A sustainable direction for phosphorus will lead to better food production, cleaner waters, healthier people and greater biodiversity.
About the OPF Project
The ‘Our Phosphorus Future’ project (OPF) responds to the critical need to provide direction from the global phosphorus scientific community to progress sustainable phosphorus use.
In 2019 over 500 scientists signed ‘The Helsinki Declaration’ calling for transformation across food, agriculture, waste and other sectors to deliver much-needed improvements to global phosphorus sustainability - mobilised through intergovernmental action, which has been missing thus far.
The OPF project ran from 2017-2021. During this time over 100 scientists and industry experts from around the world came together to develop the OPF report. The report identifies the priority issues, possible solutions and the capacity to address phosphorus sustainability from local to global scales.
This website provides the full report and summarises its findings in a range of media formats.
The report
An in-depth report on global phosphorus use, challenges, solutions and opportunities.
Suggested citation: W.J. Brownlie, M.A. Sutton, K.V. Heal, D.S. Reay, B.M. Spears. (eds.), (2022) Our Phosphorus Future. UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17834.08645
Report chapters
Executive summary
Authors: Will J. Brownlie, Mark A. Sutton, Kate V. Heal, Dave S. Reay, Bryan M. Spears
Download executive summary ↓ (15 min read)
Download summary for policymakers ↓ (45 min read)
Chapter 1
Our Phosphorus Future - an introduction
Chapter authors: Bryan M. Spears, Will J. Brownlie, Kate V. Heal, Dave S. Reay, Mark A. Sutton
Visual summary (10 min read)
Download full chapter ↓ (1 hour read)
Chapter 2
Phosphate rock: reserves, resources and uses
Chapter authors: Will J. Brownlie, Mark A. Sutton, Marissa A. de Boer, Lino CamprubÃ, Helen A. Hamilton, Kate V. Heal, Tibisay Morgandi, Tina-Simone Neset, Bryan M. Spears
Chapter 3
Transforming
food systems: implications
for phosphorus
Chapter authors: Dana Cordell, Tim G. Benton, Paul J.A. Withers, Penny J. Johnes, Tina-Simone Neset, Bryan M. Spears
Chapter 4
Opportunities for better phosphorus use in agriculture
Chapter authors: Cargele Masso, Fusuo Zhang, Tapan K. Adhya, Martin S.A. Blackwell, Katrina A. Macintosh, Penny J. Johnes, Phil M. Haygarth, Paul J.A. Withers, Gu Feng, Haigang Li, Chaochun Zhang, Jiechen Wu, Jianbo Shen, Marc I. Stutter, Lingyun Cheng, Will J. Brownlie
Chapter 5
Phosphorus and water quality
Chapter authors: Penny J. Johnes, A. Louise Heathwaite, Bryan M. Spears, Will J. Brownlie, James J. Elser, Phil M. Haygarth, Katrina A. Macintosh, Paul J.A. Withers
Chapter 6
Opportunities to recycle phosphorus-rich organic materials
Chapter authors: Will J. Brownlie, Ruben Sakrabani, Geneviève S. Metson, Martin S.A. Blackwell, Bryan M. Spears
Chapter 7
Opportunities for recovering phosphorus from residue streams
Chapter authors: Ludwig Hermann, John W. McGrath, Christian Kabbe, Katrina A. Macintosh, Kimo van Dijk, Will J. Brownlie
Chapter 8
Consumption: the missing link in phosphorus security
Chapter authors: Geneviève S. Metson, Will J. Brownlie, Julia C. Bausch, Malin Jonell, Kazuyo Matsubae, Frank Mnthambala, Caroline Schill, Elizabeth Tilley
Chapter 9
Towards our phosphorus future
Chapter authors: Will J. Brownlie, Bryan M. Spears, Kate V. Heal, David S. Reay, Tim G. Benton, Dana Cordell, A. Louise Heathwaite, Ludwig Hermann, Penny J. Johnes, Cargele Masso, Richard W. McDowell, John W. McGrath, Geneviève S. Metson, Ruben Sakrabani, Isabelle Vanderbeck, Fuzuo Zhang, Mark A. Sutton
Download full chapter ↓ (1 hour read)
The OPF ‘50:50:50’ goal ↓ (2 min read)
Next steps↓ (2 min read)
About us
The OPF project was delivered through a partnership between the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the University of Edinburgh, UK, and was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the GEF/UNEP project ‘Towards the International Nitrogen Management System’ (INMS). The European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) provided additional funding for production of the report.
This report has been prepared by members of the Our Phosphorus Future network, as an output of the INMS project and a peer-reviewed contribution to the work of the GPNM. This Global Overview has been prepared as a scientifically independent process.
The OPF team
Prof. Mark Sutton
Read bio
The OPF report wouldn't have been possible without contributions and guidance from our amazing network. Special thanks to:
Our authors
Over 40 authors from 17 countries, who contributed to writing the OPF report.
The Scientific Advisory Committee
For providing technical and scientific review, with representatives selected from all UN regions.
Stakeholder Review Panel
For reviewing the report and providing insight on stakeholder perspectives.