Listen to the Pope Francis’ climate sermon 

In 2015, Pope Francis spoke on climate change. We did not listen. The result of our indifference to the voices of science and moral voices like the Pope is a climate emergence.

Noting effects of climate change in healthcare, employment, access to resources, housing and forced migrations, Pope Francis on October 4, 2023 issued from Rome, at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, what he called Laudate Deum (Praise God), an official climate statement from the Holy See.

Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, noted Holy Father, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident.

“No one,” argued Holy Father, “can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone.”

He said droughts and floods, the dried-up lakes, communities swept away by seaquakes and flooding ultimately have the same origin. He attributed the acidification of the seas, the reduction in their oxygen levels, the receding glaciers, the diminishing snow cover and the constantly rising sea level to climate change.

The Pope noted that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which causes global warming, was stable until the nineteenth century, below 300 parts per million in volume. In the middle of that century, notes the pontiff, “in conjunction with industrial development, emissions began to increase.”

The pontiff firmly holds that the change in average surface temperatures cannot be explained except as the result of the increase of greenhouse gases. From 1850 on, wrote the Holy Father, the global temperature has risen by 1.1 degrees, making it possible, in just ten years, to reach the recommended maximum global ceiling of 1.5 degrees.

Pope Francis debunked the myth that efforts to mitigate climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels and developing cleaner energy sources will lead to a reduction in the number of jobs. He contended that the reverse is true saying green jobs and sustainable development would follow a resort to cleaner energy sources.

The Pope is for truth. For instance, that projects will harm their future and result in “the clearing of their lands, a decline in the quality of their lives, a desolate and less habitable landscape lacking in life, the joy of community and hope for the future.”

The pope faulted those who place responsibility on the poor in an attempt to simplify reality. He regretted the greed of the rich powers who are prioritizing quick profit over solving the climate crisis. The Pope highlighted climate injustice in the fact that emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries before calling for a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model.

Laudate Deum addressed the controversy of the United Arab Emirates hosting the next climate Conference of the Parties (COP28). He said the Persian Gulf country is great exporter of fossil fuels, although it has made significant investments in renewable energy sources. The Pope is no fan of the planned new fossil fuel projects there.

He urged COP28 to place the common good and the future of their children above the short-term interests of certain countries or businesses. The Pope wants immediate ambitious climate action since the measures we take now are costly but the cost of climate inaction will be all the more burdensome the longer we wait.

He is hopeful but fears failure would expose all humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change. He refuted the negative portrayal of climate activists as “radicalized” since they fill a societal void to pressure climate action on which depends the future of children.

The Pope wants efficient, obligatory and readily monitored energy transition from fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) to renewables. He wants the energy transition drastic, intense and counting on the commitment of all.

He alludes to “a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face.”

The world sings of an infinite Love: how can we fail to care for it? He advises us to make earth, our home, more beautiful, in tandem with our personal dignity.

“Everything is connected” and “No one is saved alone”. Says the Pope connecting the climate crisis to our collapsing relationship with nature, greed and a mistaken belief that technology can resolve all humanity’s future problems.

He framed climate action as a legacy matter of what “we will leave behind, once we pass from this world.” It is about time we listened to the pontiff.

kiizaeron@gmail.com

The author is CEO, Environment Shield