1 August 2013: At the first meeting of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) Plenary Assembly, participants agreed to the GSP Rules of Procedure, endorsed the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), developed plans of action for the GSP pillars and discussed the roadmap for the GSP.

The meeting was held in Rome, Italy from 11-12 June 2013 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). The Assembly invited the ITPS to guide and support the technical formulation of plans of action. It also discussed support for the Regional Soil Partnerships in Asia, the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and West Africa; and encouraged other regions to establish soil partnerships. The Assembly emphasized the value of using regional soil partnerships to implement activities in the field. It confirmed support for the establishment of World Soil Day on 5 December and the International Year of Soils in 2015.

The Assembly also noted a tentative roadmap that covers: soils and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); links with the Rio Conventions (the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)); the World Soil Charter; global soil information; soil restoration; sustainable soil management; and a global soil biodiversity assessment.

The Assembly agreed that the Chairperson of the GSP Plenary Assembly would alternate between the G77 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). [First Meeting of the Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly] [Land Policy & Practice article on ITPS]