‘Taking Care Of Environment Should Be Part Of Our Daily Lives’

FILE PHOTO: Licypriya Kangujam, 8, a young Indian climate activist, holds a poster during a protest demanding to pass a climate change law outside Parliament in New Delhi

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on the occasion of Earth Day on Thursday said taking care of the environment should be an essential part of people’s daily lives.

In a statement, he urged the public to make a positive difference to the environment.

“I appeal to my brothers and sisters throughout the world to look at both the challenges and the opportunities before us on this one blue planet that we share,” the Nobel laureate said.

“I often joke that the moon and stars look beautiful, but if any of us tried to live on them, we would be miserable. This planet of ours is a delightful habitat. Its life is our life, its future our future,” he said.

The Dalai Lama stressed on the need to work together to find solutions to environmental issues.

“In the face of such global problems as the effect of global heating and depletion of the ozone layer, individual organizations and single nations are helpless. Unless we all work together, no solution can be found,” the spiritual leader said.

He raised concerns over water scarcity and said the welfare of citizens is at extreme risk.

“Today, more than ever, the welfare of citizens in many parts of the world, especially of mothers and children, is at extreme risk because of the critical lack of adequate water, sanitation and hygienic conditions,” the Dalai Lama said.

“It is concerning that the absence of these essential health services throughout the world impacts nearly two billion people. And yet it is soluble. I am grateful that the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has issued an urgent global call to action,” he added.

The spiritual leader noted that interdependence is a fundamental law of nature.

“Ignorance of interdependence has wounded not just our natural environment, but our human society as well. Therefore, we human beings must develop a greater sense of the oneness of all humanity. Each of us must learn to work not only for his or her self, family or nation, but for the benefit of all mankind,” he said.

“In this connection, I am glad that (US) President Joe Biden will be hosting a Leaders’ Climate Summit on Earth Day this year, bringing together world leaders to discuss an issue that impacts all of us,” he said.

He also emphasised the importance of environmental education and personal responsibility to sustain the planet.