World’s soil resources: 58 per cent have deteriorated, whilst 10 per cent have improved since 2015 (FAO)

“The report notes that proven sustainable land management practices are still not being implemented at the required pace and scale. More than half of the regional and sub-regional assessments reviewed indicate a low or very low rate of adoption. 58 per cent report a trend towards deterioration since 2015, and only 10 per cent report an improvement”: these are the main findings of the FAO study entitled “World’s Soil Resources 2026”, presented on 27 August 2026 at the 17^th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia).

Since 2015, when the last report was published, the world’s population has grown by 800 million people, whilst the area under cultivation has increased by 80 Mha. The study highlights the main…