforts tend to focus on carbon dioxide and methane, reflected in new national commitments and the Global Methane Pledge to reduce emissions by at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. And yet, mitigation efforts that exclude nitrous oxide could make it much harder, if not impossible, to meet a range of climate, ozone and sustainable development objectives.

Co-hosted by Climate Advisers, the U.S. Department of State, Climate & Clean Air Coalition – A UN Environment Programme Initiative & International Nitrogen Initiative are launching the Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, UN Environment Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, and the International Nitrogen Management System, in collaboration with the Montreal Protocol Ozone Secretariat.

This event will look at mitigation opportunities and co-benefits on health and sustainable development.  It will also highlight a range of solutions-pathways that significantly reduce the major drivers of  N₂O emission in the food and agriculture sectors, while phasing down industrial emissions altogether.

Key Messages

• Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is the third-largest driver of climate change and the leading source of atmospheric ozone depletion.
• N₂O concentrations in the past decade have exceeded the most pessimistic illustrative future GHG trajectories used by the IPCC ; there is no way to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement without climate action on N₂O.
• N₂O co-benefits are significant: whether on ozone depletion, air quality and health, and sustainable development.
• A wide range of solutions exist to tackle N₂O emissions: existing abatement technologies can phase down industrial N₂O emissions within the next few years.
• Food and agriculture sector accounts for more than 70 percent of N₂O emissions; existing abatement technologies can reduce emissions by 40 percent, by 2050.