Lead Editor - Newsgathering
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Trinidad and Tobago’s longstanding lead climate negotiator, Kishan Kumarsingh, says environmental action must be taken “not from fear of climate catastrophe, but from a sense of reverence for life itself.”
Kumarsingh made the comment during the Divali Nagar in Chaguanas on Monday night. The theme of this year’s Nagar is Loka Sangraha, which translates to Welfare of the World.
It comes as the world grapples with a climate change crisis. This week, a new report by 160 scientists warned that the Earth has reached its first climate tipping point with the death of coral reefs. As oceans continue to warm, coral reefs that support life across the seas are collapsing into lifeless white graveyards, the report warned.
Kumarsingh labelled climate change as the “crisis of all crises.”
He referenced floods, droughts, melting ice sheets, and rising sea levels as where the real danger of climate change lies.
“Sporadic symptoms, but catastrophic endings,” he said.
The head of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit in the Ministry of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development said there is a spiritual connection between humans and the Earth.
Kumarsingh added, “In the Sikh holy scripture, the Shri Guru Granth Sahib ji, the mool mantar starts with “ek.” The first word is “ek” meaning “one.” That all that flows is from that single divine source. That everything we know and experience—the Earth, the planets, the sky, the cosmos, the all-pervasive energy, the streams and rivers, the oceans, the mountains, the living beings—is only but one thing only: that ‘ek’.”
He then quoted Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who said air is the guru, water the father, and Earth the great mother. Kumarsingh added, “These are not metaphors—they are truths. When we pollute the air, we dishonour our guru. When we waste water, we insult our father. When we wound the soil, we harm our mother. Thus, protecting the environment is not just a practical necessity—it is a spiritual duty, a form of dharma and seva. To harm nature, therefore, is Adharma—a violation not only of ecology, but of the moral order itself.”
He said the term Loka Sangraha appears in the Bhagavad Gita, where Lord Krishna instructs Arjuna that the wise must act not for personal gain, but for the sustenance and welfare of the world.
“It is a call to selfless action—karma yoga—that ensures the stability and order of society and nature alike,” he added.
He further emphasised that the responsibility for Loka Sangraha lies with both the individual whose righteous acts contribute to the welfare of others and the Earth itself, and governments or states, inspired by a sense of duty, “must act to safeguard the collective welfare, ensuring clean air and water, protecting forests, and fostering climate justice for the poor and vulnerable.”
In recognising that the fight against climate change was daunting, he concluded by citing the last line in the Sikh daily prayer, the challenge must be met with divine inspiration, renewed energy and spirit, and eternal optimism for the welfare of all.
