The second United Nations Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) was held from 27–29 July 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, co-hosted by the Governments of Ethiopia and Italy. Marking four years since the inaugural 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, UNFSS+4 served as a critical moment to assess progress, deepen partnerships, and mobilize investments to accelerate food systems transformation globally.

The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH)—established during the 2021 Summit—was actively engaged throughout the Stocktake. CA4SH co-hosted two thematic side events, co-organized a joint session with fellow UNFSS Coalitions of Action, and showcased its work through an exhibition booth, amplifying the role of healthy soil in delivering on food, nutrition, climate, nature, and land goals.

Rangelands are a critical ecosystem, deeply rooted in traditional, indigenous land uses and livelihoods, and a major player for carbon sequestration, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and climate adaptation. As scientific and multistakeholder organizations, the CIFOR-ICRAF Soil and Land Health Research Theme and the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) attended and led several sessions at the 2025 International Rangelands Congress (IRC) from 2-6 June 2025 in Adelaide Australia, including a two-day pre-congress workshop toward a Global Rangelands Standard & Monitoring Framework.

The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) is rooted in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Since our official launch in 2021, CA4SH has amassed a membership of over 200 multistakeholder organizations and collaborated with countless partners.

This year, the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNCCD was focused on a people-centred approach to accelerating action on land and drought resilience, themed Our Land. Our Future.

Since healthy soil is essential to land and drought resilience, and provides co-benefits that link with all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the CA4SH network came together for a record engagement at COP16 to advocate for scaling global soil health.

At the recent IUSS Centennial Celebration and Congress held in Florence, Italy, on May 19-21, the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) hosted a fireside chat focused on the pivotal role of policy in addressing soil degradation and promoting sustainable land management.

Founded as the International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) on 19th May 1924, the International Union of Soil Scientists (IUSS), with the Italian Soil Science Society (SISS) welcomed more than 1500 scientists from all over the world to Rome, Italy, where the IUSS was founded, to celebrate 100 years of action on soils.

The Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) joined co-conveners at the Stockholm International Water Institute World Water Week (SIWI WWW), held on September 1st, 2022.