Appealing for urgent “concrete implementable action” that will raise organic content in agricultural soils to a minimum of 3% worldwide, Sadhguru, Founder-Isha Foundation, said that the world is running out of time to prevent soil extinction. He was addressing representatives from 197 nations at the 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) at Abidjan in Ivory Coast.
Sadhguru, who is currently on a 100-day, 30,000-km lone motorcycle #JourneyForSoil, which began on 21st March from London, returned to the Middle-East immediately after the COP15 session to resume his journey. He reached the Middle-East in May riding through Europe and Central Asia where the Movement to Save Soil garnered tremendous goodwill and support from governments and citizens.
While acknowledging that there are “many nuances to the solution”, Sadhguru emphasized “single-pointed action” for soil adding that all “other aspects are relevant to our lives only as long as soil is alive.” Expressing dismay at the perception of soil as an “inert substance”, Sadhguru said he was “shocked to see that more than 85% of the nations on the planet still look at soil as an inert substance. If we do not change this attitude, we will not fix the soil.” A fistful of fertile soil is estimated to contain anywhere between 8 and 10 billion microorganisms making it the largest living entity in the Universe.
Sadhguru said that soil degradation is largely an effect of reduced photosynthesis – a phenomenon through which vegetation on land sequesters carbon dioxide in the soil and releases oxygen into the atmosphere. He revealed that “in the last thousand years, photosynthesis as a phenomenon has come down by 85%” leading to an annual extinction rate of 27,000 species of soil microorganisms that depend on carbon for their survival. “At this rate, in another 30-35 years, we will reach a place (where) we will not be able to turn it around because we would have reached that point of no return,” he said referring to the looming threat of soil extinction.
Sadhguru asserted that with immediate and cohesive policy-driven action globally, it is possible to turn “back from the brink of disaster” and called on nations to inspire and incentivize farmers to raise organic content in agricultural soils.
It is estimated that around 71% of the planet’s land is either wholly or partially farmed which makes the farmer the primary protagonist in the Movement to Save Soil. He advocated for a “three-pronged incentive” approach – from government, industry and consumers – for farmers to ensure that their farmlands have a minimum of 3% organic content. “Across the world, not a single nation has a minimum of 3%”, he said, quoting stats on average soil organic content in Northern and Southern Europe, the United States, Africa and India.
Sadhguru closed his address with an appeal to ensure that “COP15 (does not) end as one more convention with more paper and more paper. This must end with action and action in such a way that it is implementable and we will see a distinct change in the coming few years.” On the eve of his address, #SaveSoilAtCOP15 trended 1st on Twitter in India with the movement amassing 319K Tweets in a span of a few hours.
Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of UNCCD, in his tweet thanked Sadhguru for his commitment to save soil.
Sadhguru also met with UNCCD Land Ambassadors and Land Heroes who pledged their support for the Movement.
The Save Soil Movement is supported by the UNCCD, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Food Program, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Commonwealth. Political parties and leaders from more than 70 nations have pledged concrete action to save soil in their countries.
Conscious Planet: Save Soil, is a global movement to inspire a conscious approach to saving our soil and planet. This is, first and foremost, a people’s movement. The aim is to demonstrate the support of over 3.5 billion people (more than 60% of the world’s voting population) around the world and empower governments to initiate policy-driven action to revitalize soil and halt further degradation. World leaders, influencers, artists, experts, farmers, spiritual leaders, NGOs and citizens are vocally supporting the movement to re-establish Humanity’s relationship with Soil.
Website: savesoil.org
