June 3 to 13, 2024 - The 60th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Subsidiaries Bodies (SB60) took place in Bonn, Germany. Also called the 2024 Bonn Climate Change Conference, it brought together an estimated 6,000 attendees to prepare and shape the agenda for COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan later this year. This year, we contributed to several side events led by partners to elevate the importance of soil health.

To bridge actions between the UNFCCC and UNCBD, CA4SH and partners WWF, UNEP,  the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, CGIAR, CIFOR-ICRAF, Biovision and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade co-hosted a roundtable luncheon on the sidelines of the UNCBD Twenty-sixth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (STTA26). The luncheon was called Food Systems Transformation & Land Use Change: Unlocking the potential for enhanced synergies and finance through NBSPAs and NDCs, where attendees joined a group discussion on how aligning the UNFCCC and UNCBD could unlock and enhance synergies and scale-up financial support at the national level to enable food systems transformation.

From 26 February to 1 March 2024, the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) took place at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss global environmental policy amongst the 193 Member States.

The discussions centred on how multilateralism can help tackle the triple planetary environmental crises of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, pollution and waste. Luckily, we know well of a solution to these challenges and, indeed, all 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: scaling soil health, globally.

Learn more about CA4SH engagements at UNEA-6.

In December, Nature and People as One (NaPO) held a workshop in Karare, an area bordering the Mt Marsabit National Reserve, that brought together 59 community voices representing 39 villages from Parkishon, Kamboe, Loglogo and Karare (important rangelands surrounding the Mt Marsabit Forest). The goal was to assess progress with implementing the Ramat model, celebrate its successes, and assess the challenges.

Story and photos by Adrian Leitoro, Co-Founder of NaPO

December 9th, COP28 UAE - In an event held at the Land & Drought Resilience Pavilion, the Coalition of Action 4 soil Health, the WWF, CIFOR-ICRAF and AICCRA convened a discourse on the imperative need to reinforce Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by emphasizing soil health and nature-based solutions. The event, titled “Strengthening NDCs for Soil Health - learning from practical experience”, brought together a multitude of stakeholders including government representatives, scientists, farmers, and development practitioners to deliberate on critical action for soil health to shape the global climate agenda.

December 5th, COP28 UAE - The Food Systems Pavilion at COP28 was filled with discussions centred around the critical theme of soil health during the event “Common Ground: Soil Health Action for Nature, People, and Climate”, organized by the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) to mark World Soil Day.

“Soil is a living entity [and], like any other living thing, has health,” shared Dr Rattan Lal during his keynote address at the virtual side event hosted by the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) and the Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition (SPG Coalition) at the 2023 Borlaug International Dialogue.

Rangelands cover about half of the Earth’s land surface, store between 10 and 30% of terrestrial carbon, and support over 2 billion people, yet they are under-recognized and under-valued and have been largely ignored in sustainable development agendas and climate negotiations.

On 21 August 2023, CA4SH joined CIFOR-ICRAF, Focali, IGAD, SIWI, SLU, University of Nairobi, and WWF at the 2023 World Water Week organized by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in a virtual session to discuss water-smart rangeland restoration.

During an expert panel at the 2023 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), the WFP brought together speakers representing research institutions, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations to discuss solutions for creating crisis-proof and climate-friendly food systems with a focus on sustainable land use and the role of soils.

CA4SH holds a side event at UNCCD COP15!

Soils are fundamental to protecting and restoring nature, yet they are often left out of dialogue on food systems transformation. Read the article from CA4SH co-lead Leigh Winowiecki to learn more.