A National Nitrogen Target for Germany

Markus Geupel, Jürg Heldstab, Bettina Schäppi, Judith Reutimann, Martin Bach, Uwe Häußermann, Lukas Knoll, Laura Klement and Lutz Breuer
Additional contact information
Markus Geupel: German Environment Agency, Section II 4.3, Postfach 14 06, 06813 Dessau-Rosslau, Germany
Jürg Heldstab: INFRAS, Binzstr. 23, 8045 Zurich, Switzerland
Bettina Schäppi: INFRAS, Binzstr. 23, 8045 Zurich, Switzerland
Judith Reutimann: INFRAS, Binzstr. 23, 8045 Zurich, Switzerland
Martin Bach: Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Uwe Häußermann: Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Lukas Knoll: Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Laura Klement: Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Lutz Breuer: Institute of Landscape Ecology and Resource Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392 Giessen, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: The anthropogenic nitrogen cycle is characterized by a high complexity. Different reactive nitrogen species (NH 3 , NH 4 + , NO, NO 2 , NO 3 − , and N 2 O) are set free by a large variety of anthropogenic activities and cause numerous negative impacts on the environment. The complex nature of the nitrogen cycle hampers public awareness of the nitrogen problem. To overcome this issue and to enhance the sensitivity for policy action, we developed a new, impact-based integrated national target for nitrogen (INTN) for Germany. It is based on six impact indicators, for which we derived the maximum amount of nitrogen losses allowed in each environmental sector to reach related state indicators on a spatial average for Germany. The resulting target sets a limit of nitrogen emissions in Germany of 1053 Gg N yr −1 . It could serve as a similar means on the national level as the planetary boundary for reactive nitrogen or the 1.5 °C target of the climate community on the global level. Taking related uncertainties into account, the resulting integrated nitrogen target of 1053 Gg N yr −1 suggests a comprehensible INTN of 1000 Gg N yr −1 for Germany. Compared to the current situation, the overall annual loss of reactive nitrogen in Germany would have to be reduced by approximately one-third.

Keywords: reactive nitrogen; planetary boundary; nitrogen; emission ceiling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1121/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1121/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1121-:d:484748

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().