Pesticides and the climate crisis
Globally, food systems account for over one-third of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which includes agriculture and pesticide use. Pesticides exacerbate the climate emergency throughout their lifecycle via manufacturing, packaging, transportation, application, and even through environmental degradation and disposal.
Many of the world’s biggest oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell and ChevronPhillips Chemical produce pesticides or their chemical ingredients.
Despite this, pesticide reduction as a solution to the climate crisis has largely been ignored. Pesticide use is even presented as a climate mitigation strategy by the agro-chemical industry, which perpetuates the myth that intensifying food production through the continuous use of harmful chemicals is the only way to guarantee global food security while protecting precious habitats.
Unless we change our approach, the impacts of the climate emergency are expected to lead to an increase in pesticide use, which will create a vicious cycle between chemical dependency and worsening climate breakdown. As temperatures rise, the amount of pests increase and crop resilience goes down, requiring ever-larger amounts of pesticides. This rise in pesticide use will cause insects and weeds to develop resistance to herbicides and insecticides in greater numbers, while also continuing to harm human health and the environment.
The UK government must take action to transform agriculture in order to avoid the worst effects of today’s climate and nature crises. Governmental policies addressing climate change should, therefore, include a focus on pesticide reduction as a key strategy for tackling greenhouse gas emissions and improving the climate resilience of food and farming system. Policies should be based on an approach underpinned by the growing body of evidence showing that pesticide use is both a direct and indirect driver of climate change, and not part of the solution.
