Need to reduce people's reliance on fossil fuels, adopt renewable energy: Dalai Lama on Earth Day

Our life is based on hope, a desire for things to turn out well... Even as global warming increases in intensity, many young people, in particular, are working together to find and share solutions. They are our hope, says Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh):On the occasion of Earth Day, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in a statement said that there is an urgent step need to be taken to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to adopt renewable sources of energy. The Dalai Lama said, "Let us remember that everybody wants to live a happy life. Not only human beings but animals, birds and insects too."

"All of us should be concerned about our collective existence. As human beings, our marvellous brains provide us with remarkable opportunities to do good, but if we look at how the world is today, we should be able to do better. We need a more holistic education, an education that incorporates inner values, such as compassionate concern for others' well-being," ANI reported quoting the Dalai Lama as saying.

The spiritual leader highlighted the climate crisis and emphasised people to put their global interests first. "Our world is heavily interdependent. New challenges, like the climate crisis that affects us all, as well as our participation in the global economy, mean that we must take the whole of humanity into account. We have to put the global interest first," he said.

He further said that there is an urgent need to take steps to reduce people's reliance on fossil fuels and they must pay attention to deforestation and protect the environment better. "We need to take urgent steps to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to adopt renewable sources of energy such as those that rely on the wind and the power of the sun. We must pay attention to deforestation and protect the environment better. We have to plant and care for more trees," the Dalai Lama said.

"In my own life, I have witnessed the decline in snowfall, first in Tibet and later in Dharamsala. Indeed, some scientists have told me that there is a risk of places like Tibet eventually becoming deserts. That is why I am committed to speaking out for the protection of Tibet's fragile environment," he noted.

"Our life is based on hope, a desire for things to turn out well. Hope is concerned with the future. Although nothing about the future can be guaranteed, we remain hopeful, which is much better than being pessimistic. Even as global warming increases in intensity, many young people, in particular, are working together to find and share solutions. They are our hope," he added.

Emphasising the threat of climate change on the globe, the Dalai Lama said people must stand by each other to protect the planet because climate change is not limited by national boundaries. Nowadays, when "we face serious problems as a result of the climate crisis, we have to help each other by setting a timetable for change.

As human beings, living on this one planet, we must make an effort to live happily together. The threat of climate change is not limited by national boundaries--it affects us all. We must work to protect nature and the planet, which is our only home," the Dalai Lama observed.

Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement since 1970. Earth Day is widely recognised as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and create global, national and local policy changes.