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Improving the social cost of nitrous oxide

Nature Climate Change volume 11, pages 1008–1010 (2021)Cite this article

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The social cost of nitrous oxide does not account for stratospheric ozone depletion. Doing so could increase its value by 20%. Links between nitrous oxide and other nitrogen pollution impacts could make mitigation even more compelling.

On his first day in office, US President Joe Biden ordered an update to the social costs of carbon, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These damage costs are crucial to evaluating the global benefits and costs of policy measures to address climate change and are used in several countries beyond the United States, including Canada and the United Kingdom. Scientists and economists have invested heavily in improving estimates of the social cost of carbon1,2. However, the social cost of N2O has been given much less attention3. We argue that the unique environmental and human health impacts of N2O — particularly in relation to its role as an ozone-depleting substance — are not well represented in current estimates (if at all), leading to a significant undervaluation of the social cost of N2O. We estimate that incorporating N2O’s damage to the stratospheric ozone layer would increase its social cost by approximately 20%. Better accounting of nitrogen (N) pollution writ large — from its impacts on air and water quality to biodiversity loss — would make N2O mitigation even more economically compelling4. In short, a more accurate valuation of N2O damages is likely to significantly expand the number of measures and policies deemed economically and socially beneficial by the Biden administration and other countries as they implement their climate agendas.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the International Nitrogen Initiative North America for organizing and hosting a virtual workshop on the social cost of nitrous oxide on 25 February 2021, which seeded many of the ideas and arguments in this Comment. We would also like to thank all the workshop participants for their insightful contributions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    David R. Kanter & Gernot Wagner

  2. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Claudia Wagner-Riddle

  3. City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, New York, NY, USA

    Peter M. Groffman

  4. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, USA

    Peter M. Groffman

  5. Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Frostburg, MD, USA

    Eric A. Davidson

  6. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    James N. Galloway

  7. Wharton Risk Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Jesse D. Gourevitch

  8. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Jesse D. Gourevitch

  9. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Hague, the Netherlands

    Hans J. M. van Grinsven

  10. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Benjamin Z. Houlton

  11. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Center for Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Bonnie L. Keeler

  12. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Stephen M. Ogle

  13. Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Stephen M. Ogle

  14. Environmental Defense Fun, New York, NY, USA

    Holly Pearen

  15. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC, USA

    Kevin J. Rennert

  16. Earthjustice, Sustainable Food and Farming Program, New York, NY, USA

    Mustafa Saifuddin

  17. Water Quality Program, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Portland, OR, USA

    Daniel J. Sobota

  18. Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Gernot Wagner

Authors
  1. David R. Kanter
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  2. Claudia Wagner-Riddle
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  4. Eric A. Davidson
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  7. Hans J. M. van Grinsven
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  8. Benjamin Z. Houlton
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  9. Bonnie L. Keeler
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  10. Stephen M. Ogle
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  11. Holly Pearen
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  12. Kevin J. Rennert
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  13. Mustafa Saifuddin
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  14. Daniel J. Sobota
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  15. Gernot Wagner
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Contributions

D.R.K., C.W.-R. and P.M.G. conceived of the workshop that preceded this Comment. D.R.K. led the writing process, with C.W.-R., P.M.G., E.A.D., J.N.G., J.D.G., B.Z.H., B.L.K., S.M.O., H.P., K.J.R., M.S., D.J.S., H.J.M.v.G. and G.W. providing important written and editorial contributions.

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Correspondence to David R. Kanter.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Kanter, D.R., Wagner-Riddle, C., Groffman, P.M. et al. Improving the social cost of nitrous oxide. Nat. Clim. Chang. 11, 1008–1010 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01226-z

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