The 2012 UNEP Year Book spotlights two emerging issues that underline the challenges but also the
choices nations need to consider to deliver a sustainable 21st century— urgently improved management of the world’s soils and the decommissioning of nuclear reactors. Superficially they may seem separate and unconnected issues. But both go to the heart of several fundamental questions: how the world will feed and fuel itself while combating climate change and handling hazardous wastes. The thin skin of soil on the Earth’s surface is often one of those forgotten ecosystems but it is among the most important to the
future survival of humanity.
The top one metre of soil sustains agriculture, supports forests, grasslands and meadows which in turn generate the conditions for the health and viability of many of the globe’s plant and animal species. The top one metre also stores three times more carbon than is contained in the atmosphere. Yet land use
change is triggering dramatic losses of soils and the nutrients and carbon stored. The Year Book notes that in some places, soil erosion is occurring at rates 100 times faster than soil is naturally made. More intelligent and integrated policies are needed to reverse these trends.