On January 26, 2020, the 38th annual peace proposal by Daisaku Ikeda, president
of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist network, titled "Toward Our
Shared Future: Constructing an Era of Human Solidarity" was released, marking
the anniversary of the founding of the SGI.
Climate action and nuclear weapons abolition are Ikeda's main themes, with a
focus on the individual lives and suffering often hidden behind macroeconomic
indices. He describes climate change as "a fundamental challenge, on which the
fate of humankind hinges," and stresses that it threatens to render meaningless
global efforts toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Praising the energy of youth climate activists, he states, "When young people's
will to transform reality merges with an indomitable optimism, the
possibilities are limitless."
Ikeda proposes that UN Youth Climate Summits be held every year toward 2030 and
calls for a Security Council Resolution mainstreaming youth participation in
climate-related decision-making.
Consistent with his decades of action toward the abolition of nuclear weapons,
Ikeda urges efforts to ensure that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons (TPNW) reaches 50 ratifications and thus enters into force this year,
the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
He proposes holding a People's Forum for a World Without Nuclear Weapons
centered on hibakusha and civil society in Hiroshima or Nagasaki to follow the
treaty's entry into force. He also calls for a five-year extension of the New
START Treaty between the US and Russia as the first step toward multilateral
nuclear disarmament negotiations.
Alarmed by risks that cyberattacks or Artificial Intelligence (AI) could
destabilize nuclear weapons systems, he urges that deliberations on a
prohibition regime related to cyberattacks on nuclear systems, AI and other new
technologies should begin at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review
Conference to be held from April at UN Headquarters in New York.
Ikeda also highlights the plight of children and youth deprived of educational
opportunities due to armed conflict or natural disasters, and therefore calls
for strengthening of the financial foundation of the UNICEF-hosted Education
Cannot Wait global fund.
Ikeda concludes with a commitment to continued grassroots action, saying, "The
SGI will further promote empowerment of, by and for the people, as we address
the climate crisis and other challenges with an expanding movement of global
solidarity."
The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a community-based Buddhist network
promoting peace, culture and education with 12 million members. Every year
since 1983, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda (1928- ) has issued a peace proposal
offering a Buddhist perspective and solutions to global problems on January 26,
to commemorate the founding of the SGI. The year 2020 marks the 90th
anniversary of the establishment of the Soka Gakkai and the 45th anniversary of
the founding of the SGI.
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