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Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama urged the public to reduce fossil fuel use during a meeting with activists to mark Earth Day, warning that the climate change crisis transcends national boundaries.
The 86-year-old — who is now living in exile in India's Dharamshala — was presented Friday with a block of ice carved from one of the fast-melting glaciers in India's Himalayan Ladakh region.
Mounted on a wooden stand, the hunk of ice was meant to highlight the effects of climate change on the Tibetan plateau.
"In my own life I have witnessed the decline in snowfall, first in Tibet and later, in Dharamshala," the Dalai Lama said during the Earth Day event.
He urged for the adoption of renewable sources of energy to mitigate the crisis that is posing a threat to the entire human race.
"We need to take urgent steps to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and adopt renewable sources of energy such as those that rely on the wind and the power of the sun," he added.
"The threat of climate change is not limited by national boundaries — it affects us all."
The Himalayan ice block expedition covered around 250 kilometres (155 miles), with the trekkers travelling on foot, bicycle and in electric vehicles to raise awareness about the effect of fossil fuels on glaciers.
They also used low-carbon technologies to keep their sample from melting.
