Soil pollution is a chemical degradation process that consumes fertile soils, with implications for global food security and human health. Soil pollution hampers the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including achieving zero hunger, ending poverty, ensuring healthy lives and human well-being, halting and reversing land degradation and biodiversity loss, and making cities safe and resilient.  Most contaminants originate from human activities and enter into the environment because of unsustainable production chains, consumption patterns or inappropriate waste disposal practices.

In May 2018, FAO and its Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organized the Global Symposium on Soil Pollution (GSOP18) to bring together science and policy to understand the status, causes, impacts and solutions to soil pollution. The Outcome document of the symposium, ‘Be the solution to soil pollution’ paved the way to the implementation of a coordinated set of actions to #StopSoilPollution.

Ahead of the GSOP18, the 2017 UN Environment Assembly at its 3^rd session (UNEA-3) recognized soil pollution as one of the major challenges of our time  and approved the Resolution 3/6 on ‘Managing soil pollution to achieve sustainable development’. Adopted by 177 countries, this resolution called on Member States to take action to address soil pollution. In particular, the document solicited relevant UN organizations (FAO, GSP, ITPS, WHO, UNCCD) to prepare a report based on available scientific information and data on the extent and future trends of soil pollution by UNEA-5. This report considers both point source contamination and diffuse pollution, and detail also the risks and impacts of soil pollution on human health, the environment and food security, without neglecting soil degradation and the burden of disease resulting from exposure to polluted soil.

The Global Assessment of Soil Pollution report and its Summary for Policy makers will be launched on 4^th June are a response to this request and as part of the World Environment Day celebrations and the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. This report and its summary, coordinated by the FAO’s GSP, the ITPS, and UNEP, are the product of an inclusive process involving scientists from all regions. 

The report is divided in 14 chapters:

Chapter 1. Setting the scene 

Chapter 2. Main soil contaminants and their fate in the soil environment 

Chapter 3: Major sources of soil pollution 

Chapter 4. Environmental, health and socio-economic impacts of soil pollution 

Chapter 5. Global status of soil pollution 

Chapter 6. Status of soil pollution in Asia and the Pacific 

Chapter 7. Status of soil pollution in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia 

Chapter 8. Status of soil pollution in Europe 

Chapter 9. Status of soil pollution in Latin America and the Caribbean 

Chapter 10. Status of soil pollution in Near East and North Africa

Chapter 11. Status of soil pollution in North America 

Chapter 12. Status of soil pollution in sub-Saharan Africa 

Chapter 13. Actions to tackle soil pollution  

Chapter 14. Summary of key findings and way forward 

It will make a valuable contribution to raising awareness of the threats posed by soil pollution and to aligning several international policy frameworks, including the SDGs and multilateral environmental agreements. Furthermore, preventing, addressing, and remediating soil pollution will be critical to the success of the recently declared UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), the upcoming Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the One Health approach.

It is time to reconnect with our soils. Soil pollution should no longer be a hidden reality as it jeopardizes our efforts to reach sustainable development for all.

PRESENTATIONS

Launch of the “Global Assessment of Soil Pollution” report, Ms Natalia Rodríguez Eugenio, FAO GSP

Status of soil pollution, a regional perspective:

• Asia and the Pacific: Mr Ravi Naidu
• Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia: Ms Valentina Pidlisniuk
• Europe: Mr Bernd M. Bussian
• Latin America and the Caribbean: Ms Rosalina Gonzalez
• Near East and North Africa: Mr Talal Darwish
• North America: Mr Geoffrey Siemering
• Sub-Saharan Africa: Ms Mariné Blaauw

How to be a solution to soil pollution? Examples of prevention and remediation of soil pollution:

• EU action plan towards zero pollution for air, water and soil, Mr Bavo Peeters, European Commission
• NICOLE’s evolution as a multi-stakeholder network in tackling industrial soil contamination, Mr Johan De Fraye, Chair of NICOLE Network

MAIN REPORT | SUMMARY FOR POLICY MAKERS

Register here | #StopSoilPollution | Recordings of the webinar: English | French | Spanish