Pope Francis has appealed for a political shift in the fight against climate change, as he called for universal approach and resolute activity to invert the global warming curve by halving the rate of warming over the next 25 years.
He stated this in his address to the participants in a 3-day Vatican summit on the climate crisis tagged, ‘From climate crisis to climate resilience.’
The summit was organised by the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences
Pope Francis equally called on the international community to leverage the regenerative power of nature to move the world toward climate resilience.
He urged policy makers to harness the regenerative power of nature in order to remove vast quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“This holistic approach can combat climate change, while also confronting the double crisis of the loss of biodiversity and inequality by cultivating the ecosystems that sustain life,” he said.
The Pope also called for efforts to create synergy and global solidarity, as well as a new financial architecture, to respond to the needs of the global South and island states affected by climate emergencies.
“There is a need to act with urgency, compassion and determination, since the stakes could not be higher.”
The Pope lamented the worsening data regarding climate change, calling for urgent action to protect people and nature.
“The wealthier nations, around 1 billion people, produce more than half the heat trapping pollutants. On the contrary, the 3 billion poorer people contribute less than 10 percent, yet they suffer 75 percent of the resulting damage.”
The Pope also recalled that destruction of the environment is an offense against God and a structural sin that endangers all people. He therefore urged that people move from being victims of the climate crisis to agents for change.
“We find ourselves faced with systemic challenges that are distinct yet interconnected: climate change, the loss of biodiversity, environmental decay, global disparities, lack of food security and threats to the dignity of the peoples affected by them,” he said.
According to the Pope, each of these issues must be addressed urgently and collectively in order to safeguard the world’s poor, especially women and children, who bear a disproportionate burden.
He further noted that those affected women are not merely victims of climate change but also a powerful force for resilience and adaptation.
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The Pope decried the cogs of global and national politics that are impeding actions to protect the most vulnerable exposed to climate change.
According to him, an orderly progress is being held back by the greedy pursuit of short-term gains by polluting industries and by the spread of disinformation, which generates confusion and obstructs collective efforts for a change in course.
He disclosed that communities are dissolving and families are being forcibly dispersed, adding that atmospheric pollution claims millions of lives each year.
On the connection between climate change and illegal migration, the Pope stated that around 3.5 billion people are susceptible to climate change and therefore more likely to migrate, putting their lives at risk during desperate journeys.
