Over 25% of the planet’s biodiversity lives beneath our feet, and soil fertility is directly or indirectly responsible for 95% of the food we consume.

Based on this data and in response to the threats to the health of our soils, Directive (EU) 2025/2360 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 November 2025 on soil monitoring and resilience (the Soil Monitoring Directive) was published on 26 November 2025.

This mandate for Member States, the most ambitious in the field of soil protection, is part of the EU Soil Protection Strategy, which has a target date of 2030.

The Directive establishes a harmonised framework for monitoring and assessing soil status based on the following obligations:

• Soil districts and units. Creation of soil districts and units on which to establish sampling and assessment systems, as well as the establishment of measurable descriptors for identifying healthy soils versus contaminated soils.

• List of pollutants. Preparation of a list of pollutants that includes, among other compounds, pesticides, PFAs, and emerging pollutants whose presence must be monitored based on their toxicity, persistence, or mobility.

• Inventories of contaminated soils. Establishment of national registers, accessible to the public, including contaminated sites.

In an innovative move, the Directive incorporates the monitoring of urban land use. In line with the European No Net Land Take 2050 target, mitigation measures such as de-sealing, restoration of previously sealed soils and sustainable urban densification are included.

Overall, the regulation fills a long-standing regulatory gap in the environmental field, which until now has focused on areas such as water, air and waste. Member States will have until 17 December 2028 to adapt their laws, regulations and administrative provisions to the new obligations imposed by the Directive.

At KEPLER, we have been assisting organisations for 30 years in analysing risks arising from potential soil contamination, preparing environmental due diligence, drafting technical reports and implementing bioremediation projects.