Buddhism & Climate Change

[Nigel]

Dear Dhamma Friends,

In my work life I have been learning a lot more about the problems, impacts, causes and politics of climate change. Recently I used a Google Search to find out more about how Buddhists around the world are analysing and responding to the challenges and threats of climate change. I have loaded some of the most interesting ones on the Hout Bay Theravada Buddhist Centre website Links page www.theravada.org.za/links.asp You may have some other links to recommend.

I'd like to encourage a forum here on Engaged Buddhists about people working on climate and environment issues. In particular, I am going to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in December, in Poznan, Poland and I would like to link to other Buddhists to help share our perspectives and actions with the COP.

My email is via the Centre, [e-mail]

Yours with metta
Nigel

[Ryan Vong]

Thanks for sharing this Nigel. How can we best contribute to your work?

[Nigel]

Does someone know if there is a Buddhist list about climate change? And more to the point do you know about Buddhist activists who will be at the Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poznan, Poland next month?

[Ryan Vong]

Hi Nigel,

My initial search shows that there are quite a few posts that refer to the term "eco buddhism" which addresses issues about climate change, sustainability, and others. I hope you are able to find some answers or reach out to some of these groups. They seem to be very connected to this topic. Here's a short list:

http://www.ecobuddhism.org/index.php
A Buddhist response to global warming.
http://ecobuddhism.blogspot.com/
A blog on Buddhism, Ecology & Global Warming

http://ecobuddhism.review.googlepages.com/climateofdenial
Ecobuddhism Quarterly Review
http://www.ecodharma.com/
Eco Dharma Center

Gassho

[Moona Perrotin]

Hello Nigel, Please do! Climate Change or the current 6th mass extinction which might include humans is the most important issue of our time, if you believe in time. I am hoping that the melting polar ice caps and all the other tell-tale signs of dramatic changes will galvanize people around the world into realizing and acting as one human/animal family. Or that it will enable a large number of beings to realize nirvana in the now and become light as pure consciousness, which will continue beyond time and his finite planet. But let us try to extend its life as much as possible first.

[Nigel]

Climate Change and Buddhism
Since the 1950s, scientists have been trying to warn politicians and people on Earth that there is a radical increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and other Green House Gases which are causing a warming of the planet.

For the last 1000 years, CO2 has been quite stable in the atmosphere, increasing and decreasing on a seasonal and daily basis, but maintaining an overall equilibrium. Over greater lengths of time, carbon rises and falls coincide with massive climactic changes expressed as glaciation periods (when the much of the Earth became covered with ice and inhospitable to many life forms).

The current levels of CO2 have risen steeply over the last 200 years, and exponentially over the last 50 years. Scientists are unanimous that the current levels are due to human industrial pollution (mostly the burning of fossil fuels such as petrol in cars), and other industrial emissions. Some 20% of current emissions are caused by rapid and dangerous deforestation at the equator by industrial lumber companies from America, Europe and increasinly China and East Asia.

The impact of such extreme carbon emissions is very serious and is giving rise to sudden temperature surges at the two polar ice caps and in the world's oceans. Scientists are not sure how the planet will react to the rapidly rising temperatures. Evidently the ice caps are melting much faster than anticipated pouring vast quantities of fresh water into the seawater oceans at both poles. This is likely to disturb circulation of water in the oceans, change currents of warm and cold water, and cause more radical weather patterns, including hurricanes and tornados (also increasing their geographic spread).

CO2 and the other 5 main Green House Gases (GHG) are building up in the atmosphere and cannot be absorbed back into nature, which is also being destroyed by industrialisation. It can take up to 2000 years for carbon to be absorbed by plants, soils and water on earth. This means that even if all industrial carbon emissions stopped tomorrow, the world would be in a very unstable state for the next two millennia.

Instead, the Western World has not been willing to seriously change its over consumption and pollution. They are now being matched by growing consumption and pollution coming from China, Malaysia, Vietnam and other Asian tigers. Even South Africa and Nigeria are starting to become major GHG emitters.

In the worse case, the Earth will be plunged into an ice-age again, or the agricultural capacity of the planet will collapse in the face of extreme drought and weather, hundreds of millions of people will be flooded out from major urban areas, extreme weather will cause much suffering. Millions of Africans will be forced to leave the rural areas and head into the cities where there will be inadequate food or water to cope. The scenarios are deeply disturbing and can only be transformed through action by governments, the private sector and citizens to reduce GHG emissions, change our lifestyles, help the poor adapt to the new conditions, conserve biodiversity, change energy usage patterns, and commit to a simpler life.

A simpler life... is this not what the Buddha was trying to teach us all along? Is over consumption not an expression of greed, of fear of dying, of wanting suffering and impermanence to be tricked away with wealth accumulation, pleasures of the body, over-eating and turning one's back on the needs and rights of other people?

Climate change is a Buddhist issue. Join us in the awakening to a sustainble zero-carbon life... a simpler and happier life...

[Kuya Minogue]

“Sees To The Core of Life”
The core of life, that little hub of fire that breathes inside my heart, that bursts into flame, and then fills every molecule. The core of life is here, now, nowhere else. It’s not out there, in the heavens or in the past, or in the future. It’s not under a bhodi tree or on a cross. It’s just this, things-as-they-are. How can one ignore the fire; it’s in the shit, in flowers that are hiding from the frost, in the frost, in the death that we all walk towards; some more quickly than others, and it’s in the walking, the putting of moccasins on the earth, one at a time, moving forwards or backwards or sideways. The core of life is not found in books or movies or in the words we write. It’s in the writing itself, this movement of pen across page, these words contain nothing; the act of writing is everything. The core of the earth. Fire within. When it’s gone, it’s gone. The core of the sun, the stars, space, the trees, the gateway into the fields where more and more poppies grow as armies meet, kill, ravage and destroy, as floods and hurricanes come, as snow storms hit the balmy west and sun heats up the frozen east. When all is done; when the activity of industry and war and our rampant desire to avoid discomfort has killed the polar bear by gutting her habitat; when the Inuit are no longer hunters but deck workers for American Shipping Companies, when all human activity has resulted in its own destruction, the core of the earth will still burn, a new earth will emerge, different in surface details, but the same. The same fire will still glow at the centre, churning up volcanoes and blowing out frosts cold enough to burn off the scavengers.
“When people lost sight of the way to live.”
“When people lost sight of the way to live.” 6th Century BC. That’s when Lao Tsu wrote these words. How does this madness go on? How can it be that we haven’t changed one bit since then? I thought we lost sight of the way to live when the colonizers laid their first road in Avalon, Newfoundland and began their destruction of a continent where the trees stood tall, where rivers and air were clean, where holes in mountains protected cougars, bears and their cubs. These words from Lao Tsu are over 3200 years old. Back then, Lao Tsu saw what I see -: that people have forgotten the way to live, forgotten the simple steps that take us up a mountain trail, knowing the way with no need to change it. Listening to the core of the earth as it teaches us to step lightly, to live, without grasping every morsel of pleasure, without wanting more than just this. Lao Tsu knew how to sit still in the forest and breathe in the oxygen that the uncut trees breathe out, breathe out carbon monoxide that sustains the trees. He kept the world in balance. But now, the homeostatic mechanisms of earth have cut in; temperature changes like the temperatures in our bodies, waters flow poison like the veins under our skin. How to live simply. How to enjoy things as they are. The cold; the hot, the neutral.. We lost that long before the colonizers came, long before the Chinese invented gunpowder, long before I sit here, pen moving across the page, in this spot, in this log cabin, on this zafu. It is here that we have a chance to undo the harm, here that we have a small window to remember how to live. We can pour our lives on to these pages and leave the earth alone.

[Lin Mu]

Thich Nhat Hanh
The second and fifth of the five Mindfulness Trainings:

Second Practice

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing and oppression, I am committed to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants and minerals. I will practice generosity by sharing my time, my energy and my material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.

Fifth Practice

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicants or to ingest foods or information that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my parents, my children, my society, and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger and confusion in myself and in society by practicing mindful consumption. I understand that mindfulness is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.

[Leaf Dharma]

Climate change? What climate change? There is no self separate from the environment or environment separate from self. In fact there is no self either. The climate will change with or without our Karmic influence.

[Shane]

The Buddhist attitude towards Climate Change is that we should look at the root cause of the issue.
The root cause of the issue is human activity. Therefore it can be reversed.

I've heard people argue about eating meat, which then leads to the cutting down of trees (for grazing land), which then leads to a rise in CO2, etc. However, I think this is misleading. While it may be true, the real root cause of the issue is NOT cows.

I've seen footage of people in lab coats trying to find ways of reducing carbon and methane emissions from cows. This is ridiculous!!

This is an attempt to pull the wool over our eyes. The cows have been around for millenia and are not the cause of the issue. Sure, they might contribute to it, but they are not the sole cause. In fact, not eating meat is only a band aid solution.

The real cause of the issue is industrial pollution. Carbon trading schemes allow companies to continue to pump their waste into water supplies, and chemicals into the atmosphere. There are even some who are crazy enough to think that "clean coal" exists or that nuclear power plants are a safer option than wind or solar power.

The root cause is "human activity". Ie, humans being too active. The solution is that we need to slow down, consume less, avoid supporting companies that pollute the environment. For far too long the emphasis has been on the individual consuming less, while the oil companies continue to drill, and the mining companies continue to cut down trees, and soft drink companies pollute water supplies and sell us bottled tap water.

The Buddhist attitude is always the same: Doubt everything, Investigate to find the root cause, dig out the root cause so it doesn't happen again.

We mildly encourage recycling, consuming less, and reducing the impact (carbon or otherwise) on our environment as individuals, and then lobby the larger companies to be more transparent and accountable for their actions.

Carbon trading is a joke as it just allows the biggest offenders to keep doing what they are doing. In order for there to be a change, it has to come from the bigger companies too.

[Nigel]

Dear Dhamma brothers and sisters,

It is wonderful to see this website jump to life again. Ryan, again I extend my thanks for your generosity.

On the issue of livestock and eating meat, I respect those who interpret the first precept to mean not eating meat. Sadhu sadhu sadhu.

I work with indigenous peoples, many of whom are hunters or livestock herders. As was pointed out earlier, traditional livestock grazing did not cause surges in carbon. Carbon emissions, such that they cannot be absorbed by nature are a product of industrialisation and its pollution. Though the issue of livestock comes up, we also have to distinguish between industrial livestock (and all its horrors of captivity, modifying animals, destroying their freedom and dignity, etc), and traditional livestock herding.

Indigenous peoples have complex and respectful relations with animals. Many, like the San and Pygmy peoples in Africa, do not believe that humans are lords over the natural world: we are all living creatures and the aim of life is to find balance, equilibrium and respect for life force. This includes hunters. Hunters take full responsibility for their actions. They believe that when they take an animal's life, they must ask its permission, they must share generously, and when their time comes, they must also give back to the Earth.

With respect to our vegan brothers and sisters, industrial agriculture is part of the problem not the solution. Maize, soya, wheat and rice plantations across the globe have destroyed natural habitats, polluted rivers, wiped out wildlife, nesting areas, migratory routes. This is also why we must reflect on the kamma of our eating. Though I do not kill animals myself, when I watch a hunter in the Kalahari or Congo Basin kill a living creature, I know they are respecting nature, keeping it a balance, and living within the ecosystem niche which has been home to their culture and civilisation for millennia. That is less harmful than when I go to the super market to buy produce that I cannot tell you whence it comes, who has suffered, what nature was destroyed, what poisons used.

I agree with the earlier statement, we have wounded the earth, and climate change is the fever of its sickness. Its fever is meant to shake of its disease, which in this case is us.

As for whether this is a Buddhist issue, kamma is about intentions, actions and mental states. Delusion and greed are poisons in our human system, in our cultures, in our hearts. We can live simpler lives. We can live wholesome lives. We can accept our place in ecosystem niches without wanting to harm all the others who share this space with us. Climate change (apologies for the drama here) is going to cause extinctions, cause millions of animals and humans to suffer terribly, to turn on one another, to flee flood waters, to watch their young die from diseases that did not need to spread. Greed, grasping and failure to deal with reality, so that we might enjoy some material amusement, is clearly spelled out in the Buddha's teachings: this is bad kamma, this will not end well; awaken, transform, embrace reality, change our ways, be generous, be loving, have joy for all sensient beings, may we not be the cause of suffering. Sadhu sadhu sadhu.

[Leaf Dharma]

Your one deluded Vegan Lobsa. Do you think being Vegan is the be all of existence? Do you realize on a daily basis you inhale and destroy micro-organisms that are considered life? You talk about about being sustainable, I got news for you, try being a Vegan in a small community living a Carbon Neutral 100 Mile Diet. I'll bet your Tofu comes from half way across the planet. How many tons of carbon is used to stock your Tofurkey? Try being Vegan on only Locally grown food, meaning within 100 miles of your house. Unless they grow Soybeans in your neighborhood I guarantee you will be anemic in on month. For some individuals, who live off the land, which I'm sure you dont, requires them to hunt. There are plenty of Buddhists in Mongolia that live of meat simply because you cant grow s**t on 4000m plateaus. That dose not make them any less conscious than you are.


Those who regard worldly affairs as as obstacle to their training
do not realize that there is nothing such as worldly affairs
to be distinguished from the Way.
- Dogen,

[Shane]

Firstly, I am only on dial-up internet, so I can't watch all those Youtube videos you posted.
Secondly, I am not dismissing statistics off hand. As a Buddhist, I still have to doubt them and investigate for myself, rather than just blindly following what someone has said unchallenged.

I am a Vegetarian. I don't have a car, fridge, microwave, washing machine, I don't use electric kettles to boil water, etc. I use those special light globes too.

When I said "modify the cows" I didn't mean genetically, I meant that they were looking at ways of collecting the flatulence produced by individual cows, etc.

This is rather ridiculous.

They are also blaming Kangaroos now. *face palm*

To paraphrase the Buddha: If someone is shot by a poisoned arrow, don't go looking for who did it, their clan, their name, the colour of their clothing, etc. It's better to take the poison arrow out.
Go to the root cause.

Unfortunately, "climate change" (a spin doctor term to stop 'Global Warming' being used) has been used by the media's many arms to promote a MILITANT form of vegetarian and veganism.

Vegetarianism and Veganism are a natural, non forced, extension of Buddhist practice.
We should have compassion for all sentient beings, regardless of what they eat. Then slowly encourage compassion and everything that comes with it. Never by force or clenched fists.

I have compassion for those that eat meat out of ignorance. One of these rebirths they'll get the message.

The real culprits are coal power plants, McDonald's (who cut down trees for farmland, for cows, etc) Coca-Cola (who pump their toxic waste directly into streams in India, not to mention the chemicals in their products).

My not using these products has only a minimal effect as an individual.

Over population or over crowding?

"Over population" is a term that has been used to justify the slaughter of female babies in China.
It's a false human judgement.

Here's a "fact" for you (Investigate for yourself):

The entire population of the world could fit comfortably into Texas.
So, is it over population or over crowding?

There's plenty of room in The Simpson desert. Heaps of solar panels and you've got all the electricity you'd ever need. There's plenty of prime real estate left in Australia.

I'm not promoting meat eating, I am just saying "Cut through the propaganda and hate".
Generate compassion for those that are ignorant of where their food comes from.

May they see the light and walk in it.