Environment responsibility

Jane Goodall’s Message for Earth Day 2025 & A Personal Reflection

Hello, this is Jane Goodall with a message for Earth Day 2025:

“There’s one really urgent message that I want to share on this day.

I urge everyone to treat every day of the year as Earth Day.

Planet Earth is the only home we shall ever know, yet we are relentlessly harming it. We’re destroying forests, woodlands, wetlands, peatlands, savannas, prairies, and all the other ecosystems I haven’t mentioned. We’re polluting rivers, lakes, and oceans. We’re emitting greenhouse gases that are causing temperatures to rise, leading to changing weather patterns — more hurricanes, typhoons, floods, droughts, heat waves, and forest fires that may destroy our homes.

We’re in the midst of the sixth great extinction of plant and animal life. And when we add to this the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people due to war, poverty, and discrimination, it’s not surprising that many are losing hope.

People often ask me whether I still have hope for our future. And yes, I do. I believe there’s still a window of time during which we can at least slow down climate change and biodiversity loss — but only if we come together and take action now.

Without hope, we fall into apathy. If that happens, we are doomed.

Some may ask, “How does this affect me? What can I do?”

And to them I say: Every single day you live, you make an impact on the world — and you can choose what kind of impact that will be.

You can remember to turn off unnecessary lights. You might choose to walk, cycle, or take public transport instead of driving.

You can think about what you buy:

– Was it made in a way that harms the environment?

– Was it cruel to animals?

– Is it cheap because someone was paid unfairly?

Then, look for something better — more ethical, more respectful. Will it cost more? Probably. But you’ll value it more and waste less. And waste is one of our biggest problems today.

Millions — and eventually billions — of people reflecting on their own environmental impact every day could make a huge difference in healing Mother Earth.

Let us never forget: we depend on Mother Earth for food, water — for everything.

So, for the sake of our children, future generations, and the Earth herself, please begin today — not just on Earth Day 2025, but on every day that follows.

Thank you for helping to make a difference”

Jane Goodall’s message resonates deeply with me. I believe it is time to face not only the emergency but also the incredible opportunity we have.

Today, humanity possesses knowledge that would have seemed impossible just decades ago.

We can reproduce cells. We can cultivate meat and plants in laboratories. We can even begin to revive extinct species.

Why are we not using this extraordinary potential to serve the Earth?

Why don’t we produce, purchase, and build in a way that helps, instead of harms, the planet?

Why don’t we apply our knowledge consciously, with care?

In many parts of the world, ancient wisdom still exists — teachings about how to live with the Earth, not above it. These traditions are in danger of being lost. But now is the time to revive them. Even more, to integrate them with our modern tools and scientific insight.

And behind both ancient wisdom and modern knowledge, we find the same core values — often expressed through ethical, emotional, or spiritual teachings:

Compassion, Love, Responsibility.

These values are not “religious” in the exclusive sense. Religions have preserved and elevated them, but they arise from something deeper — from our shared humanity.

When we see someone being cruel, selfish, or destructive, we instinctively feel that something is wrong — because suffering and injustice hurt, not only the victims but those who witness it.

This inner moral awareness is part of us. It’s part of the animal world too.

And it shows that we have the potential, both emotionally and intellectually, to find a better way to live — one that respects ourselves, others, and the planet we call home.

We can start by asking small but important questions:

– What am I eating? Where did it come from?

– What clothes am I wearing? How were they made?

– How does this product affect the Earth, animals, and people?

Each of us can do something, depending on our capacities and what we are able to understand and choose.

And if we begin to act — each of us, in our own small but sincere way — the difference will be enormous.

Because each one of us has a daily environmental influence, simply through the way we live.

So let us not believe the lie that “one person alone can’t do anything.”

We can, we can do even more.

Sit with an ant and see if you are too small to make a difference.

Lobsang Kunsang

30 April 2025, Dharamsala