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Outcome document: Be the solution to soil pollution

Year of publication 2018

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 32

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Booklet

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) The Global Symposium on Soil Pollution (GSOP18) was jointly organized by the: • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); • Global Soil Partnership (GSP) and its Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS); • United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment); • Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS conventions); and • World Health Organization (WHO). The symposium was held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, on 2–4 May 2018 and attended by 525 participants (40 percent women, 60 percent men) from 100 countries, including representatives of FAO member states, organizing institutions, the private sector and civil society, as well as scientists and land users working on soil pollution and related fields. The overall aim of the symposium was to gather available information and scientific knowledge on soil pollution with regards to: the sources; risks posed to food production, human health and the environment; risk assessment approaches; and state-of-the-art techniques to remediate polluted sites. The three-day symposium was structured around four main themes focusing on: 1) the identification of the main drivers of soil pollution in different land uses; 2) the assessment of negative impacts of soil pollution on food safety, the environment and human health; 3) methods for monitoring, assessing and remediate soil pollution; 4) the existence of national or regional policies and guidelines that include threshold values for different pollutants and the global status of soil pollution. Participants for all the regions in the world engaged actively by presenting the results of studies demonstrating: that soil pollution is a global threat; the main sources of soil pollution in different countries and land uses; the challenges of monitoring, assessing and remediating soil pollution; and ultimately discussing and developing the key messages reflected in this outcome document. The recommendations presented in this document aim to support the development of policies and actions to encourage the implementation of soil management and land planning strategies that enhance the prevention, minimization and remediation of soil pollution when feasible, through the promotion of sustainable soil management (SSM).

Language English

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