Written by Zhong Wen-Ying, Huang Chiu-Hui Photographed by Du Sheng-Xiong Translated by Mindy Chen

The Nobel peace prize winner Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri delivered a speech “We are all family of the universe” and promoted the Protect Our Planet movement.

“Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice-President Al Gore. He engaged in clean energy and climate change researches, served as the Head of many companies in India and other countries, received countless honors and awards, and above all, he was elected to chair IPCC from 2002 to 2015,” said CEO Lin Chin-Lon. On the morning of Monday, September 23, CEO Lin bilingually introduced Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri to start his speech.

Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri delivered a speech on the topic “We are all family of the universe”. He quoted from Venerable Gandhi, “If we love ourselves, human beings and the society, we must love beings in the universe…we are a part of the universe.” He stated that the refugee tide in Europe signifies that we should not turn a blind eye to whatever happened in the world because they have an impact on us. “Therefore, the keynote of my speech is climate change. We must take green actions because climate change has jeopardized the Globe,” said Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri.

He continued, “Climate change was caused by human beings.” He played the video which was also played during the seminar of sustainable development. In the video, many pictures are worrisome; for example, global temperature increases, the sea level rises, flood and wildfire rage a lot of areas, and severe drought ruins the earth. Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri himself appeared in the video and rallies everyone to pay attention to climate change. Several famous movie stars like Leonardo also showed in the film to invite youths to take actions to stop climate change. When the film was over, Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri asked the audience whether they would like to take actions to protect the Globe. Many young audience raised hands. Two dentists, Dr. Hsieh Chin-Lung and Dr. Hsia Yi-Jan also raised hands.

The research data showed that severe global warming has caused the rise of the sea level and many natural disasters. Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri pointed out that global warming will make an impact on the next generation as well. For the sustainability of the Globe, he reminded people to take actions including using recyclable energy, having vegetarian diet, and living a simple life.

He also mentioned that he has been a vegetarian for over 20 years. If all people in the world became vegetarians, foods would be saved for many people. People frequently questioned him about how to intake enough protein in the vegetarian diet. He always replied, “I referred you to consult elephants, horses… “He answered to the question humorously but also indirectly told them that the protein intake won’t bother vegetarians.

He said, “I would like to pay homage to Tzu Chi.” He praised Tzu Chi for the eco-actions applying the concept of sustainability. Promoting the concept and eco-actions based on the concept would be the next step to take so that more people can participate in the actions.

Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri opened the rest time for the audience to ask questions. “Any questions for Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri?” Audience including CEO Lin, Vice Supt. Lin, Dr. Kenneth Liao raised hands. The group leader of Group 20 asked on behalf of youths,” When the younger generation asked, ””How could you ask us to save resources after you’ve enjoyed all the resources?”” how to reply to them?”

The answer from Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri is: “What is the true enjoyment in life? It should be love, friendship and families. Most rich people ignore love, friendship and family. I have never gone shopping in India. We must learn self-control and not to over-consume energy because of desires. We should tell people that the happiness doesn’t only come from the enjoyment of materials.

Last, a young man Jery Espérance from Haiti asked, “I am worried about global warming. I realize that we have to change for the Globe, but the poor must chop down trees for living. How can we avoid it?” Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri replied, “We have to stop the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. The developed countries have to help the developing countries or the poor countries to develop their recyclable energy so as to protect trees from being chopped down for living.”

“I’ve contributed myself to the climate change research for the past thirty years. I realize how serious the climate change is, especially the impact in the future. Therefore, for the rest of my life, I would make every effort to protect the Globe. However, I need help from you. We do it together,” he expressed his wish and received loud applause from the audience.

Jery Espérance from Haiti asked a question and hoped to get the solution to global warming.