2018 World Soil Day

 

 

2018 World Soil Day

Carla Mucavi, Director, FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York

 

 

Your Excellency Ambassador Vitavas Srivihok, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United Nations,

Your Excellency Ambassador Martín García Moritán, Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations,

Your Excellency Ambassador Héctor Enrique Jaime Calderón, Deputy Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations,

Distinguished panellists and guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

On behalf of the co-sponsors of this event, the Permanent Missions of Argentina, El Salvador and Thailand, the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, I would like to welcome you to World Soil Day 2018.

World Soil Day is celebrated since 2014 on 5 December, a date chosen in observance of the birthday of His Majesty, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, of Thailand. The late king was a soil scientist and dedicated his life to sustainable soil conservation and management. His legacy lives on through World Soil Day.

 

This year, celebrations of World Soil Day are taking place over 60 countries in all continents, focusing on the theme “Be the solution to soil pollution”, which emphasizes the importance to address soil pollution. These celebrations across the globe are a testimony to the recognition of the importance of soils.

Indeed, healthy soils are critical to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and have a direct impact in achieving the goals of ending poverty, zero hunger, ensuring clean water, preserving biodiversity and other sustainable development goals. But as of 2015, 33 percent of land was moderately to highly degraded due to erosion, salinization, compaction, acidification, and chemical pollution of soils.

It is urgent to reverse this trend, and this requires actions at the local, national, regional and global levels by governments and other stakeholders.