The renewed Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils held its fourth working session on 14-18 September 2015 at FAO headquarters. New ITPS members committed to contribute to a busy agenda for the term 2015-2017.

The main outputs of this working session were:

• a 2015-2017 ITPS work plan, including joint work with other panels, such as the Science Policy Interface (SPI), Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC);
• an improved version of the concept note for the development of the voluntary guidelines for sustainable management of soil resources;
• a follow up activity on the Status of the World’s Soil Resources report;
• the establishment of working groups to support the development and execution of implementation plans;
• the production of a position paper on soils, climate change and food security to be distributed at the upcoming COP21; and
• the development of a position paper on the role of soils in meeting the SDGs.