Features
February 07, 2023

The Earth's pulse connects us

When developing the campaign for the company's new ambition, Yara found inspiration in the mysterious scientific fact that planet Earth has a pulse, a steady beat that runs through the planet every 26 seconds.


Can you feel the pulse of the Earth?
Can you feel the pulse of the Earth?

– "To Yara, this pulse is the heartbeat of the Earth, a rhythmic symbol of life on the planet. It reminds us of humanity's connection to Earth and our shared duty to protect nature. It has become a symbol for our ambition – Growing a Nature-Positive Food Future," says Juliana Xavier, Head of Brand Management at Yara.

Today's food system feeds billions of people but puts too much stress on our planet. Agriculture accounts for about 25% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of freshwater use. It causes biodiversity loss and nutrient run-off. At the same time, as much as one-third of our food is wasted. Yara's new ambition responds to the urgent need to transform the food system.

Climate change, extreme weather, and exhausted soil threaten farming and food security. According to the UN, over 800 million people around the world already go hungry.

 

A new business approach for a nature-positive food future

The company is working to address these challenges by transforming its business model to integrate climate and nature needs. Among its current efforts is Yara's evolved ambition—Growing a Nature-Positive Food Future— which serves as the headline for our strategy going forward.

Other initiatives include developing clean ammonia and green fertilizers to decarbonize food production and other energy-intensive industries; investing in science and technology to optimize nutrient use efficiency; pushing for industry-wide adoption of regenerative farming; pioneering data sharing and field data gathering and establishing science-based targets to cut emissions.

​-"With Yara's global scale, we can make a positive impact to change the food system, and we have a responsibility to act. We all must do better to produce and distribute nutritious food for everyone, restore our soils, and cut emissions while giving back to the planet more than we take. That's what nature-positive means," she says.

For over a century, Yara has collaborated with generations of farmers, innovating, developing solutions, and sharing agronomic knowledge to feed the world.

– "Yara works with more than 20 million farmers across the globe. We share knowledge and provide solutions for better and more sustainable agriculture. We literally have our hands on and in the soil every day. So, when we learned that a pulse is beating under the Earth's surface, we found it to be a beautiful theme for our campaign," says Xavier.

 

The pulse - a scientific fact

Every 26 seconds, a pulse from the Earth is captured by seismic stations worldwide.

Lars Eivind Augland, Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Oslo, explains that the pulse consists of regular micro-tremors in the Earth's crust.

– "The pulse is one of the few signals generated regularly, clearly, and accurately. It is unclear what the cause may be, but there are various possible explanations, including ocean waves, volcanoes, and pressure build-up and release within water-filled cracks in sedimentary layers below the seabed," Augland explains.

– "It is remarkable that these tremors occur regularly and have continued for so many decades," he points out.

 

Connecting us - locally and globally

The pulse signals are most evident in West Africa, North America, and Europe. Still, they can be recorded as a pulse on seismometers globally.

– "It is both moving and eye-opening that a local phenomenon can be felt globally. The Earth's pulse connects us to the planet and to one another," says Juliana Xavier.

– "It is impossible for Yara to achieve our ambition alone. We hope that the Earth's heartbeat will inspire everyone who wants to join and mobilize for a better food future, whether they are Yara employees, farmers, food companies, or governments. Every beat should remind us that we must urgently collaborate to grow a nature-positive food future," she says.