Global Soil Partnership

Global Soil Partnership
Name	Global Soil Partnership
Formation	2012
Founder	Food and Agriculture Organization
Type	Intergovernmental initiative
Headquarters	Rome
Leader title	Chair
Region served	Global

Global Soil Partnership is an intergovernmental initiative launched to coordinate international action on soil conservation, land degradation reversal and sustainable agriculture. It was created under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization and engages with multilateral bodies such as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank to strengthen scientific, policy and technical capacity for soil stewardship. The Partnership promotes harmonized standards, knowledge exchange and policy coherence across regions including Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Pacific.

History and Establishment

The Partnership was proposed within discussions at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, later formalized by the Food and Agriculture Organization Council and endorsed during meetings with stakeholders from European Commission, African Union, Commonwealth Secretariat, International Fund for Agricultural Development and selected national ministries. Early drivers included concerns raised at the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change about soil carbon loss and desertification impacts. Founding milestones involved agreements at technical sessions in Rome and coordinated launches alongside initiatives by the Global Environment Facility and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Subsequent declarations referenced targets in the Sustainable Development Goals and aligned with agendas from the Rio+20 conference.

Objectives and Strategic Framework

The Partnership’s strategic framework sets targets for soil protection through coordinated action by agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Agroforestry Centre, International Soil Reference and Information Centre, and national research institutes such as CSRIO-equivalents and university laboratories at University of California, Davis and Wageningen University. Core objectives include improving soil organic carbon stocks in line with Paris Agreement mitigation goals, enhancing soil biodiversity objectives reflected in Convention on Biological Diversity pathways, and supporting reporting mechanisms relevant to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The framework prescribes technical pillars on capacity building, data harmonization inspired by Global Earth Observation System of Systems, and policy mainstreaming consistent with programs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and regional development banks.

Governance and Organizational Structure

Governance is arranged through a Secretariat hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, a Plenary Assembly of partner states and a Steering Committee drawing representatives from entities such as the European Commission, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and civil society networks including Farmers’ organizations and the World Farmers’ Organisation. Scientific oversight is provided by panels involving experts from International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, the International Rice Research Institute, CIMMYT, and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. Operational linkages extend to regional soil partnerships coordinated with bodies like the Inter-American Development Bank and the Pacific Islands Forum.

Key Programs and Initiatives

Major initiatives include the Global Soil Information System modeled on standards from the International Organization for Standardization, a global soil organic carbon mapping effort aligned with datasets from NASA, European Space Agency, and the Group on Earth Observations. Capacity development programs partner with universities such as University of Nairobi, Peking University, University of São Paulo and networks including the Global Soil Laboratory Network. Campaigns such as the designation of a World Soil Day and support for national soil policy frameworks have been undertaken alongside projects financed by the Green Climate Fund and bilateral donors like the United States Agency for International Development and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The Partnership collaborates with a wide array of institutions: multilateral organizations including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, and the International Monetary Fund for cross-sectoral linkages; research organizations including ELSA, FARA, ICARDA, and the Soil Science Society of America; and philanthropic funders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Regional collaborations engage the European Union technical programs, the African Union’s land initiatives, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agriculture mechanisms, and national agencies from India, China, Brazil, Nigeria and Australia.

Impact, Monitoring and Reporting

Impact measurement integrates indicators used by the Sustainable Development Goals, reporting inputs to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and datasets contributed to the Global Soil Organic Carbon Map. Monitoring relies on partnerships with satellite programs from Copernicus Programme, ground-truth networks coordinated with International Soil Reference and Information Centre, and national soil surveys from institutions like USDA and national ministries of agriculture. Periodic assessment reports synthesize progress for bodies such as the Conference of the Parties to relevant conventions and inform donors including the Global Environment Facility.

Challenges and Criticisms

Critics point to challenges in scaling harmonized soil data across diverse systems highlighted by disputes involving standard-setting organizations, funding constraints from donors like European Investment Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency, and limited enforcement mechanisms compared with treaties such as the Paris Agreement. Other criticisms target uneven engagement among member states, capacity gaps at institutions in Least Developed Countries, and the slow pace of translating scientific outputs from centers like CSIRO and IRRI into actionable national policies. Coordination with competing agendas of multilateral banks and regional blocs has also been flagged as an obstacle to rapid implementation.

Category:Soil science