Soil Strategy for 2030 - European Commission
Skip to main content
An official website of the European UnionAn official EU website
European Commission logo
enen
Energy, Climate change, Environment
Environment

Soil Strategy for 2030

Reaping the benefits of healthy soils for people, food, nature and climate.

Overview

The EU Soil Strategy for 2030 is centred on harnessing the numerous benefits that healthy soils provide, which are vital for human well-being: sustainable food production, biodiversity and climate resilience. 

By prioritising soil health, we aim to ensure a thriving ecosystem that supports the needs of people, nature, and the environment alike.

The strategy outlines our commitment to fostering sustainable soil management practices, restoring degraded soils, and mobilising resources to achieve long-term soil health for the prosperity of future generations. 

Through this comprehensive approach, the EU seeks to create a harmonious balance between human activities and the natural world, ensuring a sustainable future for all.

Objectives

The EU Soil Strategy is designed to achieve the following goals by 2050:-

  1. Ensure that all EU soil ecosystems are healthy and more resilient, enabling them to continue delivering essential services.
  2. Achieve no net land take and reduce soil pollution to levels healthy for humans and ecosystems.
  3. Establish the protection of soils, sustainable management practices, and restoration of degraded soils as common EU standards.

Actions

The strategy contains several key actions, ultimately aimed at achieving optimal soil health by 2050. These include:-

  1. Developing a dedicated legislative proposal on soil health by 2025. 
  2. Promoting sustainable soil management as standard practice through a program that allows landowners to have their soils tested at no cost, and sharing best practices.
  3. Restoring managed and drained peatlands to address and adapt to climate change.
  4. Evaluating the need for a legally binding “soil passport” to foster a circular economy and enhance the reuse of clean soil.
  5. Developing a common methodology to assess desertification and land degradation.
  6. Increasing research, data collection, and monitoring efforts through societal engagement and mobilisation of financial resources.

Timeline

Previous and upcoming actions:

  1. 1 August - 24 October 2022
    Public consultation on the possible Soil Health Law

    Share your views in the public consultation

  2. 16 February - 16 March 2022
    Call for evidence ahead of upcoming possible legal provisions mentioned in the Soil Strategy

    Contribute to the call for evidence

  3. 17 November 2021
    Commission adopts EU Soil Strategy for 2030

Contact

For questions about EU environmental policy, please contact Europe Direct.