Soils are key providers of vital ecosystem services and are essential to life on Earth. Their protection and sustainable management is of the utmost importance yet, due to the crosscutting nature of soil resources and the different stakeholders that benefit from them, soil governance is generally addressed in a dispersed manner in current national and international legal frameworks. As a result, both international and European environmental governance still lack a soil specific instrument along with soil specific policies incorporated within the existing and relevant legislation, while soils play a central role in achieving the many environmental goals set in various contexts.

However, soils are now on the decision-making agenda thanks to advocacy and awareness raising efforts from initiatives including the Global Soil Partnership, Joint Research Soil Atlases, Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative, and the Global Soil Week. Ensuring good soil governance is essential because it shapes the way soils are managed at global scale. Ultimately, substantial and effective changes needed in agri-food systems would require the development of a comprehensive performance-based system along with a set of coherent and well-coordinated environmental policies directly addressing soil-related issues. This event aims to review the status and future perspectives for global soil governance that can ensure healthy soils for all.

The event takes place online and features contributions from representatives of governments, international organisations, and research organisations, as well as an open session for discussion and questions. It takes place in the framework of Eurosoil 2021 "Connecting People and Soils" to be held from 23 to 27 August 2021