Soil and land

The Strategy sets out concrete measures for the protection, restoration and sustainable use of soils.

The regulation will address the negative consequences of POPs in waste and in material that could be recovered from it.

Corrected Link: Green Public Procurement (GPP) News Alert - July 2021 issue

Sustainable soil is a foundation of environmental health, with soil offering a multitude of ecosystem services including climate mitigation and adaption, biodiversity, agriculture (food security) and nutrient cycling. This study offers a new framework for monitoring synergies and trade-offs of soil functions across Europe.

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As the world’s population increases, so does the need for environmentally sustainable ways to increase food production. Nanopesticides are growing in popularity, as they appear able to achieve the same results as traditional agrochemicals when applied at lower amounts. However, regulatory and ecotoxicological research gaps remain. A literature review now identifies these gaps, and suggests the steps needed to enable sustainable nanopesticide use on a global scale.

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How can we grow more crops without taking too much water away from freshwater ecosystems for irrigation? A new study indicates that it is possible to double crop production by 2050 without exceeding set limits for water extraction if more crops are grown in regions with higher rainfall and with corresponding shifts in international trade and agricultural management. However, without appropriate safeguards, and if we follow the current business-as-usual scenario, this could come at the ecological cost of converting natural land and forest into cropland. This research provides a ‘first-step’ in analysing potential trade-offs in the global food-trade-water nexus.

Issue 540