Soil erosion costs the global economy US$8bn a year, reduces agri-food production by 33.7m tonnes, leading to increases of up to 3.5% in world food prices
What a wonderful (under)world
Soil is home to a quarter of all living species on earth, provides essential nutrients for the majority of food, and is one of our most efficient and important carbon sinks. It also takes thousands of years to form. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a tablespoon of healthy soil contains more living organisms than there are people on the planet. Yet at the current rate of soil erosion, 16% of global soils will not survive another 100 years.
Global soils are in decline
While soil erosion has historically been caused by climatic factors, human activities such as intensive agriculture, deforestation, pollution and human-driven climate change accelerate the process, exposing loose dirt to strong winds, heavy rain and other elements. Eroded soil can have devastating knock-on effects like landslides, flooding, water contamination, and a decline in crop productivity that could have economic and food security impacts for generations. Soil also releases CO2 as its capacity for carbon storage declines, thus directly contributing to global warming.
World Soil Day: A time to dig deep into soil issues
Soils will play a key role for food sustainability and for meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—particularly SDG 2 (zero hunger) and SDG 15 (life on land). The FAO has supported the formal establishment of World Soil Day as a global awareness-raising platform. Every year on December 5th, World Soil Day offers an opportunity to focus on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
A big step in this direction would be to prioritise the issue of soil erosion in policies governing the agricultural sector and in international policy agendas. Some countries like the US have already passed bills that extend soil conservation compliance requirements within their respective agricultural sectors. At the 2002 Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), delegates decided to establish an International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity. However, while soils are partially covered by different environmental conventions, there is still no international agreement that puts soil protection at the forefront of the policy agenda. The ongoing negotiations at the CBD COP15 offer an opportunity for global leaders to specifically include soil protections. The first draft of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, however, contains not a single reference to soil.
Quick tip: Turning wasted food and food scraps into compost can help improve soil health.
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