Land degradation continues to impact 3.2 billion people negatively. Healthy soil is an integral part of the solution, as it is the foundation of sustainable and regenerative food systems and provides vital ecosystem services. However, there are few policies that incentivize farmers and pastoralists to invest in practices to maintain and improve soil health. There is considerable international momentum around soil health, such as the Australian National Soil Strategy, the European Soil Strategy for 2030, the United Kingdom Soil Health Inquiry, and the Nairobi Declaration from the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit. However, translating these decisions into enabling policy mechanisms is not a linear path as countries still face major challenges in implementation. Moreover, multi-stakeholder action is needed to build an equitable and transparent enabling environment at multiple levels for supporting, financing, scaling, and monitoring healthy soil ecosystems. 

The event will highlight on-the-ground implementation and opportunities for evidence-based policy framework to contribute to food systems transformation and land restoration, from the soil up. It will bring together stakeholders from research, policy, development, farmer organizations, policymakers and governments to discuss opportunities to engage and integrate soil health into policy and strategies at national, regional and international level - and ultimately contribute to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) goals. 

The panel will reflect upon the main challenges and entry points in bringing soil health to the table in policy, the current knowledge gaps and critical mechanisms that are needed to enable soil health to be better integrated into policy, and explore how global agreements such as the LDN goals can be translated into national level implementation. 

The Call to Action for Soil Health will be presented to galvanize support from member states and advance the commitments of the Soil Health Resolution. The Resolution, developed by CA4SH and 4 per 1000, provides a framework for member states and the COP Presidencies to embrace, adapt, and endorse the critical role of soil health for land restoration, food security, livelihoods, climate action, biodiversity, and to combat drought. The Call to Action aims to contribute to the COP16 and implementation of the UNCCD by raising global ambition and accelerating multi-stakeholder action to build healthy soil ecosystems and achieve LDN goals. 

Speakers:

• Leigh Winowiecki, Soil and Land Health Global Research Lead, CIFOR-ICRAF, Co-Lead of CA4SH
• Jack Hannam, President, BSSS 
• Martina Fleckenstein, Global Policy Director, Food, WWF International 
• Claudia Schepp, 4 per 1000 
• Honourable Penny Wensley AC, ex-National Soils Advocate
• Haseeb Bakhtary, Senior Consultant, Climate Focus 
• Gonzalo Muñoz, Climate Champions team
• Roel Houdanon, youth-led Land and Health Association 
• Mateusz Ciasnocha, CEO, European Carbon Farmers