In an urgent appeal, around 30 Nobel Laureates are calling on Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama and other religious leaders to work for peace in the run-up to the Olympic Games.
"May the billions of people who will watch the Games join you in calling for peace," the newspaper "Messaggero" (Tuesday afternoon) quotes from the letter to the religious leaders.
It continues: "Let's make sure that our children survive us." Politics is incapable of ending armed conflicts, of which at least 55 are currently underway.
The letter was signed by Nobel Prize winners Maria Resa, Jody Williams (peace), Elfriede Jelinek (literature), Erwin Neher, Peter Ratcliffe (medicine), Emmanuel Charpentier, Elias James Corey (chemistry), Roger Penrose and Michel Mayor (physics), among others.
One million dead in Europe
With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "a bloody war" is taking place on the European continent for the first time in decades. The conflict has led to a worsening of hunger in African countries and a migration crisis in Europe.
In addition, every bombing raid releases harmful substances that end up in the water, food and milk supplies for people on all continents.
"By the end of this year, the number of dead and injured in Central Europe is expected to exceed one million for the first time since the Second World War."
At the same time, the war has increased defence budgets worldwide to such an extent that they are comparable to the resources needed to slow down global climate change or eliminate hunger in the world for 80 years, according to the women and men from science, art and the media.
"While they are killing each other, humans are also destroying our planet."
And further: "No one would go hungry or die of exhaustion, and no child would go without food. Instead, instead of supporting life, resources are being wasted to spread death."