A Journey for Soil: From Dream to Action — Deepa’s Reflections from attending the United Nations Environment Assembly.

As I look back at the events leading up to and during UNEA -7, it all feels like a dream to me. Back in 2021, when the Save Soil Movement was announced, I never imagined that I would be a part of it. It seems like only yesterday that I first read about Save Soil on a Whatsapp group then signed up to be an Earth Buddy. When Sadhguru announced his 100-day journey across 27 nations,  I thought to myself, “Why is he talking about a lone-motorcycle journey at this age?”.

I clearly remember a discussion in my family, who asked,  “Why does he need to do this? He is so well known — who would say ‘No’ to him if he asked for something?” That question stayed with me. Yes — what was the need? What was so urgent that he was willing to stake his life for it? Until then, I was only attending a few  introductory Zoom meetings about Save Soil. It was less than a year after I had shifted to Tanzania and I used to imagine that if I were in India, I would have tried to spread awareness about Save Soil. But here, in a new land, among new people, with an unfamiliar language — what could I possibly do?

Undeterred, I began researching. Facts about global soil conditions and what the future could look like without healthy soil deeply shook me. Something inside me would not stay quiet - “How can I contribute? What can I do to spread this awareness?” I started listing environmental NGOs and sent them emails introducing the Save Soil Movement with an invitation to join. Some of them ignored my emails, some responded, some were interested in joining the Movement.  I don’t know what kept pushing me to step out and talk to strangers about the Save Soil Movement. I wanted to shout and tell them about the disaster which is unfolding silently.

Cut to July 2025, I received an email  inviting Save Soil to the United Nations Food System Summit happening in Ethiopia. It felt like a ray of hope to me. I approached the Central Team about this opportunity for Save Soil to mark its presence in Africa. Then, I attended the UN Food Summit with our Chief Science & Policy Officer Praveena Sridhar, and Policy and Communications Expert, Mahathi Aguvaveedi, who is also a Steering Committee member of the UNCCD Youth Caucus. Praveena and Mahathi gave me a brief overview of how the UN functions. Attending back-to-back sessions and listening to our internal evening discussions afterward became a valuable learning experience for me. During the summit, Praveena and Mahathi, playfully at times, helped me break my limitation of hesitating to speak to ministerial-level officials. What bothered me was that I hardly heard anything about soil being addressed as an important factor at the sessions I attended. 

During the UN Food system summit, I heard about UNEA for the first time. When I was told that we would be attending UNEA happening in Nairobi (Kenya) in December 2025 from 5th to 12th, I began researching what it actually is and what makes it so important. UNEA, or the United Nations Environment Assembly, is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on environmental matters. It brings together all UN Member States to address pressing global environmental challenges and to set priorities for international environmental policy. For Save Soil, this is an important platform to spread awareness about Soil Degradation, and to understand the modus operandi of how we can promote the IUCN Resolution 007 on a Soil Security Law, as well as work toward a Soil Resolution within UNEA.

This was a different kind of experience for me because, unlike UNFSS, where I saw people mostly attending sessions, here I witnessed closed-door meetings and groups of people engaged in focused discussions. Our days started early, with a few of us arriving at the venue as early as 7:30 a.m. to attend the morning sessions. The car rides to the venue and back with fellow delegates were always filled with laughter, planning for the day ahead, and reflecting on the outcomes of the day on our way back. The moment we entered the campus, we would disperse to attend our respective sessions. 

On 6th December, we attended the Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum (GMGSF) which serves as the official platform for civil society to coordinate and inject diverse grassroots expertise into the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) policy negotiations, here we met David Munene,(the Regional facilitator at UNEP-Regional Representatives of Major Groups & Stakeholders, Africa) who gave us insight about UNEA. 

On 8th of December we had a house-full side event in collaboration with CA4SH, featuring an excellent panel titled “Scaling Soil Health for People, Nature, and Climate: From Resolution to Implementation” with panelists James Lomax serving as Programme Management Officer at UNEP, A.G.Kawamura a progressive Urban Farmer holding a lifetime of experience working with rural and urban boundaries of Southern California, a young farmer Lily Tanui representing the small holder farmers of Kenya, Martina Fleckenstein Global Policy Director, Food for WWF International alongside our Save Soil’s Chief Science and Policy officer,  Praveena Sridhar.

Watch the Panel discussion here:

I was so thrilled to witness so many people who were interested in Soil Health. It felt like we could successfully mark our presence in UNEA. The same day I met Sofie Sandstorm Jaffe, the Permanent Observer of IUCN who later met with our team and appreciated our “Soil Security Resolution 007” which was recently adopted at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. 

On the last day of UNEA,  we met James again who expressed his interest to help us draft the Soil Resolution and invited Save Soil to be part of his working group. We also met the wonderful Yolanda Lopez, Founder & CEO of Indigenous Science, dedicatedly working for Indigenous Maya Women.She shared her work with us and expressed her interest to be part of Conscious Planet.

As a final touch the visit to the CIFOR-ICRAF soil testing lab was a wonderful experience for me. I had never imagined the variety of soils that Mother Earth holds. On one hand, I kept wondering — if these samples are from just one place, who knows how many types of soil exist across the globe? On the other hand, I was moved to tears seeing how soil degradation is destroying the life beneath our feet. The entire ecosystem that works tirelessly to keep our soil healthy and, in turn, protect human health — is silently vanishing, and so many of us are not even aware of it.

After a day  trip to the Nairobi National Park, we all flew back to our respective destinations. Our journey ended, but our hopes did not. We boarded our flights with a shared commitment to work towards our soil resolution at UNEA-8. I returned home feeling fortunate to have had the opportunity to be part of this conference, carrying many fond memories, a bunch of new besties, and a strong belief that with a dedicated and united team, even what seems impossible can be achieved.