Over the last thirty years, climate debates and climate policies have been shaped by the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on our planet and our climate.
For long-term global temperature regulation, moving away from fossil fuels and the emissions they produce is, of course, both necessary and inevitable. However, as risks mount because we are collectively failing to meet our carbon reduction targets, the time has come to focus on strategies that can deliver the fastest cooling effect whilst safeguarding our food and water systems. Global soil restoration is precisely such a strategy.
According to a new report by Save Soil and Conscious Planet, CO₂ accounts for just 5 per cent of the Earth’s heat dynamics. The remaining 95 per cent is determined by the health of water and the soils that regulate it.
Fifty-two per cent of global agricultural land is already degraded, and nearly a third of US land is suffering from severe erosion at a rate up to ten times faster than the natural formation rate. In Europe, 60–70 per cent of land is considered unhealthy. Over the past 50 years, we have destroyed 410 million hectares of natural wetlands – an area larger than the entire European Union – resulting in a loss of ecosystem services worth 5.1 trillion dollars. Speaking to US policymakers at a special session organised by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Sadhguru, founder of the Save Soil movement, described soil degradation as a ‘national security crisis’.
So, how does soil regulate temperatures? The answer lies in its regulation of the water cycle.
Healthy soil forms a living, porous underground matrix comprising organic matter, mineral particles, fungal networks and billions of microbial organisms. This network absorbs, stores and releases water through a process known as evapotranspiration. This process returns approximately 80 watts of solar energy per square metre to the atmosphere, making the soil the Earth’s primary heat regulator.
A single cubic metre of healthy soil can harbour fungal hyphae stretching 25,000 kilometres in length. When we disrupt this structure through intensive, monoculture farming, we are not only weakening our primary food source; we are also actively eliminating the planet’s most powerful cooling mechanism. Restoring this mechanism could offset the total warming effect of all human-generated greenhouse gases with a cooling power three times greater than that effect.
Let us imagine, for a moment, that human-induced climate change did not exist. The importance of global soil restoration would still be significant.
The recent war in Iran has once again reminded us just how dependent our food systems are on fertilisers derived from fossil fuels. The conflict has driven up input costs across global supply chains, further squeezing the profit margins of smallholder farmers who were already struggling.
Smallholder farmers produce around one-third of the world’s food, yet receive less than 1 per cent of global climate finance. In sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, this figure rises to 70–80 per cent of total food supply. When profit margins collapse, food systems collapse with them.
Regenerative agriculture must be part of the solution. By rebuilding organic matter in the soil, farmers can reduce their dependence on synthetic inputs, increase water retention capacity and restore the fertility of soil that industrial methods have depleted in the long term.
A study conducted in the US state of Kansas has shown that a full transition to regenerative practices could increase farm profitability by 120 per cent over time. Every 1 per cent increase in soil organic matter enables one hectare to hold 250,000 litres more water – the equivalent of a small swimming pool.
The world needs climate strategies that deliver rapid results. 2026 is set to be yet another record-breaking year in terms of extreme weather events. The return of the El Niño climate pattern is expected to further intensify temperature and drought trends that are already unprecedented.
This situation is entirely consistent with our current trajectory. Heatwaves, floods and droughts are becoming increasingly frequent, more severe and economically more devastating. The costs associated with global drought now exceed $307 billion annually. Whilst the need for climate adaptation is growing rapidly, we cannot afford to rely solely on carbon reductions—which will take decades—to balance out runaway temperatures.
Soil restoration, however, is a different matter. Currently, the total energy imbalance driving global warming stands at approximately 0.9 watts per square metre. Restoring healthy soil and vegetation can reactivate a cooling capacity of up to 3.0 watts per square metre – we can achieve this not over 50 years, but through changes that begin as soon as degraded land starts to recover. Improving soil health across global agricultural land could also sequester an estimated 3–5 gigatonnes of CO₂ annually. This is why, as part of a climate strategy, we must pursue soil restoration alongside carbon reduction. Soil restoration is carbon reduction.
Soil restoration will do more than just protect us from rising temperatures. It can help alleviate water scarcity, support food systems under increasing pressure, and shield farming communities from fluctuations in the international fertiliser trade.
Governments around the world must stop treating soil health merely as an agricultural issue. Healthy soils are a vital infrastructure at both national and global levels. Soils are our reservoirs, our granaries, our carbon sponges, our heat regulators and the foundation of our economic survival.
Without a globally binding framework for soil protection – such as the Paris Agreement for the atmosphere or the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for the oceans – progress will remain piecemeal and inadequate.
If we treat the ground beneath our feet as though it were merely ordinary soil, it will become just that. Soil is the world’s most vital organ; it is time to remove it from the life support system.