Climate change not limited to national boundaries, it will affect us all: Dalai Lama on Earth Day

“People need to take urgent steps to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and to adopt renewable sources of energy such as those that rely on the power of the Sun and the wind,” the Dalai Lama said

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on April 22 appealed to people to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and adopt renewable sources of energy. Talking about the climate crisis in his message on Earth Day, he said that "new challenges, such as 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".

“People need to take urgent steps to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and to adopt renewable sources of energy such as those that rely on the power of the Sun and the wind,” the Dalai Lama said. “The threat of climate change is not limited by national boundaries, it affects us all,” he said.

"In my own life I have witnessed the decline in snowfall, first in Tibet and later, in Dharamsala. Some scientists have told me that there is a risk of places such as Tibet eventually becoming deserts," the spiritual leader said.

“People must pay attention to deforestation and they should plant and care for more trees and protect the environment better,” he said. As human beings, "our marvellous brain provides us with remarkable opportunities to do good, but if we look at how the world is today, we should be able to do better", the Dalia Lama said in his message.