In recent years, major climate summits have seen growing frustration from frontline communities who bear the real cost of ecological destruction. Indigenous activists across the world now openly challenge world leaders for negotiating the planet’s survival without those who protect its last living ecosystems.
This is not mere activism — it is a civilizational warning.
A growing number of scholars, journalists, and inter-faith environmental leaders are pointing to two of the world’s oldest eco-spiritual traditions — Indigenous cosmology and Hindu dharma — as essential frameworks for ethically and sustainably redefining humanity’s relationship with nature.
Below is a summary of why Hindu leadership, combined with Indigenous stewardship, may be humanity’s last moral compass in the climate era.
Foundational Indigenous Environmental Ethic
Across Native American, First Nations and Indigenous traditions worldwide, nature is not a commodity — it is kin, ancestor and living teacher.
A widely quoted Indigenous teaching,
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
Though the precise origin is debated, its meaning represents an intergenerational ethic shared widely among Indigenous cultures.
In practice, Indigenous communities bear the brunt of the climate crisis. According to reports, many land and environmental defenders are threatened or killed for protecting territories.
See: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/
One of the most vivid recent moments came at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where dozens of Indigenous protesters forced their way into the summit venue, clashed with security and forced visibility on demands for land protection and climate justice.
For Indigenous communities, climate change is not a “future scenario” — it is already here: displacement of people, desecration of land, denial of rights.
Hindu Eco-Philosophy: Earth as Divine Mother
From its earliest scriptures, Hindu philosophy presents nature as sacred reality (Brahman) rather than a material resource.
The Atharva Veda declares:
“Mātā bhūmiḥ, putro’ham pṛthivyāḥ” — “The Earth is my mother; I am her child.”
Full text (PDF): https://lakshminarayanlenasia.com/articles/Atharva_Veda.pdf
The Bhagavad Gītā links ecology, duty and cosmic balance:
“All beings are sustained by food; food comes from rain; rain comes from yajña (sacred offering); yajña arises from karma (right action).” — Gītā 3.14
Text: https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/3/verse/14
In Hindu thought
No being exists in isolation.
Ecological harm is adharma (violation of moral-order).
Protecting nature is not a policy or optional side-project — it is spiritual obedience.
Supportive article: https://fore.yale.edu/news/10-Hindu-Environmental-Teachings
Why Hindus Should Lead the Environmental Movement
A Yale-based analysis suggests that Hindus are well placed to lead ecological and climate action due to theological depth, cultural memory, and demographic scale.
https://news.yale.edu/2019/02/15/hindu-climate-activists-take-lead-combating-climate-change
1. Hindu theology frames ecological activism as moral duty (dharma)
In most modern frameworks nature is a “resource.” In Hindu tradition, nature is sacred, the stage of cosmic play, the body of the Divine. That means protecting nature is not optional but part of one’s duty.
2. Hindu history includes proven ecological resistance
For example, the Chipko movement in India (tree-hugging movement) is a grassroots environmental protest rooted in village and forest culture.
See: https://www.britannica.com/event/Chipko-movement
3. Hindu population size and global spread provide mobilisation potential
Hindus constitute one of the largest religious populations globally, spread across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bali, Fiji and diaspora communities in the West. This gives potential for global-scale networks of ecological ethics.
4. Hindu institutions as platforms
Temples, monastic orders, pilgrimage sites, cultural communities — these are existing frameworks that can be activated for environmental education, action and policy advocacy.
The Call: From Ritual Devotion to Ecological Duty
Hindu civilisation is uniquely positioned to shift environmental response from:
Resource-management → sacred stewardship
Nature as commodity → Nature as Mother
Short-term deals → Seven-generation thinking
Consumer identity → Custodian identity
This transformation requires leadership and urgent action. Some immediate steps:
Establish “Eco-Dharma Councils” within major Hindu institutions.
Make temple campuses zero-waste, plastic-free, renewables-powered.
Form global coalitions linking Hindu organisations with Indigenous land defenders and ecological justice movements.
Frame policy advocacy not merely in economic or technical terms, but moral-ethical-spiritual terms: land rights, nature’s rights, ecological guardianship.
Conclusion: A Planetary Dharma Era
Indigenous communities are the front-line warriors, and Hindu philosophy is the ancient moral compass. Humanity is the beneficiary, Planet Earth is the sacred centre.
The environmental crisis is not just scientific—it is a soul-scale crisis requiring sacred-scale leadership.
At COP30, Indigenous people forced their way into the summit not to disrupt for spectacle, but to remind the world:
We are the ones protecting the forest. We are the ones living in the web.
You cannot speak for us. You must speak with us.
Hindu civilisation now has the ethical, spiritual and cultural resources to lead this reckoning. If it does, we may yet find the ecological renaissance the world so desperately needs.
A critical aspect of the respect and reverence for our indigenous sisters and brothers is the protection and guardianship of their land, especially in the rainforests and other precious areas of North, Central and South America. To respect them is to keep their land untouched by big business — whether it’s oil, beef or anything else. –Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati
Dozens of protesters brandishing batons have forced their way into the Cop30 climate conference in Belem, Brazil, clashing with security guards at the entrance. The protesters, local indigenous people, demanded access to the United Nations compound where thousands of delegates from countries around the world are attending this year’s climate summit. Some waved flags with slogans calling for land rights and carried signs saying: “Our land is not for sale.”
