With the health of European soils rapidly degrading, an ambitious Soil Health Law is urgently needed. A legislative framework for soil has the potential to deliver much needed policy integration and coherence, catalyzing the positive socio-ecological and economic impact of EU policy.
EU Soil Health Law
Published 1st September 2026
Healthy soils are fundamental to achieve the climate, biodiversity, water and zero pollution targets of the European Green Deal, and to support the EU’s Farm to Fork objectives and transition to a sustainable food system. It is fundamental to understand the cost-benefit structure of soil health monitoring and action: while the costs of soil health degradation to society, businesses and biodiversity are exponentially rising, the costs of soil health monitoring and soil health regeneration are rapidly decreasing.
An EU Soil Health Law must include:
- An unambiguous definition of soil health with indicators based on the newest soil science;
- Ambitious and binding targets on achieving soil health;
- Robust requirements on the sustainable use of soil;
- A binding “zero net land take“ target;
- A comprehensive, harmonized and legally anchored soil health monitoring and reporting systems
- A strong governance framework for the Law’s implementation and enforcement.