Activities and output
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Final report, describing the phosphorus depletion process. The report discusses the realised activities, results and follow-up plans, and reflects on how the process has contributed to DPRN objectives.
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Movie on phosporus depletion (in Dutch, 10 minutes), in which the issue is discussed by four experts: Prof dr. Eric Smaling, Senate member for the Dutch Socialist Party, Prof dr. Lucas Reijnders, environmental science, University of Amsterdam, Tom Vereijken, Director Water Grontmij, and Leon Korving, manager process and environment Slibverwerking Noord-Brabant (SNB). The movie is meant to bring the topic to the attention of a wider audience in the Netherlands. It was published on DVD, accompanied by a small booklet, and on YouTube.
- Case study for the Netherlands, describing the implications of phosphorus depletion for the Netherlands, a country with a unique position in Europe as the only country with a phosphorus surplus. The study is written by PRI-WUR and is going to be used for lobbying activities.
- European Mini Conference, European Parliament Brussels, 4 March 2010. The NFTG organised this conference in order to attract attention to phosphorus depletion at a European level. The panel discussion was organised by Bas Eickhout, member of the European Parliament for the Greens / EFA and Lena Ek, member of the European Parliament for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). The seminar minutes can be found here.
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Joint press release & seminar TA Steering Committee & NFTG, The Hague, 7 October 2009: A partnership has been started between the Nutrient Flow Task Group and the Technology Assessment (TA) Steering Committee (www.stuurgroepta.nl). The Technology Assessment Programme of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has been operational since 1993. The goal of the programme is to clarify social issues relating to scientific and technological developments within the scope of the Ministry. The Ministry has also appointed an independent steering committee, the Steering Committee for Technology Assessment, which advises the Minister directly on these issues.
This year, the Committee advises the minister on phosphorus depletion with a policy note (see also the accompanying policy letter, both documents in Dutch). The policy note is based on research executed by NFTG member Plant Research International, part of Wageningen University. The research report entitled "Phosphorus in agriculture: global resources, trends and development" is available here. Together, the NFTG and the Committee will organise a press release for this policy note and the research report.
After the press conference a seminar will be organized about Phosphorus Depletion, focusing on three subjects:
- A problem analysis
- Overview of policy options
- Concrete industry opportunities for today
To kick off the seminar a paper was written beforehand: The emerging phosphorus shortage as a challenge.
For a summary of the seminar conclusions read the: Conclusions of the mini-seminar on phosphorus shortage.
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Article "Peak phosphorus. The next inconvenient truth" in The Broker (4 August, 2009)
- “The Phosphorus Depletion: The Invisible Crisis” flyer was presented during the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul in March 2009. In preparation for the 5th WorldWaterForum in Istanbul in March 2009, the Task Group prepared a fact sheet to be distributed and presented during the forum. This fact sheet summarized the issues related to phosphate scarcity and background information of the ‘Nutrient Flow Task Group’. The fact sheet was made available to all interested parties and was distributed throughout the forum venue and particularly at the Netherlands Water Pavilion. At a number of seminars the subject was brought to the attention with important actors such as FAO and IFAD.
- Bert Smit (WUR) and other (new) members of the NFTG (Thermpos and SNB) visited the International Conference on Nutrient Recovery from Wastewater Streams in Vancouver (10-13 May). It was an interesting conference during which the problem of phosphorus depletion and phosphorus recycling were addressed as important issues. The programme and discussions focused mainly on waste-water treatment. Only a few, not very impressive ‘nutrient use’ research papers were presented, such as the reuse of e.g. struvite in agriculture. The NFTG regards the lack of interest in how to deal with nutrients after recovery to be an important optional focus of our agenda. This will involve a vision and action which extends beyond our borders as the Netherlands agricultural sector (with its large surplus of phosphorus) does not generally consider phosphorus depletion to be a problem.
For more information see: www.nutrientrecovery2009.com
- Presentation about phosphorous depletion during the ‘Choose for Climate’ debate in Wageningen by Bert Smit. Participants: Niels van den Berge (candidate EU - parliament GroenLinks), Diederik Samsom (Dutch National Parliament PvdA).
For more information visit: www.jma.org and www.europa-nu.nl
- Arno Rosemarin of the Stockholm Environmental Institute represented the NFTG during the Stockholm World Water Week. 'Nutrients Management in the Urban Environment' featured in the seminar entitled 'For Wise-use of Land and Water Resources: Balancing Competing Claims for Water, Food, Energy and Ecosystems', as organized by the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. The seminar was held on Sunday 16 August 2009.
For more information see: www.worldwaterweek.org.