POPE Francis’s absence at the United Nations (UN) climate summit did not hinder him from issuing an urgent and decisive call to world leaders: “We have a grave responsibility” to save the planet to ensure that the children “will not be denied of their future.”
The Pope was set to attend the 28th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) held in Dubai on Dec. 1 but backed out as he was hospitalized almost a week prior due to lung inflammation.
Still, in a message read by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Francis warned COP28 delegates that the “sin” of destroying the environment would pose serious consequences to people of all stripes.
“I am with you because the destruction of the environment is an offense against God, a sin that is not only personal but also structural, one that greatly endangers all human beings, especially the most vulnerable in our midst and threatens to unleash a conflict between generations,” he said on Dec. 2.
Francis had written two encyclicals about mankind in the face of major ecological problems: “Laudato Si (Praise be to you),” the 2015 document framing climate change as a moral and spiritual issue, and “Laudate Deum (Praise God),” the sequel to “Laudato Si” that tackles, as one expert said, the state of the environment in apocalyptic terms.
Overproduction and overconsumption of resources, the Pope believed, should be controlled to avoid what he deemed as “unbridled exploitation of omnipotence.”
“Let us once more recognize our limits, with humility and courage, as the sole path to a life of authentic fulfillment,” he said.
Taking excerpts from “Laudete Deum,” the Pontiff called on delegates to avoid blaming the environmental catastrophe on other societal issues.
“Particularly striking in this regard are the attempts made to shift the blame onto the poor and high birth rates,” Francis lamented. “These are falsities that must be firmly dispelled […] We need to think only of the plight of indigenous peoples, deforestation, the tragedies of hunger, water and food insecurity and forced migration.”
In the end, the Pope challenged COP28 delegates to have the political will to intensify their actions against climate change.
“It is up to this generation to heed the cry of peoples, the young and children, and to lay the foundations of a new multilateralism,” he said. “Why not begin precisely from our common home? Climate change signals the need for political change.”
“It is useless to cling to an authority that will one day be remembered for its inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so,” he added.
COP28, which took place until Dec. 12, was hosted by the United Arab Emirates – the fifth-largest oil producer in the world – and attended by almost 200 diplomats. The conference resulted in a historic agreement to move away from fossil fuels but in a “just, orderly and equitable manner.”
Countries are not legally compelled to follow through, but delegates hope that this sends a message that dependence on fossil fuels, the largest contributor to climate change, is coming to an end. Ammiel B. Maestrado
