December 4, 2025, New York: The “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities” high-level symposium was held at UNHQ to highlight the roles of soils in cities to commemorate the World Soil Day 2025.

By 2050 about two thirds of world’s population will be living in cities, as reminded by H.E. Pema Lektup Dorji, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Under city’s landscape are urban soils, “the hidden infrastructure of our cities, quietly defending us from floods, landslides, and erosion, while supporting food production, filtering water, and sustaining biodiversity,” stated Ms. Angelica Jacome, Director of FAO New York Office.

Turning liability into assets and providing benefits across all three dimensions of sustainable development, a case in point was the New York City’s High Line renovation project, presented by soil scientist Maxine Levin. The project was funded by the city with $100 million, sparked $5 billion private investment, now draws 8 million visitors per year, and saves $1 billion in sewage costs.    

The event set out to reimagine urban spaces through their soils, highlighting the practice that healthy cities come from healthy soils, a concept shared and promoted by T’ECH DP in its One Health Initiative.   

The event was hosted by the Mission of the Kingdom of Thailand, the Mission of the Kingdom of Bhutan, and the Mission of the Russian Federation, together with FAO, and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

World Soil Day 2025 at UNHQ

For more on World Soil Day, visit: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-soil-day