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A native species is a species that is considered indigenous to a given ecosystem or region. A species is typically perceived to be a native species when it has been present in the ecosystem or region for a long time. This can be anything from a few centuries up to several millennia. Which species are seen as native or non-native depends on the historical baseline one adopts and is to some extent open for interpretation and debate.
Natural capital, also known as environmental assets, refers to stocks of natural features that provide flows of benefits through ecosystem services to humans. It has been suggested that natural capital accounts can be used to assess the state and economic value of nature (ecosystem services) in a manner comparable to assessing economic growth using GDP.
Nature markets involve converting ecosystem services into tradable commodities which are bought by others mainly to offset the damage to ecosystems they are causing elsewhere, either on a voluntary or regulated basis. For example, companies or individuals may buy biodiversity credits that indicate a defined improvement in biodiversity to offset or neutralise an equal reduction in biodiversity they have caused elsewhere.
Nature- based solutions are actions to address societal challenges through the protection, sustainable management and restoration of ecosystems, benefiting both biodiversity and human well-being.
Neo-classical economics, also known as mainstream economics, emerged at the end of the 19th century and dominates economic research and teaching around the world. Its focus is on the mathematical modelling of markets on the basis that they tend towards an equilibrium that maximises human welfare. It forms the basis of environmental economics and may be used by proponents of ecomodernism.
Neoliberalism is an ideology and a political and economic policy model that emphasises the importance of freedom from state intervention, the privatisation of public goods, and the primacy of economic growth and free market competition. Neoliberal policies were championed in the 1980s by US President Ronald Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher – these policies included cuts to state spending and efforts to promote economic growth by privatising public services and deregulating the corporate sector. Neoliberal thinking has since gained traction amongst many national and global policy makers, and in the 1980s and 1990s led by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to promote economic restructuring in countries around the world. More recently however, neoliberalism has received various levels of criticism. The 2008 financial crisis for example has prompted many economists and policymakers to call for greater government regulation of the financial and banking sectors. Although neoliberalism is recognised for increasing the wealth of certain portions of the world’s population, it has also been responsible for widening socio-economic inequalities and worsening climate and environmental crises. Debates about the value of economic growth and the ability of markets to efficiently and fairly allocate resources are therefore ongoing.
NGO (non-governmental organisation) is a loose term prototypically describing non-profit organisations that seek to influence public policy or discourse but are not part of a government. NGO is also sometimes used to include industry trade organisations and other private sector lobbying groups.
Nitrogen fixation is the process through which atmospheric nitrogen (N2) is converted into ammonia (NH3) or related nitrogenous compounds that, when present in the soil, can be utilised by plants. Plants are unable to utilise atmospheric nitrogen (N2) for plant growth because it is a relatively unreactive gas. There are two main processes through which nitrogen fixation occurs in the food system: artificial nitrogen fixation through the Haber-Bosch process – the process underlying the production of synthetic fertiliser – and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) through bacteria in the soil and roots of particular plant and tree species such as legumes.
Non-communicable diseases are diseases which are not passed from person to person. They are often long lasting and generally progress slowly. Examples include cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. Unhealthy diets are one of the major risk factors for non-communicable diseases.
The NOVA classification is a system of food classification created by a team of nutrition and health researchers at the University of São Paulo led by Carlos Monteiro. NOVA categorises food products by the ‘extent’ and ‘purpose’ of food processing on the grounds that today this is the main determinant of a food’s nutritional and environmental characteristics. NOVA has four categories: minimally processed food; processed culinary ingredients; processed foods; and ultra-processed foods. Introduced as a framework to measure the impacts of processed foods on human health, NOVA has also been promoted as an alternative to traditional government-approved dietary guidance such as the US MyPlate, the UK Eatwell plate or the Chinese Food Pagoda. While criticised, NOVA is increasingly used as a framework in nutrition science, especially in nutritional epidemiology. The dietary guidelines of Brazil (2014), Uruguay (2016), Ecuador (2018) and Peru (2019) and some reports from the PAHO-WHO have drawn upon the NOVA classification while the French (2019) dietary recommendations advise to reduce the consumption of ‘ultra-transformed’ foods.
Novel ecosystems are ecosystems that as a result of human influences have changed to the extent that the biotic elements (living things such as animals, plants or bacteria) and abiotic elements (non-living things such as water, rocks and air) are almost entirely different from what they have been in a historical state of the ecosystem. Novel ecosystems are defined relative to a past state of the ecosystem and the role humans have had in changing it. While this means that what does and does not count as a novel ecosystem is context dependent and subject to interpretation, the concept is generally used to refer to ecosystems that have experienced substantial human-induced changes in recent history (say the past two centuries). Examples of ecosystems that are often considered as ‘novel’ are deforested primary forests and areas that have a very different species composition due to the introduction and spread of non-native species resulting from human activity such as intercontinental trade.
Nudge approaches are the specific application of nudge theory, whereby the physical or informational environment in which decision making takes place is purposefully changed in order to affect behaviour. One example is using smaller plates to subtly limit overall food consumption in canteens.
Nudge theory is a concept in behavioural science, economics, and political science which tries to achieve non-forced compliance with desired behaviours (e.g. policies). It does this through the adjustment of messaging and the context in which decisions are made, in ways that have been found to predictably affect the motives, incentives, and decision making of individuals and groups of people.
Nutrient profiling is the classifying or ranking of foods according to their nutritional composition for reasons related to preventing disease and promoting health. Algorithms for this process are known as nutrient profile models or nutrient density indices. These vary in detail, most consider each item of food in isolation, but some account for the dietary context within which a food is eaten and other measures such as the carbon footprint.
Nutritional epidemiology is a sub-branch of epidemiology. This field of study focuses on the distribution and determinants of diseases and other medical conditions in a population. Nutritional epidemiology studies the relationships between dietary patterns, nutrient intake and their impacts upon public health. Common methods in nutritional epidemiology include dietary surveys and cohort studies, by which statistical associations between (say) food consumption and medical conditions such as cancer or obesity are studied.
Nutritionism, coined by the Australian academic Gyorgy Scrinis and popularised by the US journalist and food writer Michael Pollan, is a term used to describe and critique the dominant assumption of much nutrition science research – and often of mainstream dietary recommendations – that it is possible to understand the health implications of individual food products as well as dietary patterns in terms of their micro and macronutrient profiles. From this nutritionist perspective, foods are primarily viewed as interchangeable vehicles for the delivery of specific and isolated nutrients. Criticising ‘Big Food’ and the food products it provides, users of the concept tend to highlight the role of food in social and cultural life and argue that healthy dietary patterns mostly consist of home-made meals and dishes that are largely based on unprocessed food ingredients. Gyorgy Scrinis also argues that nutritionism has contributed to the food industry’s use of reformulation and nutrient fortification, which are aimed at improving a food’s nutrient profile.