UNFCCC CoP26: Key Outcomes for Soil Management

Declining soil health does not often reach the frontpages of newspapers or dominate the news cycle. Yet the importance of soil health cannot be understated. The health of soil everywhere is threatened by climate change. Unsustainable soil policy and use can contribute to the advancing of climate change, whereas sustainable soil management can and should be part of the solution(s). Against this background, this brief paper aims to expand on the value of soil. After establishing this context for the purposes of the climate conversation, the paper expands on the international legal frameworks on soil and its place within the international climate change regime. From this, it discusses key advancements made at the UNFCCC CoP26 held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021, with a particular focus on the Korovia Joint Work in Agriculture, the Global Methane Targets, and the Glasgow Declaration on Forests and land use. We conclude by looking forward to what might happen at the upcoming UNFCCC CoP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt in 2022.