How can you address climate change without addressing soil, asks Sadhguru in India Global Forum’s Climate Summit

Soil degradation and climate change are interlinked and soil is now an existential issue, said Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the founder of Isha Foundation.

Speaking at the India Global Forum’s Climate Finance and Technology Summit on Tuesday, Sadhguru reflected on the contradictory nature of narrative — not speaking about ‘soil’ as a subject when it is the basis of life forms on the planet. Instead, we are speaking about climate change in isolation. His session at the Summit was aptly titled – ‘Rethinking planet consciousness – Why it starts with soil’

‘Without addressing soil, how can you address climate change?’

“On a hot day, just go and feel the soil with your hand — you don’t even need a meter. Feel the temperature of the open soil, on a patch of grass, in the bushes, and under a tree where there is shade. There will be a range of eight to 12 degrees centigrade difference between unprotected soil to what is under shade. This is climate change,” Sadhguru lucidly elaborated.

He further elaborated on how global warming was a direct product of the change in soil/ land usage over the years and said that “nearly 35 to 40 per cent of the world’s global warming is because of open soils.”

The classic dichotomy: Oxygen or carbon dioxide?

Speaking about the change in land-use patterns, Sadhguru highlighted how we have systematically destroyed the generation of oxygen, and are now trying to address the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

“Nearly 71 per cent of the world’s land is ploughed because it is for agriculture. 4.2 per cent of the world’s land is urban land – largely paved. So, together nearly 76 per cent of the world’s land is ploughed or paved. This means largely for most parts of the year there is no photosynthesis on this,” he said.

Why are we talking of photosynthesis when the elephant in the room is climate change? Sadhguru had the answer ready. “Life on this planet, including human beings, has evolved because of photosynthesis. Pre- photosynthesis era, the oxygen content in the atmosphere was just a shade over one per cent. Today it is 21 per cent. That is the reason why we are breathing and alive, and the reason why life evolved into this complex format. In the last thousand-odd years we have removed 85 per cent of the world’s photosynthesis, or oxygen-manufacturing ‘factories’ on the planet,” he explained.

He further questioned the rationale of speaking about global temperature increase, without addressing the issue of soil. “Nearly 35 to 40 per cent of the world’s global warming is because of open soils. But why is it that soil is a taboo? Why nobody is mentioning this in any conventions and conferences?”

And he had the answer that many might not want to hear: “Because there’s no money in this. It’s time we face this up,” he said.

“Yes, there is business to be done. But this is an existential issue. If we don’t address this now, we’ll be very regretful,” Sadhguru predicted, adding that we have an opportunity and a choice to “either be a responsible generation or a regretful generation.”

“If we do not attend to this now, it will not work. This doesn’t take any rocket science kind of technology. This doesn’t take any very large financial out lease. It just needs that we change our direction into the right direction, and the relentless commitment towards that, and it will happen,” Sadhguru said, leaving a hope that there is still a ray of light at the end of the tunnel.