Soil Health Resolution High-Level Plenary at UNFCCC COP27: CA4SH partners gather to mobilise soil advocates across sectors
The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) was born out of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. One year later, we came full circle at the 27th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP27) as co-hosts of the first-ever Food Systems Pavilion at the COP.
The session, led by CA4SH co-lead Dr Leigh Ann Winowiecki, was stuffed to the gills and excitement was palpable, underscoring not only the need for collective action to scale soil health, but the desire across sectors, scales, and walks of life.
The objectives of the session were threefold:
Raise awareness on the important role of healthy soil in climate action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,
Garner support for a Soil Health Resolution, and
Highlight examples from soil health advocates.
The plenary introductions were given by CA4SH members representing organisations with keen interest in soil health and even included a surprise visit from Dr Rattan Lal, World Food Prize Laureate and CA4SH founder.
The overarching message was that we need to work together. Period.
Andrea Murillo, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, expressed the UNCCD’s support of CA4SH and the Soil Health Resolution because “radical collaboration for change and an enabling environment” are how we will best combat desertification at a global scale. “We will not achieve these goals while working in silos,” she said, and this means platforms for working with governments, farmers and everyone else!
The Resolution for Soil Health
The Resolution for Soil Health is a set of commitments to enable and scale healthy soil practices to mitigate and adapt to climate change, restore biodiversity, improve water resilience, enhance food and nutrition security, and protect natural and cultural heritage. The Resolution is a step toward multistakeholder action on soil health, and CA4SH is galvanising support for the Resolution to inform the negotiations at the UNFCCC COP28 next year.
“I can only feel excited about the journey ahead,” concluded Satya Tripathi, Secretary-General of the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet. Buckle your seatbelts for the year ahead!
Cross-Sectoral Panellists Support the Soil Resolution
Esther Zulu, Farmer, Zambia, Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa
Representing 55 cooperatives of farmers on the ground who have organised to scale soil health in their communities in Zambia, Esther Zulu underscored the role of soils in feeding rural communities and beyond. Challenged by soil infertility, low yields, high cost of farming inputs, field burning and animal grazing on farming lands, these farmers took the initiative to scale soil health together. By working with Community Markets for Conservation, they have scaled the adoption of planting Gliricidia trees (lovingly called the ‘wonder’ tree) to reduce erosion and add nitrogen to restore degraded soils. Now the communities no longer need expensive fertilisers, and leaf harvesting is helping to stop deforestation by using the twigs for firewood.
Berhanu Assefa, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Ethiopia
Ethiopia is an “agricultural country,” says Berhanu Assefa, where 75% of the population is employed in the sector. Yet, it is challenged to feed a growing population on land that is widely degraded and losing soil at a rate of 12 tonnes per hectare per year due to agriculture. The government of Ethiopia is prioritising integrated landscape, watershed and carbon sequestration approaches to stop degradation and target greenhouse gas emissions. An example of this is not only by supporting the Soil Health Resolution, but by planting 25 billion seedlings that are multi-purpose for community livelihoods, and adding nutrients to the earth, saying “soils have fed us until now, now we have to feed them.”
Barbara Baarsma, CEO, Rabo Carbonbank
Rabobank is supported by a voluntary carbon market that incentivises farmers to invest in carbon farming. Barbara Baarsma described soil as the asset that drives financing in the carbon farming market since it is a powerful carbon sink. Global investments in soil health are limited, even though the potential for soil restoration to contribute to reducing carbon emissions is comparable to investing in wind energy. She pointed out that farmers on the ground traditionally cherish soil health for free, but now that the environment is challenging their ability to do so, providing incentives and supports that empower them to steward soil sustainably are at the focus of the Rabobank agenda.
Adrian Leitoro, Co-Founder, Nature and People as One
As a young member of a pastoralist community in Kenya, Adrian Leitoro has the duel experience of seeing the need for soil health first-hand, and understanding that his generation are the next stewards of the land. His organisation is youth-driven and works with farmers and pastoralists to restore ecosystems and safeguard the future of rural livelihoods. He expressed his calls to action including targeting youth, including soil as much as trees in discussions on restoration and incentivising regenerative practices.
Maria Cecilia Gines, Program Manager, Aapresid
Through a network of 1800 farmers and producers, Aapreseid is moving Argentinian farms towards the soil-friendly agricultural practice of ‘no tilling’. No-till, explained Maria Cecilia Gines, means that land cover remains green and soils are not aggressively disrupted, mitigating the release of carbon and, in fact, capturing it. She described how the process is farmer-driven because they are the most knowledgeable about their individual contexts and how to adapt the no-till process to be locally relevant. “Food security and global peace depend on healthy soils,” she said, and the 40 regional groups of producers that are working alongside scientists, the private sector and more are bridging this need through sustainable solutions to local problems.
Joao Campari, Global Leader, Food Practice, World Wildlife Fund; Chair, Action Track 3, UN Food Systems Summit
Having been present at the UNFSS in 2021, where CA4SH found its roots, Joao Campari says he absolutely did believe the soil movement would grow the way it has in just one year! An economist, he stressed that “soil isn’t something you use up and then throw away,” it is an asset that we have to stop wasting and start safeguarding. He gave three key reasons that scaling soil health and transforming food systems go hand in hand: 1) disrespecting food soils puts food security in danger, not just by reducing yield, but nutritional density as well; 2) we can fix the current problem if we move into nature-positive production, moving from a model of extracting from nature to working with nature; and 3) we need to put the right conditions in place for farmers, ranchers and fisher folks to perform. Less than 5% of agricultural subsidies are used toward conservation, but, as Joao Campari said, “there is no future if we don't invest in soils.”
Kerstin Rosenow, Director General, Agriculture and Rural Development, European Union
In 2021, the European Union adopted the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 with the vision of achieving healthy soils by 2050 with concrete actions on the ground by 2030. Kerstin Rosenow announced that the first report from this initiative will be launched toward the end of this month, and that this formalisation of soil health as part of the EU climate change strategy is pioneering the transition to soil and land management for carbon sequestration. Through citizen engagement, trainings, tools and frameworks, this initiative is contributing to a “global community of soil champions,” and the support galvanised at COP27 is another opportunity for movement toward scaling global soil health.
Watch a recording of BOOST Day at the Food Systems Pavilion
