Soils have been “neglected” over a long period of time.
6 Thus it could be stated
that in most legislation the protection and sustainable management of water and air
issues have been dealt with in specific laws, long before a comparable regulation was
put in place for soils.
7 There are many explanations: almost every human activity
degrades land/soil, soils are not considered as common good, as they are usually
privately owned, soils/land are a core element of state sovereignty, the ecological
services of soils have only been recognized just recently.
The chapter briefly shows that the sustainable management of soils is an urgent
and demanding challenge of global nature and that the world’s community has
agreed to consider soils as such a global challenge. To deal with this challenge,
good soil governance has to be in place. Therefore, the chapter goes on to explain
that good soil governance should be designed with regard to the drivers and the
specific threats of soil degradation. In this context, by way of drawing on German
soil legislation, it is shown that German regulatory concept follows this driver/threat
approach. Furthermore, existing pieces of legislation in Germany are analysed
whether they foresee an effective implementation of the objective of “land degradation neutrality”.
The chapter turns to the question how future international soil governance should
be designed—given that there is a political will and momentum for new international
soil provisions. To this end, the chapter explains that current international law does
not provide an efficient governance for sustainable management of soils. It is argued,
that it is recommendable to arrange for a cooperation between states and for a better
coordination between existing treaties. Additionally, the chapter argues that in order
to achieve measurable benefits for soils, it would be recommendable to draft the
obligations as specific as politically possible with regard to drivers and threats. The
chapter then shows that a new treaty consisting of a framework convention and
subsidiary annexes which should deal with specific drivers would be recommendable. The chapter concludes with a short summary of the results and an outlook.
2 Sustainable Management of Soils as a Global Challenge
Soils have received attention and interest of the international community only in the
first years of this century. Before that, the conservation of soils has not been regarded
as a priority. Soils have been perceived as the poor cousin of water, air and
biodiversity.
8
The food crisis at the beginning of this century—and all its consequences—has
put soils on the international agenda for the first time. It became clear that fertile soils
6 Heuser (2017).
7 For example: In Germany the first Soil Protection Act got in force 1998. Water protection
regulation have been in place since the 1950th.
8 Heuser (2017).
36
H. Ginzky
6 Thus it could be stated
that in most legislation the protection and sustainable management of water and air
issues have been dealt with in specific laws, long before a comparable regulation was
put in place for soils.
7 There are many explanations: almost every human activity
degrades land/soil, soils are not considered as common good, as they are usually
privately owned, soils/land are a core element of state sovereignty, the ecological
services of soils have only been recognized just recently.
The chapter briefly shows that the sustainable management of soils is an urgent
and demanding challenge of global nature and that the world’s community has
agreed to consider soils as such a global challenge. To deal with this challenge,
good soil governance has to be in place. Therefore, the chapter goes on to explain
that good soil governance should be designed with regard to the drivers and the
specific threats of soil degradation. In this context, by way of drawing on German
soil legislation, it is shown that German regulatory concept follows this driver/threat
approach. Furthermore, existing pieces of legislation in Germany are analysed
whether they foresee an effective implementation of the objective of “land degradation neutrality”.
The chapter turns to the question how future international soil governance should
be designed—given that there is a political will and momentum for new international
soil provisions. To this end, the chapter explains that current international law does
not provide an efficient governance for sustainable management of soils. It is argued,
that it is recommendable to arrange for a cooperation between states and for a better
coordination between existing treaties. Additionally, the chapter argues that in order
to achieve measurable benefits for soils, it would be recommendable to draft the
obligations as specific as politically possible with regard to drivers and threats. The
chapter then shows that a new treaty consisting of a framework convention and
subsidiary annexes which should deal with specific drivers would be recommendable. The chapter concludes with a short summary of the results and an outlook.
2 Sustainable Management of Soils as a Global Challenge
Soils have received attention and interest of the international community only in the
first years of this century. Before that, the conservation of soils has not been regarded
as a priority. Soils have been perceived as the poor cousin of water, air and
biodiversity.
8
The food crisis at the beginning of this century—and all its consequences—has
put soils on the international agenda for the first time. It became clear that fertile soils
6 Heuser (2017).
7 For example: In Germany the first Soil Protection Act got in force 1998. Water protection
regulation have been in place since the 1950th.
8 Heuser (2017).
36
H. Ginzky