Brazil’s Fertiliser Risks: Identifying innovation and investment opportunities

Brazil’s 2022 National Fertiliser Plan lacks clear targets for reducing synthetic fertiliser use and fails to outline a transition to a sustainable, regenerative agribusiness sector. Brazil’s environmental wealth depends on its environmental health, which is threatened by the GHG emissions and pollution caused by the overuse of synthetic fertilisers.

Planet Tracker estimates that synthetic fertiliser use in Brazil emits a total of 79 Mt CO₂e – 83 Mt CO₂e each year, equivalent to 7% of national emissions in 2021. Fertiliser run-off from farmland is a major cause of eutrophication, causing algal blooms and which can destroy freshwater and marine ecosystems. It also causes nitrous oxide air pollution, leading to acid rain and smog, impacting human and ecosystem health.