Summary/Abstract
This note begins by providing some essential background on the nature of soil, followed by a description of the current state of the world’s soil and its ability to fulfill its diverse, interwoven, and deeply vital functions. This foundation shows that soil protection is a matter of urgent global concern, worthy of international legal attention. A broad overview of various binding, non-binding, and regional international environmental law instruments regarding soil follows. This note then analyzes the gaps and deficiencies in this current mix of legal regimes, and how they lead to under-protection of global soil functions. These deficiencies have led entities like the IUSS, IUCN, and others to call for a more comprehensive approach. Finally, this note evaluates some of the factors promoting or hindering the prospects for meaningful changes in the legal position, and the practical circumstances, of global soil.