12.02.2025 / Perspectives

Author: Thomas Melchior

The Earth that we fought for, to keep it intact, let us not forget that we live on it and that without it, we die.

It is our duty to take care of the Earth, not just for ourselves but for generations to come. Once destroyed, nature cannot always be restored, and today’s carelessness can become tomorrow’s tragedy.

The Earth is not just a resource but also a legacy, a space of our common existence that we have a moral obligation to protect. Unless we change our attitude, the future will no longer be about progress and harmony but about survival and suffering.

We must act now, while still having the right to criticize and change something, because we do not know what the future holds.

As quarrels destroy friendships, so do war, slavery, torture, and inhumanity destroy the Earth because we are the Earth. When people choose hatred over kindness, violence over understanding, the world we live in becomes an increasingly fragile place.

A world built on peace is a land that looks towards the future and is not afraid to look back at the crimes of the past. Let us not leave those crimes in the past, let us not forget them, and let us not repeat them, but let us use them as painful lessons to guide us towards a just future.

Departments: FRI Media Lab; Society, Crisis, and Resilience Program; Policy Analysis and Outreach Department; Research Department; Center on Global Affairs and Post Development.

Regions: Global.

Themes: Civic Engagement; Civil Society; Freedom of Expression; Human Rights; Media and Journalism; Environment and Climate Change.