Soil governance
[1] Globally, governance of the soil has been limited to an agricultural perspective due to increased food insecurity from the most populated regions on earth.
Governing the soil requires international and national collaboration between governments, local authorities, industries and citizens to ensure implementation of coherent policies that encourage practices and methodologies that regulate usage of the resource to avoid conflict between users to promote sustainable land management.
[3] In the developing world, soil governance is biased towards promoting sustainable agriculture and ensuring food security.
[7] The impacts of climate change also contribute to the conflict because carbon dioxide emissions have progressively led to higher average global temperatures, which has led to an increase in soil degradation through erosion, increased salinity, and a reduction in the flora and fauna that contribute to its quality.
[15] The partnership is an open, interactive, responsive and voluntary partnership which includes FAO Member countries and GSP partners—governmental organizations, universities, civil institutions, research centers, soil science societies, UN agencies, NGOs, private companies, farmer associations, and donors.
The First Plenary Assembly, held in June 2013 at the FAO's headquarters adopted the Rules of Procedure, nominated and established an Intergovernmental Technical Panel of Soils (ITPS), started thinking about the five pillars of action, supported the implementation of Regional Soil Partnerships and developed a GSP roadmap.
The ITPS is here to advise the GSP on scientific and technical knowledge, advocate for the inclusion of sustainable soil management in different agendas, review the GSP's Plan of Action, follow up on the Plan of Action and request the formation of committees for exceptional cases.
The aim of the IYS is to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soil for food security and essential ecosystem functions.
[21] The conference organized by the United Nations saw the acceptance of various documents and charters governing the natural environment and sustainable development.
[23] With improvements in technology, access and delivery of information and changes in global conceptualisation of the environment, EU environmental policy has evolved to become more responsive and bespoke, and has also increased its scope to various sources and sinks of pollution.
[25] The policy sought to unify the "scattered" regulations because they lacked the mandate to "identify and cover all soil threats".
[3] The framework was developed as a directive to member states; this form of legislation allows interpretation by stakeholders at national and local levels, and between networks thus complying with the subsidiarity principle.
[29] All these policies include provisions relevant to soils to achieve the ambitious objectives of the EU Green Deal.
Based on the sample, farmers get information on the soil mineral and water content, fertiliser application methods, and advice on what crops to grow.
Changes in precipitation patterns and an increase in extreme events such as floods and drought have exacerbated issues such as desertification and soil erosion.
The effects of such events are further aggravated by resource-deficient farmers and government officials who lack skills to prepare and manage their soils for disasters, and end up relying on relief aid for sustenance.
Through networks created with universities and municipal authorities the project aims to research into and develop an interdisciplinary approach to manage urban soils,.
Often, developing countries lack resources to implement policies governing settlements and industries, thus the soil and water are often heavily polluted.
