Home → News → World Buddhist leaders publish a message to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (UNFCCC)

The world community of Buddhist followers, among which were representatives of different directions and different countries (including Asia, Europe and the USA), published a message to the political leaders of the UN member states about climate change on the planet.

Self-identified as the Global Buddhist Climate Change Collective (GBCCC), the message is timed to coincide with the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris starting in a month, November 30th. The Buddhist community is asking world leaders to be guided by the principles of compassion and wisdom to achieve ambitious and effective agreements between countries on climate change.

Fragment of the Buddhist message to the politicians participating in the UN climate change conference in Paris:

Our view is based on the Buddha's insight into the emerging interdependencies that permeate everything in the universe. Understanding the cause and effect of our actions is critical to reducing our impact on the environment. By developing an inner understanding of mutual existence and compassion, we can act to protect our planet, guided by love, not fear. Buddhist leaders have been talking about this for decades. However, in everyday life, we can easily forget that our lives are inextricably intertwined with the natural world—in every breath we take, in the water we drink, and in the food we eat. Due to a lack of inner understanding, we destroy the systems that support life itself, on which the survival of ourselves and other living beings depends.

Interestingly, the Buddhist leaders in their message not only refer to the “Time to Act Now: Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change” document, but also support the statements of other religious traditions, referring to the encyclical of Pope Francis, the Muslim Declaration on Climate Change and a similar declaration from the Hindus. which is in preparation. Summing up their message, the Buddhist leaders state:

… we call on all Parties in Paris to:

  1. Be guided by the moral dimension of climate change, as outlined in Article 3 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) .
  2. Agree to phase out fossil fuels and move towards 100% renewable and clean energy.
  3. Generate the political will to close the emissions gap, which falls short of countries' promises, so that global temperature rise remains below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
  4. Achieve a shared commitment to more than USD 100 billion in increased funding, as established in Copenhagen in 2009, including through the Green Climate Fund (GCF), to help vulnerable developing countries prepare for the impacts of climate change and moving towards a low carbon economy.

The time to act is now.

The full text of the Buddhist message in English can be found on the dedicated website gbccc.org . Translations of the message into 12 languages ​​(including French, German, Spanish) available there

The message was signed by 12 people: the leader of the Tibetan Buddhists, His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV, the Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, the holder of the Karma Kagyu lineage of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa (Urgyen Trinley Dorje), as well as the leaders of the Buddhist communities in Bangladesh, Japan, Korea, Malaysia , Mongolia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, France, USA and Bhutan.


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Dmitry Shurupov Dmitry Shurupov

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