The nitrogen is a macronutrient essential for the functioning of the metabolism of living beings. However, due to the changes that the planet has been passing in the Anthropocene, the nitrogen cycling has been altered. Deforestation combined with changes in land use are primarily responsible for the change in their cycling. Emissions of greenhouse gases such as N2O were increased due to this deforestation and inadequate soil management practices, and this contributed to the fact that these changes in nitrogen cycling occurred. Considering the importance of nitrogen and the changes that it has undergone in the last decades, this work of revision aims to describe the role of nitrogen and the changes in its cycling due to the processes of land use change that occurred in the Anthropocene in forest areas tropical and eucalyptus plantations in Brazil.

Brazil has always maintained a prominent position in negotiations within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, playing a major role in setting increasingly ambitious goals and encouraging consensus among Parties. With the purpose of reducing GHG emissions from the agricultural sector and disseminating and financing good agricultural practices, Brazil developed a platform of sustainable technologies and public policies, as the Low Carbon Agriculture Plan (the “ABC Plan”). This article reviews the main milestones of Brazil’s role in the international negotiation on climate change, how these factors affected the Brazilian agricultural sector between 2009 and 2018 and the authors’ personal view on this context. The objective is to provide an overview of Brazil’s actions regarding the agricultural sector which contribute to the voluntary commitment assumed by the Brazilian government at COPs 15 and 21 and to provide a critical analysis of how these actions are being implemented. The main results show that low carbon agriculture has been consolidated as the main Brazilian strategy for sustainable rural development, but it is vital for our country to continue with these actions.

Abstract: Nitrogen is the most abundant element of the atmosphere, being present in the constitution of several atmospheric gases, among them nitrous oxide (N2O). The N2O is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, due to its high potential for global warming. In Brazil, the sector that emits more N2O to the atmosphere is Agriculture, due to the high amounts of nitrogen fertilizers applied in the field. However, the country has an advanced public policy of adopting agricultural technologies that contribute to the reduction of this problem. The present review aims to show the dynamics of Nitrogen in agricultural and forest systems, the role of Nitrogen in the economy and present the main mitigation strategies in greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.