Abstract. Companies increasingly view soil degradation in their supply chains as a commercial risk. They have applied sustainability standards to manage environmental risks stemming from suppliers' farming operations. To examine the application of supply chain sustainability standards in soil protection, we conducted a study using global data on existing sustainability standards and their use in the food retail industry, a key sector in agrifood supply chains. Soil quality is a priority objective in retail sector sustainability efforts: 41 % of the investigated companies apply some soil-relevant standard. However, the standards lack specific and comprehensive criteria. Compliance typically requires that farmers are aware of soil damage risks and implement some mitigation measures; however, no measurable thresholds are usually assigned. This stands in contrast to some other provisions in a number of standards, such as deforestation criteria. There are two probable causes of this difference: companies and certification bodies have prioritised other environmental challenges (e.g. pesticide use, biodiversity loss in tropical biomes) over soil degradation. Also, there are practical constraints in the useful standardisation of soil sustainability. Effective soil sustainability provisions will require measurable, controllable, and scalable multidimensional interventions and compliance metrics. Often, these are not yet available. The development of necessary practical tools is a priority for future research.

中文翻译：

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企业供应链可持续发展标准能否有助于土壤保护？


摘要。越来越多的公司将其供应链中的土壤退化视为一种商业风险。他们应用可持续发展标准来管理供应商农业经营产生的环境风险。为了检验供应链可持续性标准在土壤保护中的应用，我们利用有关现有可持续性标准及其在食品零售行业（农业食品供应链的关键部门）中的使用的全球数据进行了一项研究。土壤质量是零售业可持续发展工作的首要目标：41% 的受访公司采用了一些与土壤相关的标准。然而，这些标准缺乏具体和全面的标准。合规通常要求农民意识到土壤破坏风险并实施一些缓解措施；然而，通常没有指定可测量的阈值。这与许多标准中的一些其他规定形成鲜明对比，例如毁林标准。造成这种差异的可能原因有两个：公司和认证机构优先考虑其他环境挑战（例如农药的使用、热带生物群落的生物多样性丧失）而不是土壤退化。此外，土壤可持续性的有用标准化也存在实际限制。有效的土壤可持续性规定需要可衡量、可控和可扩展的多维干预措施和合规指标。通常，这些尚不可用。开发必要的实用工具是未来研究的首要任务。