Soil pollution affects food security by reducing crop yields and quality. Without healthy soils we wouldn’t be able to produce our food and achieve #ZeroHunger. Photo: FAO.
Stop Soil Pollution
While we can see many of the changes we have made to our planet, some of our impacts are virtually invisible, and soil pollution is a good example. Be the Solution to Soil Pollution campaign for World Soil Day 2018 aims to raise awareness and call people to #StopSoilPollution.
One third of our global soils are already degraded. Yet we risk losing more due to this hidden danger. Soil pollution can be invisible and seems far away but everyone, everywhere is affected. With a growing population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, soil pollution is a worldwide problem which degrades our soils, poisons the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.
Soils have a great potential to filter and buffer contaminants, degrading and attenuating the negative effects of pollutants, but this capacity is finite. Most of the pollutants originate from human activities, such as unsustainable farming practices, industrial activities and mining, untreated urban waste and other non-environmental friendly practices. As technology evolves, scientists are able to identify previously undetected pollutants, but at the same time these technological improvements lead to new contaminants being released into the environment. In the Agenda 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals 2, 3, 12, and 15 have targets which commend direct consideration of soil resources, especially soil pollution and degradation in relation to food security.
It is time to uncover this threatening reality. Combatting soil pollution requires us to join forces and turn determination into action. Be the solution to soil pollution.
How will you celebrate World Soil Day?
World Soil Day is celebrated annually on the 5th of December at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome, the regional offices and through national and local events.
Are you planning to have an event on soils?
Put your event on the map
Spread the word on the importance of soils using our campaign materials. Download posters, banners and logos in multiple languages.
Facts & Figures
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
Soil holds three times as much carbon as the atmosphere and can help us meet the challenges of a changing climate
815 million people are food insecure and 2 billion people are nutritionally insecure, but we can mitigate this through soil.
95% of our food comes from soil
33% of our global soils are already degraded
http://www.un.org/en/events/soilday/
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