The bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine — the biggest war on the European continent since 1945 — has entered its third year and is still reverberating worldwide. The spillover effects have included increased famine in Africa, a migration crisis in Europe, and the release of harmful substances into water, food, and milk supplies that ultimately reach people on six continents.

By the end of this year, the number of people killed and injured as a result of the war in Ukraine is expected to exceed 1 million — a casualty toll not seen in Europe since World War II. In Gaza, where war has raged since last October, the United Nations puts the death toll as of January at 25,000 — but the number may well be much higher. And in Yemen, the UN says that 377,000 have died in the fighting or from disease over the past decade of civil war.

As these and other conflicts rage, defence budgets around the world are expanding substantially; and hanging over it all is the threat — repeated again and again in Ukraine — of nuclear war. The resources being mobilised are comparable to those needed to address climate change, or to eliminate hunger globally for the next 80 years.

Just think about that: No one would go hungry or die of exhaustion, and no child would be undernourished, if the money now being spent on weaponry and soldiers was instead used to better the lives of the world’s poor. Instead of sustaining life, resources are being wasted on spreading death.

The victims of today’s wars are mostly people between the ages of 30 and 40, meaning that each death represents approximately half a life that could have been. Every 100,000 people killed is another 4 million years not lived. Consider all the breakthrough discoveries that will not be made, the children who will not be born, and the orphans who will suffer alone.

We and our co-signatories (below) are not representatives of states. But if the efforts of states to establish peace are insufficient, individuals — no matter their work or their station in life — must step up. The world must confront today’s wars with one voice. That is why we are asking His Holiness Pope Francis, His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV, and Muslim and Jewish leaders to use their moral authority to appeal to all citizens of the world and to their governments.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris is an ideal opportunity to do this. During the Olympic Games of antiquity, the frequent wars between the Greek city-states were suspended while competition would take place between athletes in search of excellence. We hope the billions of people who watch the Paris Games will follow this example and join with the world’s religious and moral leaders in calling for peace.

The conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere call for an immediate ceasefire, followed by the exchange of all prisoners, the release of hostages, the return of human remains, and the start of negotiations. Our primary duty as adults is to ensure that our children survive us. Instead of destroying each other and our societies with violence, let us devote our energies and resources to saving our planet. Let us begin by reviving the Olympic peace.