In the UN International Year of Soils, the Global Soil Week offers a window of opportunity to put soil and land on the international political agenda as a key to sustainable development. The demands for the finite resource of soil are many and the stakes are high. Soils are fundamental in the provisioning of water, energy and food security for the 9 billion citizens expected to inhabit the planet in the year 2050, and thus to maintain and enable thriving societies now and in the future.