POPE TO POLITICIANS: BE COURAGEOUS, SHOW VISION ON CLIMATE

Mon 15 November 2021:

“I encourage all those who have political and economic responsibilities to act immediately with courage and farsightedness,” he said. “At the same time, I invite all persons of goodwill to carry out active citizenry to care for the common house,” Francis said, referring to planet Earth.

The pontiff didn’t comment on the outcome of the two weeks of U.N. talks.

Nearly 200 countries agreed on a compromise deal to keep a global warming target alive. However, a last-minute amendment weakened key language about the use of coal, a fossil fuel that is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Francis has made attention to the Earth’s environment a major plank of his papacy, dedicating an encyclical, or major document, to the moral imperative of responsibly protecting the planet.

Many activists have criticised the conference as mere talk that lacks real ambition to limit global warming. Ahead of the UN conference, experts had low expectations for what it could deliver.

“The text is meek, it’s weak and the 1.5C goal is only just alive, but a signal has been sent that the era of coal is ending. And that matters,” Jennifer Morgan, the executive director of Greenpeace, has said.

Many say that despite some steps in the right direction, much will depend on how governments now implement what was agreed at the conference. Morgan said the agreement ultimately punted decisions to next year’s conference.

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