Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

145 Chapter 6: Soil Achieving all the goals and objectives of the EU Soil Strategy depends on full implementation of other related EU initiatives, as outlined in Table 6.1. Table 6.1  EU Soil Strategy objectives MEDIUM-TERM OBJECTIVES (2030) RELATED EU INITIATIVE Restore significant areas of degraded and carbon-rich ecosystems, including soils EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 a Make significant progress in the remediation of contaminated sites EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 a Achieve an EU net greenhouse gas removal of 310 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year for the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector Proposal for a revision of the LULUCF Regulation b Reach good ecological and chemical status in surface waters and good chemical and quantitative status in groundwater by 2027 Water Framework Directive c Reduce nutrient losses by at least 50%, the overall use and risk of chemical pesticides by 50%, and the use of more hazardous pesticides by 50% by 2030 EU Farm to Fork Strategy d LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES (2050) RELATED EU INITIATIVE Reach no net land take Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe e and the Eighth Environment Action Programme f Soil pollution should be reduced to levels no longer considered harmful to human health and natural ecosystems and should be within the boundaries our planet can cope with, thus creating a non-toxic environment Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All, EU Action Plan: ‘Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil’ g Achieve a climate-neutral Europe and, as the first step, aim to achieve land-based climate neutrality in the EU by 2035 European Climate Law Regulation h and Proposal for a revision of the LULUCF Regulation Achieve a climate-resilient society for the EU, fully adapted to the unavoidable impacts of climate change by 2050 EU Adaptation Strategy i Source: Adapted from EC, 2021a a EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (COM(2020) 380). b Proposal for a revision of the LULUCF Regulation (COM(2021) 554). c Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). d EU Farm to Fork Strategy (COM(2020) 381). e Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe (COM(2011) 571). f Eighth Environment Action Programme (Decision No 1386/2013/EU). g EU Action Plan: Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil (COM(2021) 400). h European Climate Law Regulation ((EU) 2021/1119). i EU Adaptation Strategy (COM(2021) 82).