The Benefits of Biochar: betterSoil at the ‘World Living Soils Forum’ 2026.
Our CEO Azadeh and the betterSoil team attended the World Living Soils Forum this June to discuss waste and regeneration, showing the benefits of biochar in farming practices. This article discusses reflections from the event and the important themes explored throughout.
World Living Soils Forum 2026
This June, our CEO Azadeh and the betterSoil team travelled to Arles to the Moet Hennessy’s World Living Soils Forum. This event is designed to bring together people and businesses with an interest in soil health and regeneration, understand the links between science and hand on agricultural practice, and to discuss sustainability and what this looks like within soil science. The events talks and presentations focused on key themes of system, nature, practices, and society – championing the importance of each pillar to make broad change in agriculture and environmental practice.
Soil and Sustainability
At betterSoil, we continue to highlight the importance of soil and the ways we can align with natural processes to combat the climate crisis whilst also improving agricultural practice and crop yield. The World Living Soils Forum and those involved also understand the ways in which we can use such a rich resource to improve the planet. This event involved farmers who see the impacts first hand, as well as soil scientists, allowing for broad conversation on the benefits of regeneration, as well as the challenges. By inviting a diverse cohort of experts, the forum allowed for learning about scientific processing, but also the societal impacts of soil regeneration and developing agricultural practices. Whilst understanding on the benefits of development is growing, it is an expensive undertaking for farmers and stakeholders, so these talks about long term impact need to continue to allow us to shift our perspectives on environmental changes and the ways we can react to this.
Purpose Driven Farming
Within the key themes of the event, there was a focus on ‘purpose driven farming’, showing the ways in which agricultural practice can develop understanding of soil science and environmental shifts, be more sustainable, and use the natural resources we have to increase productivity in less harmful ways. Moet Hennessy brought together experts and decision-makers to advocate for this important resource and the ways in which we can come together to make change possible. Our betterSoil team recognises the impact such events can have, we focus on awareness and building knowledge in order to show the ways in which we can use soil to spur on a better future – including upholding the use of biochar, which Azadeh supported in her panel discussion.
Biochar
Azadeh was joined by co-speakers Antoine Lespes and Stéphane Ledentu in their panel discussion: ‘From Waste to Regeneration: Biochar’. This discussion explained the benefits of biochar as an overlooked tool for improving soil health, and advocated for the ways in which this resource can also build climate resilience. Biochar is produced from agricultural waste and can be used to improve soil water retention, hold nutrients for plant growth, and increase crop yields. Alongside these benefits for agricultural productivity, biochar aids in carbon storage in soils, which aids in sustainability and resource optimisation. Within this discussion, Azadeh explained the ways in which biochar can tackle problems with the acidity of agricultural soils and increase soil health even within urban environments. The use of biochar can be helpful with the diverse ranges of soil used in different environments, and is a dynamic tool to aid in growth, nutrient holding, and water retention. Azadeh commented that ‘no two soils are the same’ and this is an important consideration when understanding the benefits of biochar in aiding growth, yield, and carbon conscious farming.
No Two Soils Are The Same
The World Living Soils Forum 2026 was an exciting and positive event bringing together important experts and stakeholders to outline the ways in which we can use soil science to carve a better future for our environment, agriculture, and ways of life. The betterSoil team attended to encourage farmers, gardeners, and those involved in agricultural production to reconsider waste whilst looking toward regeneration, because the natural resources we can make use of can be more planet positive and aid in our overall productivity.