Pesticides & Climate

Agrichemicals trap us in a vicious cycle of worsening climate impacts

From the very beginning of their product life cycle — when the building blocks of pesticides and other agrichemicals are extracted from the earth as petrochemicals — all the way through manufacturing, distribution, application and beyond, pesticides cause acute and chronic harm and worsen the impacts of climate change. Communities of color and low income rural communities bear the brunt of these harmful impacts.

Agrifood systems contribute one third of total global greenhouse gas emissions according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Modern agrifood systems are built on the assumption that we can extract every ounce of efficiency out of the earth in perpetuity but this assumption is critically flawed.

We already see the impacts of climate change on agriculture. As monoculture farms get bigger and bigger, they must increase the amount of pesticide and synthetic fertilizer inputs they use in order to combat worsening pest and disease pressure. Increased pesticide use results in pest and weed resistance, requiring stronger and more dangerous pesticides. At the same time, climate disasters like droughts, floods and fires make agriculture more risky and less profitable. It is up to all of us to create the conditions for systemic shifts toward agrifood systems that feed the world without worsening the climate crisis and perpetuating this cycle of oppression.