Summary
This European Commission policy document sets out a comprehensive strategy to protect and restore soil health across the EU by 2030, recognising soil as a finite and largely non-renewable resource underpinning food security, climate resilience, and biodiversity. It proposes a dedicated EU Soil Law, voluntary and mandatory measures for sustainable soil management, and a framework for monitoring soil health using standardised indicators. The strategy sits within the broader European Green Deal and Farm to Fork agenda, aiming to ensure that 75% of EU soils are in healthy condition by 2050.
UK applicability
As a post-Brexit document, the strategy does not directly bind the UK; however, it is highly relevant to UK policy development given shared soil degradation challenges, and may influence UK-EU trade conditions and environmental land management frameworks such as the Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) in England.
Key measures
Soil health indicators; land degradation extent; organic carbon targets; biodiversity metrics; proportion of soils under sustainable management
Outcomes reported
The strategy sets targets and proposed legislative measures for achieving healthy soils across EU member states by 2030, addressing soil degradation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and sustainable soil management practices.
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