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Soil plays an important role in mediating the impact of climate change on natural and managed ecosystems. The loss of soil not only implies the loss of areas for sufficient food production, filter and buffer capacities for clean water, but also of vegetation that photosynthetically captures carbon dioxide and soil organisms responsible for its storage and recycling. Loss of soil implies losing two of the largest compartments with a natural capacity to capture CO₂ and mitigate climate change.

The worsening land degradation caused by human activities is undermining the well-being of two fifths of humanity, driving species extinctions and intensifying climate change. Rapid expansion and unsustainable management of croplands and grazing lands is the most extensive global direct driver of land degradation, causing significant loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services (UNESCO, 2018). In this context, following the Call of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) "Uniting the world to tackle climate change", the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC) and the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) drafted a position paper on the inter linkages of soil and climate change: Protecting the Soil is Protecting the Climate. In view of the importance of this issue, more researchers and scientific societies could be involved in this global challenge by taking effective actions. In this context, the WASWAC and IUSS kindly invites you to co-sign the Position Paper no later than October 31, 2021. For individuals, please provide with your information (including First name, Surname, Organization title, Country and Email address), for societies and institutions, welcome to join with its logo. All information mentioned above and any comments please send to the WASWAC Secretariat at waswac@foxmail.com.

The Position Paper has been launched on the websites of WASWAC and IUSS. Please click the link to view the details:

http://www.waswac.org.cn/waswac/LatestNews/webinfo/2021/09/1631939255972332.htm

https://www.iuss.org/newsroom/iuss-waswac/

WASWAC Secretariat is served by International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES). IRTCES was approved to establish in July 1984, by the 22th UNESCO General Conference, it is the first Category 2 Centre of UNESCO around the world.

WASWAC-IUSS POSITION PAPER.pdf