Kiss the Ground

very early in life. 455 00:31:04,571 --> 00:31:07,615 [Le Foll speaking French indistinctly] 456 00:31:07,699 --> 00:31:11,411 [Harrelson] France maintains the largest agricultural science institution 457 00:31:11,494 --> 00:31:12,412 in Europe. 458 00:31:13,162 --> 00:31:14,539 It's called INRA, 459 00:31:14,622 --> 00:31:17,667 and it's been studying soil for over a hundred years. 460 00:31:20,378 --> 00:31:25,216 INRA recently developed a program called the Four for 1000 Initiative. 461 00:31:25,967 --> 00:31:29,721 Their goal is to increase the carbon content of the world's soils 462 00:31:29,804 --> 00:31:33,016 by .4 percent annually. 463 00:31:33,766 --> 00:31:36,686 That would sequester the same amount of carbon 464 00:31:36,769 --> 00:31:39,147 that humanity emits each year. 465 00:31:40,732 --> 00:31:43,526 [group speaking French indistinctly] 466 00:31:44,944 --> 00:31:48,114 -["Requiem Pour Un C" continues] -[Nichols] The soil environment 467 00:31:48,197 --> 00:31:49,866 can hold more carbon 468 00:31:49,949 --> 00:31:55,705 than the atmosphere and plants living on the surface of the soil combined. 469 00:31:56,706 --> 00:32:00,960 We have an incredible ability to be able to store that carbon in the soil 470 00:32:01,419 --> 00:32:03,630 in a relatively short period of time. 471 00:32:05,423 --> 00:32:08,134 [Le Foll in French] The primary tool of farming is the soil. 472 00:32:09,761 --> 00:32:12,972 It's not the tractor. It's not the combine-harvester. 473 00:32:13,056 --> 00:32:15,058 It's not the satellite. It's the soil. 474 00:32:18,227 --> 00:32:19,646 What's really at stake here 475 00:32:21,022 --> 00:32:23,024 is what happens after COP 21 in Paris. 476 00:32:23,942 --> 00:32:27,570 If all people here can become aware of the role of the soil, 477 00:32:28,780 --> 00:32:31,908 and if people can get that the soil can be loaded up with carbon, 478 00:32:32,575 --> 00:32:34,535 and then after that, 479 00:32:34,619 --> 00:32:39,332 we must all take action to achieve these objectives. 480 00:32:40,208 --> 00:32:42,210 ["Requiem Pour Un C" continues] 481 00:32:44,671 --> 00:32:46,714 [Harrelson] At a side meeting at COP 21, 482 00:32:46,798 --> 00:32:50,760 Monsieur Le Foll, the French Minister of Agriculture, 483 00:32:50,843 --> 00:32:55,848 presented an idea that just might change the world. 484 00:32:57,767 --> 00:33:00,186 [woman speaking in French indistinctly] 485 00:33:00,269 --> 00:33:02,438 [in French] Ladies, gentlemen, and dear colleagues, 486 00:33:02,522 --> 00:33:07,860 with all the farmland, but also, with all the soils of the forests, 487 00:33:07,944 --> 00:33:10,697 we have an enormous potential. 488 00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:15,034 The fact that we are able to implement an actual answer 489 00:33:15,118 --> 00:33:17,161 to the struggle against climate change, 490 00:33:17,245 --> 00:33:19,539 an answer that could equal the same amount 491 00:33:19,622 --> 00:33:21,499 as the amount of carbon humanity emits each year. 492 00:33:21,582 --> 00:33:23,376 That's colossal. 493 00:33:24,377 --> 00:33:27,714 Four parts per thousand is the capacity all of us have together 494 00:33:27,797 --> 00:33:29,757 to be able to succeed. 495 00:33:29,841 --> 00:33:30,675 Thank you. 496 00:33:34,554 --> 00:33:36,806 [Harrelson in English] At the Four for 1000 event, 497 00:33:36,889 --> 00:33:40,435 many countries signed Stéphane Le Foll's pledge 498 00:33:40,518 --> 00:33:43,271 to draw carbon down into their soils. 499 00:33:44,147 --> 00:33:49,861 [man 4] Thirty countries from around the world signing on to, what I believe, 500 00:33:49,944 --> 00:33:54,198 is going to be one of the most significant changes in agriculture. 501 00:33:54,282 --> 00:33:57,160 Because to achieve this Four for 1000, 502 00:33:57,243 --> 00:34:00,913 we have to change the way we do agriculture. 503 00:34:01,497 --> 00:34:05,126 [Harrelson] And doing agriculture in a way that sequesters carbon 504 00:34:05,209 --> 00:34:09,338 requires a radical reduction in toxic pesticides, 505 00:34:09,422 --> 00:34:12,592 GMOs, and synthetic chemicals. 506 00:34:14,552 --> 00:34:17,597 But the three largest contributors to carbon dioxide 507 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:22,560 and the three largest agricultural producers were missing from the agreement. 508 00:34:23,561 --> 00:34:28,024 India, the United States, and China did not show. 509 00:34:30,443 --> 00:34:34,197 [interviewer] Does it frustrate you that America did not sign on to the agreement? 510 00:34:34,697 --> 00:34:35,782 [in French] Yes, it's frustrating. 511 00:34:36,908 --> 00:34:40,578 Because this is the first time an entire country, France, 512 00:34:40,661 --> 00:34:44,290 yes, a smaller country than the US, but a big agricultural country, 513 00:34:44,957 --