(TibetanReview.net, Apr22’22) – As the world marks the Earth Day 2022 on Apr 22, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has called for setting a timetable for change because of the seriousness of the problems we face today as a result of the climate crisis. An international climate conclave is being held in Dharamsala for the occasion and a group of climate activists from Ladakh presented to the Dalai Lama a block of ice from the Khardung La glacier.
In a message for the occasion, the Dalai Lama has called for “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.” He has also called for “attention to deforestation and protect(ing) the environment better. We have to plant and care for more trees.”
He has said that as global warming increases in intensity and nothing about the future can be guaranteed, “we remain hopeful, which is much better than being pessimistic.”
A three-day conclave on ‘Dialogue for Our Future: A call to Climate Action’ is being held in Dharamsala on the occasion. The participants were stated to be climate activists, scientists and entrepreneurs. The event is being co-hosted by the Tibet Policy Institute of the Central Tibetan Administration, Italy’s South Tyrol-based EURAC Research, Czechs Support Tibet, and Washington-headquartered International Campaign for Tibet.
Also present in Dharamsala is Sonam Wangchuk, a climate activist and innovator from Ladakh, along with other climate activists, who presented to the Dalai Lama a block of ice from the Khardung La glacier.
Sonam Wangchuk, the inspiration for the blockbuster Bollywood movie the “3 Idiots”, has said that he and a team of young climate activists hiked and bicycled to transport a block of Himalayan ice from Khardung La, one of world’s highest passes, to Dharamsala.
“The ice block that has been preserved in low carbon insulation will be presented to the Dalai Lama to serve as an urgent reminder of how fast the Himalayan glaciers and other glaciers around the world are melting due to climate change,” the tribuneindia.com Apr 21 earlier quoted him as saying in a media briefing.
The World Earth Day, also known as the International Mother Earth Day, was first celebrated on Apr 22, 1970. Peace activist John Mc Connell made the proposal during a UNESCO conference in San Francisco to honour Mother Earth and the concept of peace. His text for it was later signed by the then UN Secretary General U Thant.
And so, on this day, countries across the globe come together each year to create more awareness about the dire need to protect our environment, with particular focus on the global climate crisis that is worsening with each passing day.