The Dalai Lama with Greta Thunberg and Leading Scientists: Climate Crisis Conversation
January 9, 2021 at 7:30 pm PST
(January 10, 2021 at 9:00 am India Standard Time)

Miki Barnes
January 4, 2021

"Peace and survival of life on earth as we know it are threatened by human activities that lack a commitment to humanitarian values. Destruction of nature and natural resources results from ignorance, greed, and lack of respect for the earth's living things. This lack of respect extends even to the earth's human descendants, the future generations who will inherit a vastly degraded planet if world peace doesn't become a reality and if destruction of the natural environment continues at the present rate." His Holiness the Dalai Lama

According to the Dalai Lama’s website, "His Holiness the Dalai Lama will engage in a conversation on The Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops with Greta Thunberg (environmental activist), William Moomaw (lead author on reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change/IPCC, and the co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize) and Susan Natali (a renowned Arctic scientist) from 9 am to 10 am (Indian Standard Time). The conversation will be moderated by Diana Chapman Walsh, President emerita of Wellesley College and is organized by the Mind & Life Institute. Those interested may watch the live webcast in Tibetan, English, Chinese and other languages on the official websites and Facebook pages of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Viewers are requested to please follow their local social distancing rules."

To register for this free event visit the Mind & Life Institute.

Greta Thunberg is an inspiring, compelling, and knowledgeable voice in the international youth movement to save this planet from the ravages of human caused global warming and environmental destruction. The following is a statement by Greta Thunberg presented to world leaders at a September 2019 United Nations summit.

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words and yet I am one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you? For more than 30 years the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying you are doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight?"

As noted in this Vox article, Greta Thunberg leads by example in reducing the global warming impact of aviation by making a concerted effort to travel by rail and other more sustainable and less polluting modes of transportation.

We conclude with two more quotes from the Dalai Lama, both from Our Only Home : A Climate Appeal to the World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Franz Alt:

"Any human activity should be carried out with a sense of responsibility, commitment and discipline, but if our activities are carried out with shortsightedness and for short-term gains for money or power, then they all become negative and destructive activities. Protecting the environment, is not a luxury we can choose to enjoy...it is a matter of survival."

"Climate change is not the concern of just one or two nations. It is an issue that affects all of humanity.This beautiful planet is our only home. If, due to global warming or other environmental problems, the earth cannot sustain itself, there is no other planet we can move to or live on. We have to take serious action now to protect our environment and find constructive solutions to global warming."