Senior Paul, Miss Go, Reverend Miner, Peter Chang, Miss Agnes Leu, Chairman of Caritas Singapore, honorable leaders of faith, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. First, thank you to Caritas Singapore for bringing together on this day dedicated to our planet so many voices of faith from so many traditions. SPS Go has touched quite a lot on what we are doing here in Singapore and the challenges we're facing here with respect to climate change and adaptation. I will touch on some of that but also try to offer a regional and global perspective on things, and more particularly what faith traditions and organizations can do to advance this agenda by shaping people's individual choices and also being directly engaged in climate-friendly and nature-positive outcomes.
The world is transfixed these days by the daily news cycle. We have devastating wars going on, loss of life, an energy crisis, trade frictions, rising cost of living, and social discontent in many parts of the world. But there are two silent killers which are slowly but surely affecting lives and livelihoods around the world. And if unchecked, they will become existential threats affecting all of humanity: climate change and nature loss.
Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is our daily reality. Global temperatures are continuing to increase. Sea levels are rising faster than in the last 3,000 years. The polar ice caps are melting faster than expected. Glaciers are retreating at record pace. We saw its impact in the catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022 that affected more than 30 million people and submerged a third of the country. We saw it again last year, the third hottest year ever recorded. Heat stress now kills one person every minute globally. The climate crisis that we ignore today will be the defining crisis of tomorrow.
Nature loss is accelerating with dire consequences for food and water security. We see it in the rapid deforestation of the Amazon and Southeast Asia where critical ecosystems that regulate climate and water cycles are being degraded. Nearly half the world's population lives with severe water scarcity for at least one month in a year. We see it in the collapse of biodiversity. Nearly 1 million species at risk of extinction, many within decades. In Southeast Asia, up to 42% of all species could be lost. And we see it in the decline of insect pollinators, which threatens global food production, and in the degradation of soils that underpin agriculture.
Climate change and nature loss are not just scientific or economic problems. They are moral problems driven by two very well-known dynamics: the tragedy of the horizons and the tragedy of the commons. The tragedy of the horizons is that we human beings vastly prioritize the present over the future. The decisions that will shape our climate future are made in the present. But the cost of climate change falls largely on the future. And so we delay. We focus on short-term problems and issues, short-term gains over long-term survival. Ultimately, this means much larger cost for all of us. So, by delaying the actions and investments that we need today, we are passing an enormous burden to future generations. That's the tragedy of the horizons between the short and the long horizon.
The second tragedy, the tragedy of the commons, is that we exploit shared resources hoping that others will restrain themselves. Our planet and our atmosphere are shared resources, but no one owns them. So each country, each company, each individual has an incentive to take more, to emit more greenhouse gas emissions, to consume more of the planet's resources. But when everyone does the same, it leads to collective ruin in the form of catastrophic climate change and nature degradation.
How can we overcome the twin tragedies? I think this is where faith traditions come in. They speak to the inner dimensions of these tragedies. Faith traditions offer three principles supporting care for the environment: One, responsibility, the stewardship of creation. Two, reverence, the interconnectedness of all life. And three, restraint, moderation and simplicity in living.
First, stewardship of creation: that the earth is not ours to own but is ours to care for and pass on to future generations. Judaism tells us in the book of Genesis, 'The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it.' Christianity emphasizes the principles of stewardship. In his encyclical Laudato Si', Pope Francis reminds us that the earth has been given to us to protect, not exploit. This encyclical influenced the moral framing leading up to the Paris Agreement in 2015, which set limits on global warming. Islam speaks of humanity as khalifa, a trustee. And as the Prophet Muhammad puts it, 'If the final hour comes while you have a sapling in your hand, plant it.' Even at the end of time, act for the future. The Bahá'í faith presents nature as a divine trust and a reflection of God's majesty. A modern saying actually beautifully summarizes this principle of stewardship: 'We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.'
Second, the interconnectedness of all life. We are not separate from nature. We are part of it. Hinduism teaches all that exists in this universe is pervaded by the divine. And in this vision, rivers, forests, animals, and the elements are not resources to be consumed carelessly, but expressions of a deeper divine order. Protecting nature is not separate from spiritual life. Zoroastrianism endorses the caring of seven creations: sky, water, earth, plant, animal, human, and fire as part of a symbiotic relationship. In Buddhism, interconnectedness is foundational. The Dalai Lama speaks of the profound interdependence of all phenomena and reminds us that the suffering of the earth is inseparable from the suffering of beings. Jainism urges respect for all forms of life and protection of the natural order as part of a moral and religious obligation. The Islamic concept of tawhid emphasizes the unity of God and creation. Nature is a sign of God, not a mere resource. Or as Pope Leo puts it recently, and I quote, 'The universe reflects the face of Jesus Christ in whom all beings, all things were created and redeemed.' And the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak teaches, 'Air is the guru, water is the fire and earth is the great mother of all.' This is not just metaphor. It is relationship. It is kinship with nature and earth. In short, we are part of a larger order. To act against it is to act against ourselves. Caring for creation is part of loving God and your neighbor.
Third principle: to shape individual choices. Moderation and simplicity in living. Excessive consumption and waste are key drivers of climate change and nature loss. In Buddhism, desire is the root of all suffering. Contentment comes from appreciating what we have, not accumulating endless possessions. The Jain principle of aparigraha, or non-possessiveness, supports moderation in consumption, low-waste living and sustainable diets. Taoism teaches, 'He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.' And Christianity calls us to live with gratitude and restraint, pointing out that 'godliness with contentment is great gain.'
Effective climate action is not just about finance or technology. It is ultimately about individual choices, how we live and what we support. It boils down to simple acts of conservation in daily life: minimizing waste, recycling. I hope we are recycling this. It is about supporting policies that protect our environment and standing behind those policies. It is about willingness to bear some inconvenience or cost for a larger good. And we will do that only if we are driven by a moral and spiritual imperative. And religious organizations can be a powerful force to shape those individual choices by emphasizing the spiritual principles of stewardship, interconnectedness, and moderation.
Besides shaping individual choices, faith-based organizations can support climate and nature through their direct actions. First, incorporating sustainable practices in how you manage your physical assets. The Lutheran Church of Sweden owns 22% of Sweden's commercial forests. It has committed to protect 20% of forested areas. The Diocese of Leeds supported 245 churches to switch to renewable electricity and better manage their energy use. We see this locally too in how our places of worship are being made greener. Masjid Al-Iman Siddiki eliminated single-use plastic bottles during Ramadan and adopted solar energy. Efforts like these, multiplied, will inspire your congregations and your communities, which include business leaders, professionals and community influencers in themselves. And when you model sustainable practices, they bring these values into their professional decisions, creating ripple effects through their immediate community.
The second way in which faith organizations can do this is by supporting climate and nature through philanthropy and community action. Islamic endowments are adopting new green waqf frameworks to finance renewable energy and climate projects. In Indonesia, we see a sharing electricity waqf project funding solar systems for off-grid villages. And in 2022, WaterAid raised $250,000 US to provide clean water in climate-affected communities. The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is active in over 95 countries. It advocates community recycling, vegetarian diets, and resource conservation. In Malaysia, they diverted over half a million tons of waste from landfills since 1995. In Taiwan, they recycled over 1.4 million tons of paper, saving over 28 million trees over the past 20 years. The Mata Amritanandamayi Math from India has framed climate action as a revolution of compassion. It has planted more than 1 million trees globally, cleaned up rivers, promoted composting and recycling, and launched organic food cultivation programs to reduce carbon emissions and strengthen local resilience.
The third way in which you can help is to help communities adapt and thrive in a carbon-constrained, climate-impaired world. We are heading into a world where communities have to deal with two challenges at the same time. One, mitigation: restructuring our economies and adjusting our lifestyles as the world is forced to step up decarbonization amidst worsening climate change. Second, adaptation: building up resilience against the consequences of climate change on how we live and how we work. Southeast Asia's transition to a low-carbon future will entail significant socioeconomic trade-offs. Many countries in the region still rely on fossil fuels for energy and jobs, but so do we. And we must ensure that the energy transition towards renewables is also a just transition for the communities affected. Faith-based organizations can walk alongside these communities, providing support and helping to reskill workers, working with other partners.
Southeast Asia is expected to be most affected by climate change among all the regions in the world through heat stress, floods and droughts, and rising sea levels. The human cost of climate change will be greatest in the poorest and most fragile places. Faith-based organizations can play a critical role in helping to build community resilience to withstand what is coming. This could mean supporting farmers to grow drought-resistant, resilient crops, and some of this work is being done out of Singapore. Helping build flood-safe housing and assisting relocation from high-risk areas. Closer to home, it could mean helping our lower-income households protect themselves against heat stress as temperatures continue to climb.
Religious organizations also will have a growing role, unfortunately, in providing relief amidst worsening natural disasters. And they're already stepping up. When typhoons slammed into the Philippines in recent years, churches and faith-based agencies from across the region mobilized immediately, not only providing shelter and necessities, but also helping to rebuild homes and livelihoods.
Climate change does not respect national boundaries or differentiate religions. To deal with it, we must collaborate across faiths and across borders. We began with the two tragedies underpinning climate change: the tragedy of the horizons and the tragedy of the commons. Both arise from a narrow view of self, a self concerned only with the present, only with its own gain. Faith traditions expand our view of the self. We are part of something larger. We are accountable to something higher. Climate action is thus not only policy. It is not only economics. It is a moral and spiritual calling. We come from different faith traditions. We walk different pathways. But we share some abiding spiritual truths: the earth is a trust. Life is interconnected. Moderation is virtue. The common language of all religions is love: to care for one another, to cherish our common humanity, and to safeguard our common home. And let our attitude to our planet be one of responsibility, reverence, and restraint. And let us pray to be good stewards and wise custodians, choosing compassion over indifference, action over inertia, and hope over despair. Thank you very much.
