Professor Doreen Stabinsky contributes to agrochemical risk report

Decades of agrochemical use is an under-recognized accelerator of the climate crisis and contributor to catastrophic loss of biodiversity, according to a new report from the Center for International Environmental Law. A 2022 study detailed in the report found that global use of nitrogen fertilizer alone surpasses the climate impact of aviation. Industrial food production is also threatened, as unstable oil and gas markets impact food, fuel, and fertilizer costs. As the ecological crisis worsens, widespread human rights violations, specifically in the Global South, also worsen.

Report contributors include College of the Atlantic global environmental politics professor Doreen Stabinsky.

In the last decade, the fossil fuel industry has been investing in petrochemicals to maintain profits as shifts away from oil and gas fuels continue. Oil, gas, and agrochemical companies have begun partnering in projects that use carbon capture and storage (CCS) to produce fossil gas-based ammonia for fertilizers and fuel for transportation. Such projects allow agrochemical and fossil fuel companies to capitalize on the climate crisis through CCS subsidies.

The report emphasizes the need for a profound transformation of industrial agriculture that utilizes regenerative models centered on food and energy sovereignty. This transition can only occur when fossil-fueled systems that put profit over people are removed.

Contributing author  Doreen Stabinisky has focused her career on the intersections between climate policy, biodiversity, and politics. She chairs the Spinning Climate Change working group of the Climate Social Science Network and the Offsets-Net Zero-Nature-based Solutions working group of the Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance (CLARA). At COA, Doreen offers courses on climate justice, French and European politics, and climate change politics.

Read the report here.