“Where is your voice? It’s time to speak,” said Sadhguru, Founder-Isha Foundation, addressing a rapt audience at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations at Geneva yesterday, to call urgent attention to the issue of soil extinction. He was speaking at an event organized by PMI in support of the Save Soil Movement, a global movement that Sadhguru launched last month to save the planet’s soil from extinction.
On day 16 of his 100-day journey, Sadhguru reached Geneva from Rome after several hours of a challenging ride through wet and cold conditions.
“I’ve been talking about this for the last 30 years, everybody says it’s fantastic and it dies right there,” he laughed in his opening remarks and made an impassioned appeal to the global community to save soil, “the basis of our life and every life that we see around us.” Referring to its magical quality, he said, “Even if you sow death into it, life will sprout out of it. There isn’t another substance or there isn’t another place like that anywhere in the Universe that we know.”
UN has warned that rapid soil degradation could lead to a severe global food crisis that threatens to plunge the world into brutal civil strife over the next few decades. “Young people are beginning to think food comes from Uber. That’s a very Uber idea,” he quipped.
The Save Soil Movement aims to rally citizens across the globe to raise their voice in support of preventing soil extinction in their countries. It is estimated that soil extinction could set off unprecedented global turmoil including food and water shortages, civil wars, intensified climate change impact and unchecked mass migrations around the globe.
Stressing on the need for speed in addressing the challenge, Sadhguru said policymaking “needs to happen now, not tomorrow” for the world to reverse and halt further soil degradation. This could effect a turnaround in soil health in 8-20 years’ time.
Sadhguru stressed the importance of people’s voice in a democracy where “a government is elected to fulfil the people’s mandate.” He said in democratic nations, “there are two things which are most powerful. One is your vote, another is your voice. I’m saying, where is your voice? What have you spoken about that is of great concern to you and to the world? What have you spoken? It’s time to speak,” he said adding that today’s generation had the power to “change the world with that instrument in your hand,” referring to the cell phone.
Unless the people explicitly state that they want their leaders to invest in long-term wellbeing of the nation, elected governments cannot act, he said. “People have not spoken. In these 100 days, we want 3-4 billion people to speak. You don’t have to support me. Say something about soil every day.”
Distinguished guests at the event included Indra Mani Pandey – Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations; Nadia Isler – Representing the Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Director SDGLab/UNOG; Dr. Naoko Yamamoto – ADG, UHC/Healthier Populations, World Health Organisation; Stewart Maginnis – Deputy Director General for Programmes at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Sunil Achaya – Consul-General at the Indian Embassy, Geneva.
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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