Water and soil in focus: Greens invite you to an important discussion!

Water and soil in focus: Greens invite you to an important discussion!

On November 2, 2025, the Greens are inviting people to an important discussion about water and soil protection in Ingelheim. Jutta Paulus, who sits in the European Parliament for the Greens, sees the urgency for local issues to receive more attention. “It must be clear that decisions from Brussels also have a direct impact on our everyday lives here,” explains Paulus. In particular, she addresses EU requirements such as the Water Framework Directive and the new Soil Health Monitoring Act, which are crucial for the protective and sustainable use of water and soil resources in the member states.

As Paul points out, healthy soils are a key factor in food security and the quality of our drinking water. Around 60 percent of European soils are at risk from compaction, sealing or pollutants. This represents a serious challenge for our environment and future generations. Umweltbundesamt.de also emphasizes that the overarching goal of the European Soil Directive is to ensure healthy soils by 2050.

EU directives and their implementation

One of the cornerstones of this directive is systematic soil health monitoring to be carried out in all EU member states. This allows the condition of our soils to be recorded regularly, including relevant parameters such as organic carbon content and soil biodiversity. It is essential that this monitoring also takes into account hazards such as PFAS and pesticides. Member states have three years to implement the new rules into national law.

In Germany, this is done via the Federal Soil Protection Act (BBodSchG) and corresponding implementing regulations. The risks posed by contaminated sites must be reduced through targeted measures. The approaches are clear: through monitoring, sustainable management and a risk-based approach to contaminated sites. This approach is also intended to intensify the exchange of specialist knowledge at national and European levels - an aspect that will certainly be addressed in today's discussion in Ingelheim.

A look into the future

In this way, Paulus wants to encourage the participants of the event to actively participate in the discussion and to create an awareness of their own responsibility. Healthy soil is important not only for nature, but also for our daily lives. “It’s not just about laws from Brussels, it’s about our future,” she says and appeals to everyone to work to protect our resources.

Aware that the challenges are great, Paulus remains optimistic: “If we all pull together, we can achieve a lot.” This discussion will certainly pave the way to finding joint solutions that meet both local needs and EU-level requirements.

All interested parties are cordially invited to take part in this important discussion and contribute their opinions. By actively addressing the issues of water and soil protection, each individual can contribute to environmental protection and thus also to increasing the quality of life in our region.