COVER STORY
But Why, Soil?
“Everything that you know, including yourself – your body is soil, my body is soil. A tree is soil, a worm is soil, an insect is soil, a plant is soil, a leaf is soil, the fish in the ocean are soil,” says Sadhguru. “Everything that you know that has life is soil. Without addressing that, there is no way to address anything else [climate change, ocean warming, and so on]. Without nourishing the roots, going on to fix the branches and leaves is not going to work.” Soil is our first line of defence against climate change. According to Columbia University’s Earth Institute, soil stores about 25% of the world’s fossil fuel emissions each year. It also helps to filter our water, regulate the planet’s temperature, protect against floods and droughts, and safeguard global food security. That’s why soil degradation poses a critical challenge for the future of our planet. According to the UN, around 52% of the world’s agricultural soil has degraded due to acidification, urbanization, and chemical pollution from human activities. By 2050, that number is predicted to jump to 90%, with far-reaching side effects including massive declines in food production, worsening flooding, widespread desertification, and untold loss of life. What’s more, soil depletion erodes healthy vitamins and minerals in our crops, causing 60 to 90% drops in nutrients, in some cases. As 2 billion people already suffer from nutrient deficiency, further decreases could be devastating.
topsoil, embrace agroforestry; an agriculture style that plants trees alongside crops to nourish and protect soil, and reduce meat consumption to free up land for more agroforestry.
The Solution: Cleaner Dirt. Cleaner Earth. “The root of all life is in soil, and without addressing that you cannot address climate change,” affirms Sadhguru. Among the solutions, he urges governments and farmers to reinstate valuable organic content, such as leaves and animal waste, in farmable
“The #SaveSoil mission aims to reach 3.5 billion people across 192 countries, and we truly believe that by working together, we will be able to conquer this important milestone and play our part in protecting our planet,” shares Talimka Yordanova, CEO of Global Citizen Forum.
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SPRING EDITION 2022
In fact, the #SaveSoil movement is nothing new. Sadhguru’s mission to reach 3.5 billion people on Earth has been the product of three decades of work and evolution. One of the crucial aspects in the evolution of this movement has no doubt been the sheer number of people it has inspired. However, equally important has been its growing levels of influence. In a collaborative effort to amplify the message of the Earth’s rapid degeneration of soil, the Global Citizen Forum endorsed #SaveSoil as one of its main grassroot initiatives for 2022 and is supporting Sadguru’s ambitious quest across 24 nations to support governments in pursuit of climate action and encourage policy to revitalize soil and ecology.
