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A new report from the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), Aroura and the Save Soil movement, reveals the world's topsoils are a far greater climate solution than previously understood - yet remain largely excluded from global climate policy.
The Soil Security Report finds that soils store 2,822 gigatons of carbon in the top one meter, meaning topsoils hold 45% more carbon than earlier estimates. Crucially, 27% of the emissions needed to keep warming under 2°C can be sequestered in healthy soils, yet 70% of nations failed to include soil restoration as a climate change mitigation solution in their COP30 NDCs.
The report warns that 40% of Earth's land is already degraded, with the UNFAO projecting 90% by 2050. Current degradation risks releasing 4.81 billion metric tons of CO₂ each year, comparable to the U.S. annual emissions. If just 1% of Europe's soil carbon were lost, it would equal the emissions of 1 billion cars.
The Soil Security Report finds that soils store 2,822 gigatons of carbon in the top one meter, meaning topsoils hold 45% more carbon than earlier estimates. Crucially, 27% of the emissions needed to keep warming under 2°C can be sequestered in healthy soils, yet 70% of nations failed to include soil restoration as a climate change mitigation solution in their COP30 NDCs.
The report warns that 40% of Earth's land is already degraded, with the UNFAO projecting 90% by 2050. Current degradation risks releasing 4.81 billion metric tons of CO₂ each year, comparable to the U.S. annual emissions. If just 1% of Europe's soil carbon were lost, it would equal the emissions of 1 billion cars.
"COP30 was a turning point for global coordination, but it exposed a critical fault line: the persistent marginalization of the world's soil," said Praveena Sridhar, Chief Policy and Scientific Advisor for the Save Soil Movement. "Restoring soil health can be an immense climate mitigation solution and carbon sequestration tool, but until we establish clear, accessible pathways for large-scale investment, our soils will remain structurally locked out of climate solutions. We have the science, we have the policy blueprints - now, we must mandate the finance."
Alongside the report, the Save Soil Movement today released its 'COP30 Policy Verdict' on World Soil Day, providing a rigorous analysis of soil outcomes at the UN Climate Summit.
The Soil Security Framework, a practical model built on five pillars (Capacity, Condition, Connectivity, Capital, and Codification)