Importing food damages domestic environment: Evidence from global soybean trade
Importing food damages domestic environment: Evidence from global soybean trade
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1718153115
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发表时间：
2018-05
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Jing Sun;H. Mooney;Wenbin Wu;Huajun Tang;Yuxin Tong;Zhenci Xu;Baorong Huang;Yeqing Cheng;
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jing Sun;H. Mooney;Wenbin Wu;Huajun Tang;Yuxin Tong;Zhenci Xu;Baorong Huang;Yeqing Cheng;
实现全球环境可持续性和粮食安全是世界面临的最大挑战之一。国际粮食贸易在全球粮食安全中发挥着重要作用。人们普遍认为，进口国以出口国的环境为代价从国际粮食贸易中获得环境利益。与传统观点相反，我们的研究揭示了进口国的一个主要环境问题。这些出乎意料的结果表明，需要通过讨论消费者和生产者之间的环境责任，重新评估国际贸易对所有进口国的环境影响。迫切需要找到减少环境污染和加强粮食安全的创新解决办法，以抵消国际贸易在全球范围内的负面影响。保护环境和加强粮食安全是世界可持续发展目标之一，也是最大的挑战。国际粮食贸易是加强全球粮食安全的重要机制。然而，人们普遍认为，在国际粮食贸易中，进口国获得环境利益，而出口国则因使用土地和其他资源生产出口粮食而遭受环境问题。我们的研究表明，国际食品贸易也会导致进口国的环境污染。在全球范围内，我们的荟萃分析表明，在进口国国内种植固氮大豆的许多农田被转换为种植高氮需求作物（小麦，玉米，水稻和蔬菜）后，氮（N）污染增加。这一发现得到了中国区域一级深入研究的进一步证实，中国是最大的大豆进口国，大豆地转化为玉米地和稻田也导致了氮污染。我们的研究与传统观点形成了鲜明的对比，传统观点认为只有出口才能对环境问题产生重大影响。我们的研究结果表明，有必要评估所有其他主要商品和产品的国际贸易在所有进口国的环境后果，这对全球政策制定和消费者，生产者和贸易商之间的环境责任辩论的根本反思有重大影响。
Significance Achieving global environmental sustainability and food security is among the world’s biggest challenges. International food trade plays an important role in global food security. It is widely believed that importing countries benefit environmentally from international food trade at the environmental cost of exporting countries. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, our study reveals a major environmental problem in importing countries. The unexpected findings suggest the need to reevaluate environmental consequences of international trade in all importing countries through discussions regarding environmental responsibilities among consumers and producers. There is an urgent need for innovative solutions for reducing environmental pollution and enhancing food security to offset the negative impacts of international trade globally. Protecting the environment and enhancing food security are among the world’s Sustainable Development Goals and greatest challenges. International food trade is an important mechanism to enhance food security worldwide. Nonetheless, it is widely concluded that in international food trade importing countries gain environmental benefits, while exporting countries suffer environmental problems by using land and other resources to produce food for exports. Our study shows that international food trade can also lead to environmental pollution in importing countries. At the global level, our metaanalysis indicates that there was increased nitrogen (N) pollution after much farmland for domestically cultivated N-fixing soybeans in importing countries was converted to grow high N-demanding crops (wheat, corn, rice, and vegetables). The findings were further verified by an intensive study at the regional level in China, the largest soybean-importing country, where the conversion of soybean lands to corn fields and rice paddies has also led to N pollution. Our study provides a sharp contrast to the conventional wisdom that only exports contribute substantially to environmental woes. Our results suggest the need to evaluate environmental consequences of international trade of all other major goods and products in all importing countries, which have significant implications for fundamental rethinking in global policy-making and debates on environmental responsibilities among consumers, producers, and traders across the world.