Brussels, 12 November 2024 - Healthy soils are a basic requirement for producing nutritious food, preserving biodiversity and adapting to climate change. But the condition of the soils is poor, with more than a third of the world's agricultural land being considered degraded. In the European Union, more than 60 percent of soils are now damaged - caused, among other factors, by industrial agriculture and the effects of the climate crisis such as droughts.

At the same time, soil is an increasingly important pillar of climate mitigation strategies, intensifying competition over land use and distribution, and should take a centre stage at international climate debates. We urgently need the EU to adopt coordinated political efforts to protect soils that consider the various forms of use in an integrated way and are based on human rights. The Soil Atlas 2024, published today, provides initial answers to how these political efforts could look like.

Dr. Imme Scholz, President of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, said: "We need healthy soils to adapt to the climate crisis. Industrial forms of agriculture are reducing the ability of soils to absorb water - with devastating consequences, as we are seeing in Central Europe. At the same time, desertification is increasing due to intensive agriculture and the climate crisis - also in Europe: Thirteen EU Member States are now affected. And not just Southern Europe, but also countries with a temperate and humid climate such as Hungary and Bulgaria. Agroecology can respond to the multiple crises - from hunger to the climate crisis and species extinction to volatile prices and poverty - by promoting soil fertility in the long term. The new European Parliament and European Commission need to take soil health more seriously and put it at the centre of EU biodiversity and agriculture initiatives."

Dr. Jes Weigelt, Deputy Director, TMG Research, the action research branch of TMG Think Tank for Sustainability: “Responsible land-based carbon sequestration must not jeopardise the very people climate action is meant to protect. Soils’ ability to store carbon and the need for land-based climate actions like reforestation establish soil and land as keystones of climate policy and debate. But harnessing soils’ role as a natural carbon sink to combat climate change has led to a surge in land-based mitigation plans to meet the Paris Agreement, adding to already mounting land demands. In effect, these plans require 1.2 billion hectares of land—an area three times the size of the EU. This land is not empty. Small farmers and Indigenous Peoples with insecure land rights continue to bear the consequences of this new rush for land. While land-based climate action is essential, we must confront the dire need to balance land use for both environmental and human needs. There must be politically coherent measures for the use and conservation of soils and land that are grounded in human rights and at the same time achieve global climate goals.”

The 2024 Soil Atlas depicts in 56 pages why healthy soils are vital for the survival of humans and nature and at the same time are contested. It also explains why intact soils are essential for climate mitigation and adaptation. It shows how long-term soil protection in agriculture can succeed and what political framework conditions are needed for this.

The atlas, images and graphics are available for download at https://eu.boell.org/SoilAtlas and https://tmg-thinktank.com/soil-atlas-2024 All graphs are directly downloadable here. The Soil Atlas 2024 will be launched at a public event in Brussels and can be also followed online via livestream on Wednesday 13 November 2024 at 10:30 CET. Please register here: https://calendar.boell.de/en/soil-atlas-launch

Press contacts:

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union: Joan Lanfranco, Head of Communications and Outreach, Joan.Lanfranco@eu.boell.org, +32 475 74 16 82

TMG Think Tank for Sustainability: Joanna Trimble, Communications Lead, Joanna.Trimble@tmg-thinktank.com, +49 (30) 92 10 74 07 00