12th PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE GLOBAL SOIL PARTNERSHIP
Opening Statement by Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General | 3 June 2024
Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,
1. Welcome to the 12th Plenary Assembly of the Global Soil Partnership.
2. This platform provides an important forum for international collaboration, serving to steer the course of our collective efforts towards a more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable global soil agenda.
3. Uniting FAO Members and over 700 diverse partners from academia, private sector, farming, and civil society, together, we champion a vision of A world in which soils are healthy and resilient, ensuring the sustained provision of ecosystem functions and services for all, leaving no one behind.
4. As we face increasingly complex crises - from climate change and natural resources degradation, to pollution, and conflicts, that are driving food insecurity and famine - we also know that agriculture holds powerful solutions.
5. But we need urgent action to transform our agrifood systems for the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.
6. Improving soil health through sustainable management is a game changer to achieve this goal.
7. Soil is the foundation of our agricultural systems, the home of biodiversity, the ‘green water’ reservoir for our plants, and the start of our food!
8. The Global Soil Partnership is committed to achieving the goal of improving and maintaining the health of 50% of the world's soils by 2030 – this is an ambitious and urgent target that demands political will, collaboration and investment.
9. We need the collaboration of all partners, especially resource partners, to invest more in soil health and in this Partnership.
10. Today, we unveil the long-awaited Global Assessment of Salt-affected Soils, offering insights into the risks and economic losses from poor soil and weak water management.
11. It also provides technological solutions to tackle soil degradation, which is likely to worsen due to increasing water scarcity, rising sea levels and overexploitation of aquifers.
12. Thank you to the members of the International Network of Salt-affected Soils and co-authors for their valuable contributions.
Dear Colleagues,
13. These next days you will assess progress, exchange insights and build on successes to further chart a pathway towards healthy soils.
14. I wish to thank our resource partners and GSP members, without whom we could not have achieved the important results that will be presented during this Plenary Assembly.
15. Let us continue valuing the sustainable management of soils, paving the way for healthy soils, which are fundamental for food security and nutrition for all.
16. I wish you a successful Plenary Assembly.
17. Thank you.