Dalai Lama urges move to renewable energy to combat climate crisis

During a meeting with campaigners to mark Earth Day, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama urged the public to minimize their use of fossil fuels, warning that the climate change crisis transcends national borders.

The 86-year-old, who is now living in exile in India’s Dharamshala, was presented with a block of ice cut from one of India’s Himalayan Ladakh region’s fast-melting glaciers on Friday.

Mounted on a wooden stand, the hunk of ice was meant to highlight the effects of climate change on the Tibetan plateau.

“In my own life I have witnessed the decline in snowfall, first in Tibet and later, in Dharamshala,” the Dalai Lama said during the Earth Day event.

He urged for the adoption of renewable sources of energy to mitigate the crisis that is posing a threat to the entire human race.

“We need to take urgent steps to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and adopt renewable sources of energy such as those that rely on the wind and the power of the sun,” he added.

“The threat of climate change is not limited by national boundaries — it affects us all.”

The Himalayan ice block expedition covered around 250 kilometers (155 miles), with the trekkers travelling on foot, bicycle and in electric vehicles to raise awareness about the effect of fossil fuels on glaciers.

To keep their sample from melting, they also used low-carbon methods.