Soil as Climate‑Critical Infrastructure: From Agricultural Input to Strategic Resilience Asset
Oct 21, 2025
Cover Photo by Sven Hornburg on Unsplash
Executive Summary
Developed economies with high GDPs and substantial agricultural budgets, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France, are uniquely positioned to lead the global mainstreaming of soil into climate adaptation strategies. Agriculture contributes between 1% and 2% of GDP in these countries, but its strategic importance is far greater, as it underpins food security, rural livelihoods, and climate resilience. Collectively, these nations spend tens of billions annually on agricultural support. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget exceeds $200 billion annually (USDA FY2025 Budget Summary), the UK has secured 2.7 billion euros per year for farming and nature recovery from 2026–29 (DEFRA, 2025), Canada has committed $3.5 billion over five years under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) (AAFC, 2025–26 Departmental Plan), Germany receives €6.2 billion annually in EU CAP funds (BMEL(Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity), CAP Strategic Plan), and France receives €9.3 billion annually in CAP allocations (European Commission, 2024). These resources equip them with both the responsibility and the capacity to establish global benchmarks for soil stewardship.
Yet, despite ambitious programs, soil is still too often treated as an agricultural input rather than as climate‑critical infrastructure. While each country has implemented advanced soil-focused measures, common gaps persist, including fragmented monitoring, reliance on practice-based incentives, and the absence of binding national soil health targets.
In the United Kingdom, soil is central to the Environmental Land Management schemes, with a target of 60 percent of England’s soils being under sustainable management by 2030. Farmers are incentivized to adopt cover crops, agroforestry, and natural flood management, backed by a £2.4 billion annual farming budget. However, the absence of a harmonized national baseline for soil health metrics and reliance on practice-based rather than outcome-based payments limit the ability to measure resilience gains.
Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy identifies soil erosion and fertility decline as direct threats to food security, with annual productivity losses exceeding CAD $3 billion. The 2021 Prairie drought, which cut yields by up to 40 percent, underscored the buffering role of healthy soils. Canada’s soils also store an estimated 150 billion tonnes of carbon, making stewardship a dual adaptation and mitigation priority. Yet soils are still treated narrowly as agricultural inputs. The pending Soil Health Bill (S-230) would address governance gaps by mandating a national soil health strategy, establishing measurable indicators, and appointing a National Advocate for Soil Health, thereby elevating soil to the same policy status as water and energy.
Germany has embedded soil into its adaptation framework with some of the most concrete targets among developed countries. By 2030, land take for settlements must fall below 30 hectares per day, with a long-term goal of achieving net-zero land consumption by 2050. Indicators for “good ecological soil status” are being developed, starting with earthworm diversity, while humus content, erosion reduction, and peatland restoration are tied to quantified goals. Germany also aims to cut pesticide use by 50 percent by 2030 and ensure diversified crop rotations to enhance humus and resilience. Yet, implementation depends heavily on CAP‑linked obligations, and the challenge remains to integrate soil targets with broader farm economics and risk‑sharing mechanisms.
France’s PNACC‑3 highlights the intensification of soil droughts, which have doubled nationally since the 1960s and tripled in the south, contributing to the country’s most severe wildfire season since 1949. Coastal erosion and salinization are accelerating, with 5,400 vulnerable sites identified for treatment by 2027. While hedgerow restoration, PES pilots, and agroecology are promoted, France lacks binding national soil health targets, relying instead on programmatic measures and research initiatives.
Spain’s National Adaptation Plan 2021–2030 identifies soil degradation, erosion, and desertification as major climate risks. It promotes wetland restoration, groundwater protection, and resilient farming practices, such as organic and precision agriculture. Soil monitoring is integrated into national systems, with indicators such as soil organic carbon tracked. Funding comes from regular budgets, PIMA Adapta, and EU instruments like Next Generation EU and Horizon Europe. However, Spain also lacks binding soil health targets and outcome-based incentives, treating soil more as a sectoral issue than strategic infrastructure.
The U.S. allocates one of the world’s largest agricultural budgets, over $200 billion a year, yet its soil, the very foundation of food and climate security, remains dangerously underprotected. USDA’s Climate Adaptation Plans and the $19.5 billion Inflation Reduction Act conservation package have poured money into cover crops, no‑till, and grassland protection, with millions of acres enrolled in programs like the Conservation Reserve Program. Cutting‑edge research networks and Climate Hubs churn out tools like Grass‑Cast to predict forage and soil stress, while Indigenous communities are reviving traditional agroecological practices to restore resilience.
However, despite all this investment, the U.S. has no binding national soil health targets. Monitoring is fragmented, incentives reward practices rather than outcomes, and soil is still treated as a side benefit rather than climate-critical infrastructure. The January 2025 notice to withdraw from the Paris Agreement only deepens the uncertainty, casting doubt on the continuity of federal soil and climate planning even as states, cities, and Tribal governments push ahead. In short, America has the money, the science, and the programs, but without clear targets and unified accountability, its efforts remain a sleeping giant in the fight for resilience.
Taken together, these cases demonstrate that developed economies are investing heavily in soil as a foundation for climate resilience; however, they have yet to fully mainstream soil into adaptation planning, with harmonized monitoring, quantified targets, and practice-based, outcome-based incentives that need to be encouraged. Their leadership is crucial not only for domestic resilience but also for shaping global soil policy.
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For all recently updated National Adaptation Plans shared by developed country Parties under the UNFCCC, please see this link: https://napcentral.org/developedcountriesnaps
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