Secure Soil, Save Life

This report builds on the Soil Security Panel Series hosted by the Aroura Soil Security Think Tank, the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), and Save Soil in 2025. It brought together international experts from science, law, and policy to deliver a unified message: the condition of the world’s soils will define the condition of our future.

Soil is the planet’s quiet infrastructure. It feeds nearly everyone, filters our water, regulates our climate, and anchors biodiversity—yet it has been almost invisible in global policy. Decades of neglect have left between a fifth and two-fifths of the Earth’s land degraded, eroding the very resource that underwrites food security, economic stability, and peace. The consequences reach far beyond the farm; they shape national resilience and global stability.

The Soil Security Framework presented here offers a practical way forward. It recognises soil as a strategic resource whose capacity and condition underpin every major sustainability goal. It reframes soil not as an agricultural variable but as an asset of national and planetary security—one that connects the environment, the economy, and human wellbeing. The framework also acknowledges the immense economic value of soil’s functions, valued at over USD 11 trillion each year, and warns that this wealth is vanishing through mismanagement and short-term thinking.