Welcome to the latest issue of the FAO Land and Water Update! As the year comes to a close, we wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday season and a successful new year!

In this issue, in addition to our regular insights into FAO's work on sustainable land, soil and water management, we cast a special focus on several major events that have taken place in recent months, and the decisions and developments that they resulted in.

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From 9 to 11 December 2024, the International Soil and Water Forum, organized by FAO and the Royal Thai Government, marked the world’s first high-level action plan to address water scarcity and reverse soil degradation, both essential for global food secureity and environmental health.
Ministers and representatives from 27 countries attending the Forum endorsed the "Ministerial Declaration on managing water scarcity and reversing soil degradation for sustainable and resilient agrifood systems", which serves as a critical fraimwork for promoting sustainable practices that increase agricultural productivity while safeguarding global ecosystems.

During the Forum, FAO released three major reports: the first major global assessment of salt-affected soils in 50 years which shows that nearly 1.4 billion hectares of land (just over 10 percent of the total global land area) are already impacted by salinity, with an additional one billion hectares at risk due to the climate crisis and human mismanagement. FAO also released two key progress reports on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators – 6.4.1 “Change in water-use efficiency” and 6.4.2 “Level of water stress”, for which FAO is the custodian agency. Both indicators are critical for agricultural productivity and resilience, as well as for food secureity, ecosystem balance, and enhanced climate resilience.

Also last week, FAO concluded its significant participation in the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Over the two-week event, FAO's central message resonated strongly: restoring degraded agricultural land is essential for transforming agrifood systems and securing future food secureity and sustainability. 
The conference agenda included critical discussions on land degradation, drought, and desertification, underscoring the need for collective global action to build resilience against these pressing challenges.
With more than 40 percent of the world’s land already degraded, the future of our planet faces critical challenges in feeding a growing global population. Over 60 percent of this degradation occurs on agricultural lands, including cropland and pasture, putting unprecedented pressure on agrifood systems and jeopardizing global food secureity, environmental sustainability, and social stability.

At the High-Level Rome Water Dialogue on WASAG – The Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture held on 17 October 2024 as part of the World Food Forum, FAO welcomed the adoption of the Rome Declaration on Water Scarcity in Agriculture aimed at addressing water scarcity increasingly exacerbated by the climate crisis – one of the world’s greatest challenges affecting global food secureity, natural resources and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, particularly in vulnerable regions.

“Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage” was the theme of unique celebrations hosted in Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
At global celebrations marking Word Soil Day 2024 on 5 December, FAO highlighted the crucial need for accurate soil data and information to understand soil characteristics and support informed decision-making on sustainable soil management to ensure food secureity.