2025: Soil Sees Quiet Victories, But COP30 Misses Climate Opportunity

• 2025 marked significant regional progress for soil, including IUCN's resolution, the EU's Soil Monitoring Law, and the African Union's Model Law on Sustainable Soil Management.
• Despite regional advancements, soil was largely absent from global climate discussions at COP30, with agriculture and food systems negotiations ending without concrete decisions.
• Experts note critical gaps in soil health efforts, including a lack of large-scale finance, inadequate national climate plans for food systems, and insufficient measurement tools.
• Soil systems are dramatically underfunded compared to clean energy, despite their potential to address nearly 30% of the climate crisis.
• For countries like India, with nearly a third of its land degraded, healthy soil is fundamental for food security, water security, and climate adaptation.

Why It Matters: Soil is vital for climate solutions but ignored by global climate policy.