Government must act now to tackle deadly impacts of nitrogen pollution says Lords Committee

“Our report identifies low-hanging fruit measures to reduce deadly nitrogen pollution which we urge the Government to act on immediately.”
Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee

A House of Lords report, published today (Thursday 24 July), warns that successive Governments have failed to tackle the dangerous health, environmental and economic impacts of nitrogen pollution in England caused mainly by agriculture, sewage, transport and industry.

The cross-party Environment and Climate Change Committee's wide-ranging report, ‘Nitrogen: time to reduce, recycle, reuse' is calling on the Government to produce a holistic nitrogen strategy within the next two years having found that a piecemeal approach to nitrogen management and regulation has led to an ineffective regulatory framework, with poor enforcement.

The report also recommends a circular economy approach to nitrogen management is implemented within the next two years to maximise a range of existing and emerging economic and environmental opportunities to reduce, recycle and reuse nitrogen.

After hearing from a range of witnesses, the Committee also called on the Government to:

tackle nitrogen pollution caused by agriculture by:

• requiring all slurry stores to be covered and mandate the use of low-emission spreading techniques for manure, digestate and urea, by 2027;
  
  
• improving enforcement, as a matter of priority, of existing regulations such as the Farming Rules of Water, Nitrate Vulnerable Zones and Silage, Slurry and Fuel Oil Regulations, to reduce inputs of excess reactive nitrogen from artificial fertilisers and organic sources;
  
  
• extending the Environmental Permitting Regulations to large dairy and beef cattle farms within two years;
  
  
• consulting on the appropriate threshold to expand the regulations for pigs and poultry within the next twelve months;
  
  
• communicating innovative nutrient recovery projects it is funding to raise awareness of market-ready technologies and to share learning;
  
  
• revising fertiliser product regulations within two years to ensure products derived from quality recycled organic materials can be classified as high-value products;
  
  
  

tackle nitrogen pollution in rivers and other waterbodies by:

• promoting collaboration between the wastewater and agricultural sectors to implement upstream catchment-based and nature-based approaches while exploring further opportunities for innovative waste management;
  
  
• improving the monitoring and reporting of emissions to air and water from wastewater treatment plants, including nutrient loads from storm overflows and establishing nitrogen reduction targets to increase accountability of stakeholders;
  
  
• clarifying the roles and responsibilities of those involved in nutrient management in wastewater;
  
  
• supporting the expansion of nutrient recovery technologies in the wastewater sector;
  
  
• working with regulators to encourage wastewater companies to take up technologies for nitrogen recovery, not only nitrogen removal as part of the spending on infrastructure upgrades over 2025 to 2030.
  
  

tackle nitrogen pollution caused by transport and industry by:

• ensuring the revised Clean Air Strategy establishes a credible, accountable and funded plan to achieve air quality targets supported by enhanced local authority coordination and comprehensive monitoring systems.
  
  

Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said:

“Nitrogen is an essential chemical element for all living things. It constitutes 80 percent of the air we breathe.

However, when nitrogen combines with other elements it can form dangerous and deadly pollutants that affect air quality, contributing to tens of thousands of premature deaths per year and damages and kills aquatic life, precious habitats, plants and wildlife. The associated economic, social and environmental costs are immense.

It is an essential priority to quantify the major flows, sources, and sinks of nitrogen and minimise nitrogen pollution by capturing and re-using pollutants, turning them from damaging waste into a valuable resource.

We are therefore calling on the government to take a more strategic, holistic and innovative approach to nitrogen management, recognising the importance of tougher regulation and the opportunity to deliver improved outcomes for public health, the climate, nature, wildlife, and farmers.

Our report also identifies low-hanging measures to reduce deadly nitrogen pollution which we urge the Government to act on immediately.”