August 2014: Following the second Plenary Assembly, held from 22-24 July in Rome, Italy, the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) Secretariat has released a special edition newsletter summarizing the meeting’s outcomes. The newsletter is published in anticipation of the forthcoming report on the 2014 Plenary Assembly.

The fourth GSP newsletter summarizes key outcomes of the second Meeting of the GSP Plenary Assembly under nine agenda items: attendance and opening; new Plans of Action; work of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS); establishment of a focal point system; the Healthy Soils Facility; revision of the World Soil Charter; Regional Soil Partnerships (RSPs); the International Year of Soils (IYS) and the World Soil Day (WSD); and soils and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Describing the endorsement of four Plans of Action under corresponding GSP Pillars as the major achievement of the session, the newsletter notes that: a revision by the Plenary Assembly resulted in more strategic, consolidated recommendations; Pillar 3 will be addressed at a future plenary session; and the next step is the development of implementation plans, which will require substantial financial support and resource mobilization through the newly-established Healthy Soils Facility.

The Plenary Assembly also endorsed a revised World Soil Charter, the first version of which was approved by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Conference in 1981, and which is expected to receive its final approval at the FAO Conference 2015.

On the work of the ITPS, the Plenary Assembly expressed its appreciation for a proposed report titled ‘Status of the World Soils Resources,’ to be published in 2015. It also confirmed the need for active ITPS engagement with other major international initiatives with interest in soils, especially the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

On the SDGs, the Plenary Assembly noted the recent agreement on draft SDGs, and called on all GSP Partners to pursue active advocacy on behalf of soils in preparation of national inputs for the final stages of related negotiations.

The GSP is hosted by the FAO. Its Plenary Assembly is the main yearly meeting of ITPS members, the GSP Secretariat, partners, and FAO members. [#4 – August 2014: Special Edition: Outcomes of the Second Plenary Assembly] [GSP Website] [IISD-RS Land Policy & Practice Articles on the GSP]