Catholic patriarchs, cardinals and bishops representing five continents appealed to climate negotiators on Monday to approve a “transformative” and fair, legally binding agreement that sets global temperature limits and goals for eliminating fossil-fuel emissions.
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The Catholic Church’s push for climate change action follows the release in June of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, in which he took a tough line against world leaders for their inaction thus far. Climate change was a significant focus of the pope’s recent trip to the USA, where he spoke about the issue in front of the United Nations general assembly and the US Congress.
The document highlights that “reliable scientific evidence” suggests global warming is the result of unrestrained human activity, current models of progress and development, and excessive reliance on fossil fuels. Climate change sceptics argue that man’s role in global warming has not been conclusively proved. “The Holy Father said “I have special admiration for the Filipinos, ‘” Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said in a report by the Catholic Bishops” Conference of the Philippines News (CBCP News).Itinerant peoples should play their own part in repairing their public image, the Pope said.
“It is important that there be a variety of non-state activists in (the climate talks) and the Church can be a very important player”, said Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, a former vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The 10-point policy proposal calls for “complete decarbonization” by 2050, prioritizing “people-driven solutions rather than profits” and for negotiators to take into consideration “particularly the ethical and moral dimensions” of climate change.
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In a nod to Francis’s frequent assessment that rich countries have a debt to pay to poorer ones, the statement called for “ambitious mitigation commitments” to be agreed and said each country ought to recognise “common but differentiated responsibilities” based on equity principles and historical responsibilities.
