In an address to leaders taking part in a recent conference on “Energy Transition and Care for Our Common Home,” sponsored by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Pope Francis has called for immediate action to mitigate global warming and address today’s ecological crisis, which he said threatens the very future of the human family.
“Time is running out! Deliberations must go beyond mere exploration of what can be done and concentrate on what needs to be done from today onward” the Pope said. “The climate crisis requires our decisive action, here and now.” He also noted that “it is the poor who suffer the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”
“For too long, we have collectively failed to listen to the fruits of scientific analysis and ‘doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain” he said, citing his encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home).
It would be grossly unfair for future generations to inherit “a greatly spoiled world,” the Pope went on to say, “it is not right that they pay the cost of our irresponsibility.”
However echoing the most recent special IPCC report, the Pope did strike a note of optimism, “there is still hope and there remains time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change …. provided there is prompt and resolute action”