Europe is running out of soil by polluting it, accelerating its erosion and sealing it off through construction (among other negative activities). Between 60 and 70% of the continent’s soils are degraded, as the European Environment Agency has warned and the European Commission has just admitted when publishing its Soil Strategy (Soil strategy for 2030).

In previous publications we have shared the importance of the soil to safeguard it for the enjoyment of future generations, but until now there was no direct community legislation that it had this objective; which in turn is part of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.

The importance of soils

Soils are highly valuable elements in ecosystems, as they provide food, energy, raw materials, sequester carbon, purify water, regulate nutrients, control pests, etc.

It is therefore a necessity to protect them, trying to achieve the following secondary objectives: [1], protect soil fertility; [2], reduce erosion and sealing; [3], increase the content of organic matter; [4], determine the contaminated land; [5], restore degraded soils; [6], define what is understood by “good ecological status” of soils.

As the sixth and final IPCC report made clear, this is all due to human causes. In the case of erosion, perhaps the action of degradation of soils more, agriculture has been the main trigger for its appearance.

Agricultural lands account for 80% of the surface with severe or moderate erosion: 35 million hectares affected, 17.8% of the European arable soils. The areas with the most irregular relief and slopes are the most prone to suffer this degradation.

Urbanism, and therefore the sealing of the soil, is other causes main factors of the degradation of European soils (construction of houses, services and recreational areas, transport networks, infrastructures, quarries, mines and landfills).

Looking for a political framework

The European Environment Agency concluded that the Lack of a comprehensive and coherent political framework to protect land and soil is a key gap that reduces the effectiveness of existing incentives and measures and may limit Europe’s ability to achieve future goals: A new policy framework is needed that the old one can no longer take on the 2006 EU soil strategy..

And to achieve the proposed objectives (highlighted in paragraph 1 of this post), you must:

• Promote the adoption of sustainable soil management practices;
• Establish actions to restore degraded soils and ensure sufficient EU funding;
• Improve soil quality monitoring;
• Adapt and improve the relevant EU policy framework in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal on climate neutrality, zero pollution, sustainable food systems and resilient ecosystems;
• Develop knowledge and research
• Accelerate the transition to sustainable soil management and behavior change for all;
• Lead the EU’s global action on land within the framework of the Rio Conventions, the EU’s external action and cooperation to the developing.

And to achieve this, the European Commission will develop a strategy based on substantial knowledge of soils both in the European Union and abroad.