RIYADH: Soil pollution underpins some of the most urgent threats to human health, food security and climate resilience. From oil spills and mining to poor waste management and overuse of agrochemicals, contamination is eroding ecosystems and livelihoods worldwide.
Environmental agencies have long warned about the consequences — biodiversity loss, degraded farmland, polluted groundwater and higher disease risks — and are intensifying efforts to turn awareness into action.
“We depend, and will continue to depend, on the ecosystem services provided by soils,” Abdelkader Bensada, a soil expert at the UN Environment Programme, said about the risks of soil pollution on food security and health.
The warning is stark: When soils fail, crops falter, water quality declines and public health inevitably suffers.
According to the European Environment Agency, more than 500,000 premature deaths are linked to soil pollution globally. UNEP estimates that almost 40 percent of the global population — more than 3 billion people — are affected by soil degradation.
