Amid climate discussions, one crucial element remains overshadowed: soil health. While COP30 drew criticism for its lack of decisive action against fossil fuels, its neglect of soil’s role in climate resilience is equally concerning. “COP30 disappointed many for failing to provide a binding roadmap to phase out fossil fuels. Yet the conference’s ambivalence towards the state of global soils should be just as alarming,” writes Praveena Sridhar, Chief Policy Officer of the Save Soil movement.
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Held in Brazil, COP30 concluded recently with a glaring omission in its agenda: the role of soil as a vital component in combating climate change. Soil is a major carbon reservoir, containing more carbon than the atmosphere and all life forms combined. However, its potential remains underexplored in climate strategies.
The conference did see some progress, albeit limited. The Food and Agriculture Organization highlighted how climate extremes are impacting global crop yields. Initiatives like the Resilient Agriculture Investment for Net-Zero Land Degradation (RAIZ) were introduced to fund land restoration efforts.
Encouragingly, $9 billion was pledged for soil restoration under the COP30 Action Agenda’s Axis 3, aiming to restore 210 million hectares and support 12 million farmers. Although substantial, this sum pales in comparison to the $36.8 billion the U.S. spends annually on soil conditioners and fertilizers, and the $3.3 trillion committed globally to clean energy.
Despite the incremental progress, the urgency for more robust action on soil health is evident. Soil is far more than a means for agriculture; it is a critical carbon sink, second only to oceans, and holds 45% more carbon than previously estimated. It could capture 27% of the emissions needed to limit global warming to safe levels.
Global policy still lacks a binding soil restoration treaty akin to the Paris Agreement for the atmosphere or UNCLOS for oceans. Without a clear pathway for reducing agricultural emissions or enhancing soil organic matter, soil protection remains neglected in climate adaptation strategies.
The Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work, the only formal negotiation track for agriculture, failed to reach consensus during COP30’s first week. Meanwhile, the UNFCCC’s Standing Committee on Finance hosted its first-ever forum on agriculture but did not offer concrete mechanisms for accessing finance for soil restoration.
The current global climate framework overlooks financing for land and regenerative agriculture, leaving smallholder farmers, who produce 30% of the world’s food but receive less than 1% of climate finance, in a precarious position.
Efforts must prioritize soil restoration as a core aspect of national climate action plans. Policies should recognize soil security as integral to global security, as highlighted in a joint report by Save Soil, IUCN, and Aurora Think Tank.
Ultimately, the vision should be to enhance soil organic matter to 3%, a crucial target for sustaining life and mitigating climate impacts. With water scarcity and wildfires intensifying, the necessity for urgent soil restoration cannot be overstated. Soil’s pivotal role in climate resilience demands immediate global attention and action.
Featured image: Roman Synkevych/Unsplash.
Original Story at earth.org