A proposito di suolo “bene comune”

This article considers the legal definition of soil and, specifically, the recognition of soil as a common good. This recognition opens up a Pandora’s box of the problematic classification of the commons, whose main features are explained herein. After focusing on the commons and on environmental goods (which, within the commons, represent the most important sub-category), attention is paid to a specific common (environmental) good, the soil. In this regard, it is important to underline how the inclusion of soil in the category of commons, in addition to being widely recognized by scholars, is also gradually emerging in many legislative acts which, at various levels and in different systems, deal with the protection of soil. Classifying the soil as a common good means, on the one hand, that this good, regardless of ownership, must be accessible to all taking into account the intergenerational equity and, on the other hand, underlines that the resource is exposed to a serious risk of depletion, due in this case to the behaviour of owners who wish to maximize its exploitation. This explains the reasons why different (more or less innovative) policies have been adopted in various countries for limiting soil consumption. These policies are part of the process, which has been underway for some time, of rethinking property rights in response to the protection of fundamental environmental resources.