WASHINGTON, Dec 3: A US-based Sikh environmental organisation has completed planting 850 sacred forests, with the latest one in Ludhiana, and will be presenting its progress and the action plan at the UN Climate Summit in Dubai.
According to a press release, EcoSikh’s global president Rajwant Singh will be showcasing the Sacred Forest initiative as an effective climate solution for ecological restoration and will offer collaboration with governmental organisations and faith groups.
He has been invited by COP28 CEO Adnan Z Amin to address a panel titled Urban Wisdom: Indigenous knowledge and governance of future cities.’
On the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, EcoSikh planted its 850th sacred forest of 1,313 trees in the heart of Ludhiana.
EcoSikh will be presenting its progress and the action plan in a meeting of various stakeholders in Dubai.
COP28, which is taking place in Dubai, will be one of the largest and most important gatherings in 2023 and is expected to host 60,000 – 80,000 delegates and over 140 Heads of State.
“We all need to take action urgently in response to devastating rising temperatures. We cannot wait for some entity or government to find solutions to the ecological disasters we are facing all around us now. Many communities are losing their ancestral lands due to several environmental factors beyond their control. We cannot sit and watch while people are suffering due to catastrophe,” Singh said.
EcoSikh was founded in 2009 in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme as the Sikh community’s response to climate change. For over a decade, EcoSikh has been working on environmental issues in India and now has chapters in Canada, the UK, Ireland and the United States.
“Our strategy to fight climate change should not only be focused on emission reduction. We need to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Sacred Forests is one effective way to achieve that goal. Mass action of such kind can help control the rising temperatures,” said Charan Singh, EcoSikh’s Forest Convener. (PTI)
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