www.ecn.nl

OECD and Nitrogen Budget IndicatorsAlbert Bleeker

Current Nitrogen Indicators

• OECD – Soil nitrogen balance• CBD – Nitrogen deposition

• Missing the ‘big nitrogen picture’• Extending to:

– Other sectors/sources (industry, traffic, waste water, etc.)– Other themes (air quality, biodiversity, eutrophication, etc.)

• Include these indicators into the OECD:– Green Growth Indicator set– Core Indicator set

Starting point

• Nitrogen Budget developed for countries and Europe

• Published in:– European Nitrogen Assessment

(2011)

Possible new indicators

• Using information from the Nitrogen Budget, indicators can be derived, e.g.:– Trend in emissions/release by compound/sector– Trend in application/deposition per area– Nitrogen Use Efficiency per country/production state– Nitrogen Loss per capita/km2/country– ….

Proposal Level 1,2 & 3 approach

• Level 1: easily implementable approach based on available statistics• Level 2: refined Level 1 version based on national statistical information• Level 3: combining national statistics with national conversion parameters

Level 1 approach

• Easily implementable• Based on internationally available statistics• Currently also used as a new indicator under the Convention on Biological

Diversity– CBD Target 8 Indicator– “Loss of reactive nitrogen to the environment”

• Show the nitrogen loss due to:– Production of food– Processing of food– Consumption of food– Use of energy

Nitrogen balances and indicatorsTier 1 approach and results