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E.A.MUNC 2023
United Nations
Environment Programme
Background Guide
AGENDA
The Global Soil Crisis
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sr. No. Topic Page No.
1 ABOUT THE COMMITTEE 3

2 INTRODUCTION 4

3 EXISTING UN POLICIES 6

4 HISTORY OF SOIL DEGRADATION 9

5 CURRENT SITUATION 10

6 CAUSES 11

7 CHALLENGES 12
A. Related To Climate Change
B. Its Effects on Living Beings

8 POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS 14

9 QUESTIONS THE COMMITTEE MUST ADDRESS 15

10 POSITION PAPER GUIDELINES 15

11 POSITION PAPER FORMAT 15

12 BIBLIOGRAPHY 17

13 FOR FURTHER READING 18

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ABOUT THE COMMITTEE

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the

United Nations' "voice" for the environment (UN). UNEP is
a specialized programme that coordinates environmental
operations on a global and local level to "promote [and
protect] international co-operation in the field of the
environment" and acts as an authoritative advocate for the
global environment.

At the United Nations Conference on Human Environment in

Stockholm, Sweden, in June 1972, the General Assembly approved the foundation of UNEP. On
December 15, 1972, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 2997 (XXVII),
establishing UNEP as the UN's principal environmental authority.

UNEP is classified as a "programmes and funds" entity inside the United Nations system.
Within the UN system, programmes and funds are a type of entity governed by independent and
different intergovernmental bodies. This body is made up of Member States that acquire the
majority of their funding from sources other than UN funds.

Its aim is to inspire, enlighten, and enable nations to improve their quality of life without
jeopardizing that of future generations by providing leadership and encouraging partnership in
environmental care. Climate change, catastrophes and conflicts, ecosystem management,
environmental governance, chemicals and waste, resource efficiency, and the environment under
review are the seven broad subject areas in which they work. The overall commitment to
sustainability is maintained throughout their activities.

UNEP is based in Nairobi, Kenya, and operates through divisions, regional, liaison, and out-
posted offices, as well as an expanding network of collaborating centres of excellence. Partners
that fund and champion their goal make this effort possible.
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INTRODUCTION
The equivalent of one soccer field is lost due to soil erosion every 5 seconds.

Mr. Eduardo Mansur, Director of the Land and Water Division of the Food and Agricultural
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), stated, "We must stop soil erosion to save our future.
It takes up to 1,000 years to form one centimeter of topsoil, but this one centimeter can be lost
with just one heavy rainfall if soil cover is not protected".
According to the FAO, we are currently losing 30-40% of the world's arable soil each year due to
erosion. Land degradation endangers the lives of over 3 billion people globally, with 4 billion
predicted to live in drylands by 2050.

Planet Earth is today experiencing an unparalleled crisis of soil deterioration, desertification, and
erosive loss, all of which are jeopardizing its services. Such services are necessary for the United
Nations' Sustainable Development Goals to be met. An immediate and coordinated global
response is essential to halt and eventually reverse the loss of healthy soils. The challenging part
about a crisis is determining its urgency; many countries have varied priorities when it comes to
environmental protection and the ongoing climate crisis.

Soil performs a range of activities that are critical for a healthy biosphere and human survival,
including feeding an expanding human population and sequestration of carbon to combat global
warming. The availability of healthy soil is a limiting factor in the provision of these services.

In 1685, Jared Elliot was the first person to detect soil erosion in the modern world. He published
a series of essays about his findings and was concerned about water trickling down barren
hillslopes. He was one of the first to conduct soil and water conservation experiments. He
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planted green crops to firm up and nourish the soil, as well as grasses and legumes for livestock
management.
Soil erosion reduces the productivity and health of the soil by exposing the residual soil and
removing the very fertile topsoil. It lowers agricultural output, affects ecosystem functioning, and
increases hydrogeological risks, including landslides and floods.

To prevent and minimize soil erosion, farmers and other land users are encouraged to adopt
sustainable soil management practices in an enabling environment.
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EXISTING UN POLICIES
The FAO adopted the World Soil Charter in 1982, and the UNEP issued the World Soil Policy
(FAO, 1982; UNEP, 1982). The practical impact of these programs has been difficult to assess.
Nonetheless, the ideas and criteria were useful in guiding national governments in their efforts to
achieve sustainable soil management.

The Global Environmental Agenda was launched at the 1992 World Summit. Desertification,
land degradation, and drought were addressed by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD). The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) tackled climate
change, and biodiversity conservation and sustainable use were addressed by the UN Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD). These treaties, which have been supported by the Global
Environment Facility (GEF), have raised awareness and galvanized increased efforts by nations
and prompted multiple worldwide environmental strategies. Soil conservation, sustainable land

management, and land-use change are also discussed in these conventions, though to a lesser
extent, accounting for human and ecological viewpoints.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. The IPCC is a non-
profit organization that provides scientific and technological information on climate change and
its societal and economic consequences.
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The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Kyoto
Protocol in 1997, which was a great, successful step. The Protocol, which went into effect in
2005, requires industrialized countries to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, primarily carbon
dioxide emissions (CO2). The Protocol began as a non-binding agreement, but it has evolved
into a lawful emission reduction target. Because soils are key carbon sinks, the Protocol is vital
for soils and land management. It identified prospects for improved carbon storage management
and increased carbon sequestration in agriculture and forestry. As a result, there was a clear
understanding that soil management should be used to accomplish climate goals—and that soils
can also be used to reduce carbon loss resulting from land degradation. Soil-related issues will
attract more attention in future climate meets due to the climate system's vulnerability to soil
processes.

FAO and its allied nations have made considerable progress in recent years in supporting plans
and policies to strengthen global soil resource governance. The Global Soil Partnership 1 (GSP)
was launched by FAO and the EU in September 2011 to address the need for a multilateral
agreement concentrating primarily on soil concerns and to work for sustainable soil and land
management on a worldwide scale.
The aftermath of the 2008 food crisis, policymakers worldwide began to recognize that soils
were precious resources that needed to be taken into account in discussions of food security.
Discussions about the need for quantifiable targets and indicators to measure soil degradation
commenced under the UNCCD's "Zero Net Land Degradation" framework (UNCCD, 2012).

Soil carbon is an exemplar indicator of soil security; The Soil Carbon Initiative (SCI) is an
international coalition of eminent soil scientists who met in Sydney in February 2011 to discuss
soil's potential to sequester atmospheric carbon (Stockmann et al., 2013). It was agreed that
tracking changes in soil carbon can help identify dangerous thresholds in degrading soils (SCI,
2011). Soil carbon is monitored on a regular basis and plays an important role in soil function.

Generally, soils with lower carbon content are less efficient, while those with higher carbon
content are more resilient. The net flux of carbon in the soil through time becomes an overall
measure of the soil's natural capital. Increasing and controlling soil carbon and the biota that
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transform soil is a crucial mechanism for enhancing and sustaining soil functionality and its
ability to support ecosystem services (Soil Carbon Initiative, 2011).
This can be accomplished through agricultural and land management techniques that are known
to increase soil carbon (Hutchinson et al., 2007; Sanderman et al., 2010; Minasny et al., 2011;
Minasny et al., 2012).

In its 2012 Yearbook, UNEP listed better soil carbon management to recover damaged soils as
one of two major emerging concerns for the world environment (UNEP, 2012).
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HISTORY OF SOIL DEGRADATION

Simeria was a flourishing community around 2700 BC. By the 2100s, however, society had
succumbed to bad land management. As civilizations advanced north to Assyria and Babylon,
they did not appear to learn from their mistakes and continued to make them.

Troy encountered a similar predicament around the year 1200 BC. Throughout the Trojan period,
deforestation and soil deterioration caused the coastline to change constantly. The city was not
identified for a long time due to the accumulation created by the moving shoreline.

The problems created by soil erosion appear to have plagued civilizations that had developed
advanced agricultural technologies, which, when paired with massive deforestation, resulted in

the land's eventual unproductivity.

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CURRENT SITUATION
According to the United Nations, the world's topsoil could become unusable in 60 years if soil
deterioration continues at its current rate. According to reports, one-third of the world's
productive land has been damaged in the last four decades. Chemical-intensive farming,
deforestation, which causes topsoil erosion, and global warming have all contributed to this.

The role of soil in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and filtering water is critical. Soil
degradation sets in motion a vicious cycle in which less carbon is absorbed, the Earth's
temperature rises, and the land becomes far more degraded.

According to the Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration map, soils could sequester up to 2.05
petagrams of CO2 equivalent per year, thus offsetting as much as 34 percent of greenhouse gas
emissions from agricultural land.

Facts And Figures:

● Soil degradation contributes to 36-75 billion tons of soil loss per year and freshwater
shortages.
● It takes the Earth up to 1000 years to make 1 centimeter of top soil, but this can be lost
due to a heavy rainfall if not protected.
● The equivalent of one soccer field of soil is being lost every minute.
● Soil erosion can lead to up to 50% loss in crop yields.
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CAUSES
According to the FAO, unsustainable agriculture methods and other unlawful land-use changes,
such as illegal deforestation, can speed up erosion by a thousand times.

Intensive agriculture is the main cause of soil deterioration, with excessive use of fertilizers,
pesticides and antibiotics killing soil organisms and leaving it susceptible to erosion.

Another component is rising global temperatures, which is accompanied by an increase in

droughts and wildfires, although experts are unsure how all of the different causes interact.

Soil erosion reduces soil health and productivity by exposing the residual soil and removing the
very fertile topsoil. Unsustainable agriculture methods and other inappropriate land-use changes,
such as illegal deforestation, can speed up erosion by a factor of a thousand.
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CHALLENGES

A. Related To Climate Change

Land degradation takes many forms, but it always involves a significant
disruption of a healthy balance between five fundamental ecosystem processes:
Food production, fiber provision, microclimate adjustment, water retention, and
carbon storage.

According to the FAO, soil erosion could lower crop yields by up to 10% by
2050, equating to the removal of millions of hectares of land from crop
production. A quarter of the Earth’s surface has already become degraded.

Soils play an important role in capturing carbon as well as in filtering water. Soil
degradation sets in motion a vicious cycle in which less carbon is stored, the earth
warms, and the land degrades even more.

B. Its Effects on Living Beings

According to a recent EEA report, soil moisture has significantly decreased in the
Mediterranean region and increased in parts of northern Europe since the 1950s.
These continuing declines in soil moisture can increase the need for irrigation in
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agricultural activities and can lead to smaller profits and even desertification,
leading to potential ramifications in food production.

Changes in seasonal temperatures can also lead to shifts in the annual cycles of
plants and animals, resulting in lower harvests. The report also states that, in
addition to the loss of arable land, rising sea levels may change soil density in
coastal zones, and bring in contaminants, including salt from the sea. But the
biggest climate concern linked to soil is the carbon dioxide and methane stored in
the permafrost in boreal regions, especially in Siberia.

With the increase in the global temperatures, these bodies of ice start to melt,
causing these greenhouse gases to spread into the atmosphere, leading to a major
increase in the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere, which further
accelerates the rate of global warming.
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POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
1. Avoiding meat and dairy is the termed the single biggest way to reduce one’s impact on
Earth. Evidence shows we should eat much smaller quantities of sustainably-reared, grass-
fed meat – if any – less dairy, and much more fruit and vegetables. More than 80% of the
world’s farmland is used to raise and feed cattle and other livestock, but these provide
only 18% of all calories consumed.
2. Through partnerships, projects, studies and information-sharing, FAO helps to increase the
understanding of the biophysical and socioeconomic relationships between land and water
resources. These are vital to better production, better nutrition, better environment for
better lives. FAO’s approach helps raise awareness of the degradation of resources caused
by inappropriate agricultural practices, such as land clearing.
3. It also encourages water conservation, innovation, and technology, with a focus on water-
scarce places. Its toolkits, as well as digital and real-time informatics, assist governments,
farmers, and other users in formulating legal and financial policies, along with providing
technical tools for better land, soil, and water management.
4. To enable the development of effective, evidence-based strategies that will underpin the
efforts of soil healthcare systems, substantial investment in wide-ranging interdisciplinary
research on soil health and disease is mandatory.
5. Limiting industrial farming. The use of methods like tilling, multiple harvests and
agrochemicals have boosted yields at the expense of sustainability. Responsible regulation
of land and agriculture would help significantly. To prevent and minimize soil erosion,
farmers and other land users can adopt sustainable soil management practices under an
enabling environment.
6. While communities construct inclusive rangeland management plans to guarantee farmers
and pastoralists follow excellent rangeland restoration practices, the project builds
institutional capacity in both countries to ensure that these plans are integrated into policy
and supported by larger legislation.
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QUESTIONS A RESOLUTION MUST ANSWER

1. What would be the desired fiscal, physical, and organizational outcome of a resolution?
2. What incentive is there to contribute to the Global Soil Crisis? To be sustainable?
3. When must action be implemented to deter the ongoing crisis?
4. How would climate change impact the world in respect of the Global Soil Crisis?
5. Can there be a solution that both appeases every nation and helps the most people?
6. How can we make the Soil Crisis an issue that everybody recognizes like climate change?
7. At the current moment, should we be prioritizing humanitarian aid, development aid, or a
combination of both?

POSITION PAPER GUIDELINES

Font: Times New Roman

Font Size: 12

Position Paper Page Limit: One page (excluding bibliography)

POSITION PAPER FORMAT

Page one:
Delegate Name:

Country:

Institution:

Topic:
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‘A quote is preferred, not compulsory’

Paragraph one:

Introduction to the topic and steps taken by the UN on the topic at hand.

Paragraph two:

Elaboration on the country’s laws and policies regarding the topic and how it is affected by the
topic at hand, and measures incorporated by the country to combat the problem. Statistical Data
is preferred.

Paragraph three:

Unique solutions suggested by the delegate to combat the problem.

Page one ends

Page two:
Bibliography

Page two ends

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. https://www.unep.org/
2. https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.13771
3. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1052831
4. https://www.unccd.int/news-stories/press-releases/chronic-land-degradation-un-offers-sta
rk-warnings-and-practical
5. https://www.fao.org/3/bc597e/bc597e.pdf
6. https://reliefweb.int/report/world/new-fao-report-land-and-water-resources-paints-alarmin
g-picture-enarruzh
7. https://eco-intelligent.com/2016/12/17/the-history-of-soil-conservation/#:~:text=Soil%20
erosion%20was%20first%20recognized,conduct%20experiments%20on%20conserving
%20soil
8. https://hal-agroparistech.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01567155/file/Koch_et_al-2013-Global
_Policy.pdf
9. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/04/global-soils-underpin-life-but-fut
ure-looks-bleak-warns-un-report

10. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradat
ion-continues/

11. https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2019-content-list/articles/soil-land-and-climate
-change#:~:text=Climate%20change%20affects%20soil&text=Continuing%20declines%
20in%20soil%20moisture,dramatic%20impacts%20on%20food%20production.
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FOR FURTHER READING*

1
1. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-2si
ngle-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth
2. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/huge-potential-agriculture-slow-climate-cha
nge
3. https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/why-soil-is-disappearing-from-far
ms/
4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/revised-universal-soil
-loss-equation
5. https://www.unccd.int/news-stories/press-releases/chronic-land-degradation-un-offers-sta
rk-warnings-and-practical
6. https://theconversation.com/on-dangerous-ground-land-degradation-is-turning-soils-into-
deserts-94100

Written by: Azza Luqman, Alen Soji, Pallak Dhabalia, Tharun Raj and Janav
Gowda

For any further queries please contact your bureau members at:

President – Parnika Nigam - nigamparnika@gmail.com

Vice President- Maryam Sihorwala - maryam.sihorwala@gmail.com
Rapporteur- Ryan
Vice President- Simon
Shrika Shaji -- shrikashaji@gmail.com
extra200968@gmail.com
Rapporteur- Alma Tez Rinoy - almatezrinoy@gmail.com
Rapporteur- Ryan Simon - extra200968@gmail.com
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*Please do not limit your research to these materials. This is just for reference.
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