More than a decade on, a new global assessment sounds the alarm and points to solutions

The new Status of the World’s Soil Resources 2026 (SWSR 2026) was officially launched on 27 August 2026 at UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

• SWSR 2026 – Main report 👉🏿 https://doi.org/10.4060/ce0792en
• SWSR 2026 – Policy brief 👉🏿 https://doi.org/10.4060/ce0846en
• SWSR 2026 – Brochure 👉🏿 https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/ce1012en

More than 10 years after the first  global assessment of the world’s soils, the Status of the World’s Soil Resources 2026  provides a new global assessment focused on progress in addressing soil threats through the adoption of sustainable soil management (SSM) practices.  The message is clear: the challenge is no longer a lack of knowledge or solutions, but accelerating implementation at the scale and pace required.

Healthy soils are the foundation of productive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems. They produce more than 95 percent of the food we eat, filter and store water, regulate the climate, support biodiversity and sustain millions of livelihoods. Yet population growth, urbanization, geopolitical instability, economic development and climate change are placing unprecedented pressure on this vital resource.

The Status of the World’s Soil Resources 2026 (SWSR 2026) complements the global assessment first published in 2015. Prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) and its scientific advisory body, the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), the report draws on scientific literature published between 2015 and 2025 and expertise from around the world.

SWSR 2026 uses a management-based approach, assessing the state and trends in the adoption of sustainable soil management practices to address major soil threats.

A global picture, built from the ground up

One of the main features of SWSR 2026 is the breadth and diversity of the scientific community behind it.

Coordinated by ITPS and facilitated by the GSP Secretariat, the report brought together soil scientists and experts from all seven GSP regions to build a shared scientific picture of the state of the world’s soils.

The preparation involved 293 expert authors from 76 countries: 61 authors from 13 countries in Asia; 59 authors from 25 countries in Europe; 54 authors from 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean; 39 authors from 7 countries in the South West Pacific; 23 authors from 11 countries in Africa; 21 authors from 2 countries in North America; and 15 authors from 6 countries in the Near East and North Africa. The European assessment also incorporated findings from the State of Soils in Europe report, which brought together information from countries across Europe and cooperating countries.

The process did not stop with the authors. Twelve senior editors and 37 expert reviewers contributed to the development, review and synthesis of the thematic, regional and global assessments.

And rather than presenting a single top-down picture of the world’s soils, SWSR 2026 includes seven regional assessment chapters, ensuring that regional evidence and expertise is properly reflected and fed into the global picture.

That matters because there is no one-size-fits-all solution for soils. What works in one region may not work in another. Sustainable soil management depends on local environmental, climatic, economic and social conditions.

What does SWSR 2026 tell us?

Since 2015, scientific knowledge, soil data and awareness of soil health have advanced considerably. Yet the report finds that soil management remains largely unsustainable in many parts of the world.

More than half of regional soil assessments point to poor or very poor soil stewardship efforts, while sustainable soil management practices are still not being adopted at the scale needed to halt and reverse degradation.

A critical implementation gap persists between proven solutions and their adoption on the ground at the scale needed to avoid, reduce and reverse soil degradation.

The issue is no longer a lack of knowledge or solutions. The challenge is accelerating the widespread adoption of sustainable soil management practices and creating the conditions that enable implementation at scale.

Soil threats do not happen in isolation

Soil erosion remains the most severe threat to soil health globally. It strips away fertile topsoil, reduces rooting depth, depletes nutrients and soil organic carbon, limits water infiltration and increases runoff, making soils and communities more vulnerable to floods and droughts.

But erosion is only part of the picture. Loss of soil organic carbon, nutrient mismanagement, declining soil biodiversity, salt accumulation, soil pollution, urbanization and soil sealing are also putting pressure on soils around the world.

And these threats increasingly interact and reinforce one another. One form of degradation can trigger another, creating cascading processes that damage several soil functions and ecosystem services at the same time.

The solutions exist. Now they need to reach the ground

The evidence gathered since 2015 reinforces the case for sustainable soil management (SSM). Practices such as reduced tillage, integrated nutrient management, crop diversification, cover crops, organic amendments and agroforestry can help reduce soil threats while maintaining or improving agricultural productivity.

Farmers and land managers can face limited access to finance, technical support and institutions, inadequate soil information and extension services, fragmented governance, insufficient recognition of local and Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge, as well as the upfront costs and delayed benefits that can come with changing management practices.

Scaling up sustainable soil management therefore requires more than technical recommendations. It requires an enabling environment – one that brings together policies, incentives, investment, strong institutions, knowledge and advisory services.

From knowledge to action

The report identifies five priorities for action:

1. Strengthen soil governance and legal frameworks, placing soils at the heart of policies, land, use planning and development agendas.
2. Promote education, capacity development and knowledge exchange, bringing together scientific, traditional and Indigenous knowledge.
3. Improve soil assessment and monitoring through harmonized soil data, indicators and assessment methods.
4. Enhance incentives and investment to accelerate the adoption of sustainable soil management.
5. Foster inclusive, multidisciplinary and multistakeholder partnerships bringing together governments, scientists, farmers, communities, Indigenous Peoples, civil society and the private sector.
   

Healthy soils are not simply an environmental concern. They are strategic assets for food and water security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation and resilient livelihoods.

The process behind SWSR 2026 also sends an important message. A global assessment of a resource as diverse and complex as soil cannot be produced by one institution, one discipline or one region alone. It requires scientific cooperation, regional expertise and partnership.

The next challenge is to turn that collective knowledge into collective action.