Pope Francis urges action against climate change: "The world is collapsing and approaching a breaking point"

Pope Francis stated this Wednesday that “the world that welcomes us is falling apart and perhaps approaching a point from which there is no turning back” and harshly criticized a policy incapable of confronting, due to power and economic interests, the environmental crisis. , in his new apostolic exhortation.

This new writing by the pope addressed “to all people of good will on the climate crisis” is a continuation of his so-called “green encyclical”, “Laudato si”, published eight years ago, a period in which the lack of reaction by part of politics has made “the situation become even more urgent.”

The Pope once again confirms that beyond the possibility that there is no going back, “there is no doubt that the impact of climate change will increasingly harm the lives and families of many people.”. “We will feel its effects in the areas of health, sources of work, access to resources, housing, forced migrations, etc.,” he adds, and for this reason he launches an appeal to political leaders.

Against the deniers

In the exhortation, a letter from the pontiff addressed to the faithful, the pope attacks climate change deniers because “no matter how much they try to deny, hide, dissemble or relativize, the signs of climate change are there, increasingly evident.” .

“No one can ignore that in recent years we have witnessed extreme phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other complaints of the earth that are just some palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects us all,” he says.

Furthermore, he regretted that “to ridicule those who talk about global warming, they resort to the fact that extreme cold temperatures also occur.”. It is forgotten that this and other extraordinary symptoms are nothing more than diverse alternative expressions of the same cause: the global imbalance caused by global warming.”

Jobs lost and created

Francis also rejects the version of those who say that “reducing the use of fossil fuels and developing cleaner forms of energy will lead to a reduction in jobs.”.

“The transition to renewable forms of energy, well managed, as well as all efforts to adapt to the damage of climate change, are capable of generating countless jobs in different sectors,” he adds.

The Pope also strongly reiterates the responsibility of man in these global climate phenomena since “an overwhelming majority of scientists specialized in climate support this correlation and only a tiny percentage of them try to deny this evidence.”

“Interests” above the “common good”

Due to these responsibilities, the pontiff has stressed that the problem is that “international negotiations cannot advance significantly due to the positions of countries that privilege their national interests over the global common good.”. “The climate crisis is not exactly an issue that interests the great economic powers, concerned about the greatest possible return at the lowest cost and in the shortest time possible,” he stated.

“The climate crisis is not an issue that interests the great economic powers, concerned about the greatest possible return at the lowest cost and in the shortest time”

“Let's put an end once and for all to the irresponsible mockery that presents this issue as something only environmental, green, romantic, frequently ridiculed by economic interests,” he points out.

Francisco points out that although “the most effective solutions will not come only from individual efforts but above all from major decisions in national and international politics,” “everything adds up” and a change in the way of life and in the convictions of the people is also necessary. societies.

Broken agreements

Francisco reviews the failures of the last environmental summits with “agreements that have had a low level of implementation because adequate control mechanisms, periodic review and sanctions for non-compliance were not established.”

Regarding the next COP28, he urges that “it be historic and that it honors and ennobles us as human beings” and to do so he asks for three characteristics of these summits: “that they be efficient, that they are mandatory and that they can be easily monitored.”

“Only with this process could the credibility of international policy be recovered, because only in this concrete way will it be possible to significantly reduce carbon dioxide and avoid the worst evils in time.”

“Why do we want to preserve today a power that will be remembered for its inability to intervene when it was urgent and necessary to do so?”

He then launched an appeal: “I hope they show the nobility of politics and not its shame.”. To the powerful I dare to repeat this question: Why do we want to preserve today a power that will be remembered for its inability to intervene when it was urgent and necessary to do so?

About the controversies of activists

And in the face of the groups that demonstrate and protest during climate conferences and that are criticized as “radicalized”, the Pope defends them because “in reality they fill a void in the entire society, which should exert healthy pressure”, because ” It is up to each family to think that the future of their children is at stake.

Finally, he pointed out that “if we consider that per capita emissions in the United States are around double those of an inhabitant of China and close to seven times more than the average of the poorest countries, we can affirm that a generalized change in the irresponsible lifestyle linked to the Western model would have a significant long-term impact.