Efficient costs and policies for emissions control of nitrogen fertilization in Mexican agriculture

Abstract

From 2000 to 2010, global greenhouse gas emissions not only have not decreased, but have grown to unprecedented levels, thereby increasing the possibility of catastrophic climate change. In 2012, the productive and social activity of humanity produced 52.76 million giga tons of carbon dioxide equivalent ( ); Mexico issued 663 425 giga tons, 1.3% of the total. Mexican agriculture and livestock contributed 12.3% to the national total. However, the relevance of this problem has been neglected in the investigation of the environmental costs that these emissions imply. The objectives of this research were: 1) to estimate the economic costs of nitrous oxide emissions produced by nitrogen fertilization in Mexican agriculture; and 2) propose, based on them, a fiscal policy for the efficient control of these emissions. The method applied was the general equilibrium of the global economy with emissions. It was concluded that both the use of chemical fertilizers in Mexican agriculture and the agricultural policy are inefficient, so two alternative and efficient policies for the control of these emissions are proposed. The Mexican government must suspend fertilizer subsidies. This would have a negative impact on production, so that efficient emissions control policies must be accompanied by visionary science and technology policies that develop production, keeping emissions within the non-catastrophic levels of climate change.