The multi-dimensional environmental impact of global crop commodities

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the leading causes of detrimental environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and depletion of freshwater resources. Such impacts can be assessed by environmental sustainability indices; however, limitations in current indicators necessitate the development of more robust and standardized crop-specific environmental sustainability indices. Here we developed the crop environmental sustainability index (PLANTdex), a spatially explicit index (5 arcmin resolution) quantifying crop production’s environmental impacts. PLANTdex includes globally standardized indicators of environmental impacts assessing water stress and biodiversity loss via five emissions pathways: greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, land occupation, and nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer application. We applied PLANTdex to 16 crops, revealing high variability across production system efficiencies, crop types and local context environmental sensitivities. Globally and nationally, no clear correlation emerged between PLANTdex scores and crop production, but stronger correlations were evident at finer spatial scales and for individual crops. Sugar cane showed the strongest negative correlation (low impacts in high-production areas), while oil palm had the strongest positive correlation (high impacts in high-production areas), highlighting the importance of sub-national, crop-specific assessments. PLANTdex’s spatial resolution and crop specificity make it valuable for initiatives such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and corporate sustainability strategies. Environmental impacts of agriculture can be difficult to assess due to limitations in current environmental sustainability indicators of crop production. This study develops a robust crop-specific environmental sustainability index that helps assess corporate sustainability strategies and policy.