GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Proposed activities will

• highlight the multiple dimensions of business cases for investing in soil health by the private and public sectors;
• provide a detailed analysis of existing models in Europe and internationally for creating incentives and for generating revenues from healthy soils. Financial and non-financial incentives shall promote a) sustainable soil management across various land uses and climatic conditions, b) products based on practices promoting soil health, c) consumption and certification practices conductive to soil health, d) the reuse of land and e) sustainable soil management in the context of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation;
• showcase “good examples” from Europe and internationally for investments in soil health and other types of incentives as well as for “innovators” that lead the transition towards sustainable soil practices, taking into account along with the context in which the presented measures work;
• co-design with stakeholders (e.g. businesses, citizens, local authorities) new models for promoting soil health where existing ones do not sufficiently cover the manifold needs;
• provide testing grounds for soil business cases and identify avenues for scaling up action on soil health, thus making sustainable soil management more profitable for farmers, foresters, businesses, municipalities and other actors;
• develop a comprehensive toolbox of incentives (existing and newly proposed ones) including recommendations on innovative ways of blending finance streams and policy measures. Tools shall be tailored to the needs of various stakeholders (incl. farmers and farmer organisations, foresters, businesses, non-for profit organisations, municipalities, civil society) and address the delivery of various ecosystem services (e.g. carbon capture, clean water, clean air, biodiversity) and land uses (e.g. agriculture, forestry, urban areas);
• provide recommendations for policy measures at EU and national levels to support the development of business models which promote soil health;
• establish communities of practice/roundtables for environmentally and socially responsible soil health “investors” (including civil society);
• develop material and carry out promotion events or campaigns to raise awareness regarding opportunities for soil investments;
• explore the potential of digital technologies to support the development of business cases for soil health.