Soil and food in the climate crisis: betterSoil at the Climate Change Summit Bucharest 2025
Soil is fast becoming a climate asset. About one million people (online and in present) watched Azadeh at the Climate Change Summit 2025 in Bucharest. With betterSoil, they explored how soil health can reduce corporate climate risks, strengthen agrifood resilience, and create new opportunities for sustainable value creation.
The Climate Summit: From global policy to ground-level action
The Climate Change Summit 2025 in Bucharest gathered an exceptional group of thought leaders shaping the global sustainability agenda, from Annela Anger-Kraavi, Chief Executive of the Cambridge Trust for New Thinking in Economics, to Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and business leaders from Mastercard, Societe Generale, and Danone. While panels on finance, technology, and energy explored decarbonization at the macro level, betterSoil brought the conversation back to the foundation of all life, the soil beneath our feet.
In her keynote address, Soil and Food in the Climate Crisis, Azadeh Farajpour, our founder, highlighted that sustainable transformation begins with the ground itself, connecting planetary resilience to agricultural productivity and economic stability.
Keynote: Soil and food in the climate crisis
As other speakers emphasized the global dimensions of the climate challenge, from economic transformation (Anger-Kraavi) to urban resilience (Jaime Ruiz Huescar, CITIES FORUM), Azadeh focused on the hidden system connecting them all: soil. She reminded the audience that 95% of our food depends on soil health, yet every year, over 100 million hectares of fertile soil are lost worldwide. In Europe alone, 12 million hectares of farmland are severely degraded, costing €1.25 billion in productivity losses annually and releasing over 100 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent into the atmosphere.
Healthy soil, she explained, is a climate solution and a business asset. Globally, soils store around 1,500 billion tonnes of carbon, making them the second-largest carbon sink after the oceans. A single cubic meter of living soil can retain more than 250 liters of water, protecting against drought and floods. As Ivan Holub from Danone before underlined in his session on “Building Climate-Resilient Food Systems,” the agrifood sector can only thrive if the natural systems that sustain it do. betterSoil’s message complemented this perfectly: regeneration at the soil level leads to measurable economic, environmental, and social returns, from carbon accounting to long-term food security. Every gram of carbon stored in soil is carbon kept out of the air, and value kept in the system.
Side event I: Designing sustainable cities for a changing climate
At a side event organized by the French Chamber of Commerce in Romania (CCIFER) and the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE), Azadeh joined experts bridging urban design, science, and policy in a dialogue titled “Designing Sustainable Cities for a Changing Climate.” Speakers such as Louis de Jaeger, known for his work on food forests, and Hanna Haveri, the world’s first Planetary Health Physician, explored how nature-based thinking can transform urban life. Azadeh contributed by showing how soil principles apply to cities, from stormwater absorption and green space planning to carbon-neutral infrastructure and citizen engagement.
For corporate participants from real estate and infrastructure sectors, the takeaway was clear: integrating soil regeneration into ESG and urban development strategies is both a sustainability opportunity and a risk mitigation measure. Urban resilience begins beneath the surface, in the living systems that support the city.
Side event II: Bridging academia and entrepreneurship
In a second CCIFER event, Azadeh participated in a conversation with 100 academics and business leaders on connecting research, data, and entrepreneurship to address the climate crisis. Here, the dialogue linked the scientific precision of climate modeling with the practical needs of corporate strategy.
Azadeh presented betterSoil’s approach, combining satellite data, soil analytics, and economic modeling to help companies and farmers measure, monitor, and manage soil health. This approach aligns with international standards for carbon accounting and supports compliance with the EU Green Deal and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The discussion emphasized that soil health is no longer a niche environmental issue but a core ESG indicator, essential for investors, food producers, and governments alike.
Why soils matter for business and climate
Soil degradation already affects 1.2 billion people globally, undermining yields and livelihoods. Yet, the potential for positive change is enormous. Increasing soil organic carbon by just 0.4% per year could offset up to 15% of global fossil-fuel emissions, according to leading soil scientists. This aligns with calls made at the Summit by Michel Scholte, Co-Founder of True Price & Impact Institute, who urged businesses to “redefine value beyond profit.” betterSoil’s work embodies that principle, showing that investing in soil regeneration delivers tangible climate impact, enhances productivity, and strengthens long-term economic value.
For agribusinesses and corporations alike, soil is becoming a measurable climate and risk management tool. Regenerative practices, no-till cultivation, cover crops, composting, and agroforestry, not only restore fertility and water retention but reduce emissions, enhance biodiversity, and stabilize supply chains. Soil health is no longer an agricultural topic. It is an economic indicator of how prepared our systems are for the future.
From soil to strategy
As Hacina Py, Chief Sustainability Officer of Societe Generale, noted in her session on “The Business Case of Water Resilience,” sustainability is now about linking environmental integrity with financial value. At the Climate Change Summit, betterSoil illustrated how soil is that missing link, uniting carbon, water, food, and finance. From the agricultural field to the urban landscape, soil health defines how societies will adapt and thrive in a changing climate. For policymakers, it is a lever for emission reduction; for corporates, it is a foundation for resilient supply chains, credible ESG reporting, and long-term value creation.
betterSoil will continue to connect science, strategy, and innovation, supporting agribusinesses, investors, and institutions in integrating soil regeneration into their sustainability frameworks. Because the ground we stand on may hold the most scalable climate solution we have.