A Critical Review of the Effectiveness of Policies to Reduce Nitrogen Fertilizer Pollution

The increasing global population and consequent growing demand for food are causing more nitrogen (N) fertilizer to be used in agricultural industries. Although using N fertilizer significantly increases global food production, excessive application of N fertilizer pollutes the natural environment, contributes to the global stocks of greenhouse gases and global warming, and poses threats to human health. Governments worldwide have tried a range of policies to reduce these negative impacts of N fertilizers. There are few studies about the effectiveness of these policies. In this paper, a systematic review of the literature was done. Published findings about the effectiveness of policies that have been used or proposed to reduce pollution from N fertilizer have been summarized and synthesized. This information can help inform policymakers and enable them to assess better and measure the effectiveness of policies to reduce N fertilizer pollution. This would increase the chances of effective policies being adopted.