1. Terms of Reference of the Global Soil Partnership

The Terms of Reference (ToRs)[1] of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) were endorsed by the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at its 145^th Session in December 2012. Ten years after its establishment, and following a consultative process, the GSP Plenary Assembly adopted, at its tenth session in May 2022, a new GSP Action Framework 2022-2030- healthy soils for a healthy life: from promotion to consolidation of sustainable soil management(hereafter as “The GSP Action Framework”), which was further endorsed by the 28th session of the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG 28). 

The GSP Action Framework builds on the successful work of the GSP members and partners over the previous ten years. It introduces a new structure that switches from five pillars of action to six action areas and includes for the first time concrete targets based on key performance indicators that contribute to addressing the different global challenges - food insecurity, climate change, pollution, soil degradation and biodiversity loss - by improving and enhancing soil health. The GSP Framework for Action also includes a new vision ‘A world in which soils are healthy and resilient, ensuring the sustained provision of ecosystem functions and services for all, leaving no one behind’. To this end, the GSP must work to improve and maintain the health of at least 50 percent of the world's soils by 2030. This implies creating a global soil health monitoring mechanism based on a soil health index or indicators. These changes and the mechanism for reporting on progress towards the proposed targets and key performance indicators should be reflected in the ToRs.

Moreover, since its establishment, the GSP has had several changes in its structure including the creation of seven technical networks, namely the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN), the International Network of Soil Information Institutions (INSII), the International Network of Black Soils (INBS), the International Network of Salt-affected Soils (INSAS), the International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB), the International Network on Soil Pollution (INSOP) and the International Network on Soil Fertility and Fertilizers (INSOILFER), or the extension of the mandate of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils from two to three years.  

Considering these changes, the 12th GSP Plenary Assembly recommended updating the GSP ToRs in line with the new Action Framework following an open consultation with GSP Partners. At its 29^th session, COAG, noting the need to update the ToRs of the GSP in line with the new Action Framework, invited the GSP Secretariat to prepare revised ToRs, following an open consultation with GSP partners, for endorsement by the GSP Plenary Assembly, and subsequently by COAG at its 30th Session and the Council.

2. Proposal of a COAG Sub-Committee on Soils

The eighth GSP Plenary Assembly requested the Secretariat to perform a sound assessment of the legal and financial implications of turning the GSP into a FAO statutory body, including the impact on the participation of non-state partners.

Taking into account the recommendations made by the tenth GSP Plenary Assembly and its Extraordinary Session regarding the institutionalization of the GSP, the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), at its 28th Session recommended FAO to prepare an in-depth analysis of the option of establishing a Sub-Committee on Soils and maintaining the GSP in its current structure, working transparently and collaboratively, with the analysis to be submitted to the 11th GSP Plenary Assembly for discussion, and with its recommendations to be provided to the 29th Session of COAG.

    A detailed analysis was prepared and presented to the 11th GSP Plenary Assembly for discussion (GSPPA: XI/2023/3). The Plenary Assembly agreed to maintain the GSP in its current form and to discuss further the possible establishment of a Sub-Committee on Soils during the next GSP Plenary Assembly. 

The 12^th Plenary Assembly (June 2024) did not reach a consensus on this point and suggested establishing a working group, including Regional Soil Partnerships, focal points, and the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, to prepare a detailed proposal of the possible terms of reference and mandate of a Sub-Committee on Soils under COAG and how the Sub-Committee would complement the GSP without duplication (report of the 12^th GSP Plenary Assembly).

This proposal was tabled at the 29th Session of COAG, which noted the recommendation of the 12th Session of the GSP Plenary Assembly to establish an open and inclusive Working Group to prepare an analysis on the proposed COAG Sub-Committee on Soils, while noting that no consensus had been reached among Members to establish the Sub-Committee, and looked forward to the outcome of the review of the matter by the GSP Plenary Assembly at a future COAG Session (report of the 29th Session of the COAG).

3. Tasks and composition of the ad hoc working group

Tasks of the WG

This call for participation is made to establish an ad hoc working group (WG) that will work on two tasks:

(1)   Revise and develop the updated version of the GSP ToRs in accordance with the GSP Action Framework 2022-2030.

(2)   Develop a proposal for the ToRs and mandate of a Sub-Committee on Soils under COAG.

The WG is expected to first attend a briefing session which will present the items in the GSP ToRs that the Secretariat has identified need to be modified and collect additional items suggested by members. This meeting will also discuss the possible role that the Sub-Committee on Soils could play (December 2024).

Members are then invited to review and provide comments via e-mail on a “zero draft” of the GSP and Sub-Committee ToRs as prepared by the Secretariat. A Virtual meeting will be organized during which the revised zero draft will be shared and key issues discussed (February 2025).

Thereafter, taking account of the inputs provided by the WG, the Secretariat will produce a first draft of the GSP and Sub-Committee ToRs and send it for review by WG members by the end of February 2025.

A second virtual meeting will be organized for review and finalization by the end of March 2025. If the document cannot be finalized at this meeting, a third meeting would be organized (mid-April 2025).

After approval by the WG, both documents will be submitted for consideration and endorsement by the 13^th GSP Plenary Assembly, and subsequently by COAG at its 30^th Session and the FAO Council.

Composition of the WG

The WG shall be composed of 27 participants as follows:

-        12 focal points from FAO Members as per the following regional distribution: 2 from sub-Saharan Africa, 2 from Asia, 2 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 2 from Europe and Central Asia, 2 from Near East and North Africa, 1 from North America and 1 from Southwest Pacific;

-        The Chair of the ITPS (or an alternate);

-        The Chairs (or an alternate) of the seven International Networks established under the aegis of the GSP;

-        7 non-state GSP partners (one per region), representing civil society, the private sector, academia and research institutions, and farmers.

The nominations of eligible focal points and non-state partners will be shared and agreed upon with their respective Regional Soil Partnerships. The GSP Secretariat will act as secretariat and facilitator of the WG.

Requisites for participants to the WG

It is highly desirable that members of the WG have the following qualifications: 

-        English as working language;

-        acquaintance of the GSP work;

-        relevant expertise (including deep knowledge of the concept of sustainable soil management, soil degradation processes and solutions in a variety of regional contexts);

-        general knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals, and pertinent UN Conventions, including recognized Targets and Indicators is an asset.

Submission of nominations and deadlines

The GSP Partners are invited to submit their nominations via e-mail to [email protected] by 6 December 2024.

The Secretariat will assess the nominations and share them with the Regional Soil Partnerships for the final selection of regional representatives by 13 December.