Pope Francis has said that the world is in big trouble because of climate change and it is getting really close to a breaking point.
The pope expressed his disappointment with global organizations for not being able to make effective decisions, and he also criticized those who deny the existence of climate change.
His strong and clear statement has been included in a significant new version of his important 2015 paper on the environment.
He said that some harm caused by climate change is already impossible to fix.
The Pope spoke out against people who refuse to acknowledge, hide, downplay, or make excuses about climate change. He stated that it is no longer possible to deny that humans are responsible for climate change.
Pope Francis has made addressing climate change very important during his time as Pope. In 2015, the pope issued an important document called an encyclical, which marked a change for the Catholic Church.
Since that time, the pope has continuously urged politicians to actually do something to address climate change.
He also criticized “careless ways of living”, especially in the Western world.
He said that people in the US produce around twice as much pollution as people in China, and about seven times more pollution than people in the poorest countries.
The pope stated that if people in the Western world were to change their irresponsible lifestyle, it would have a big and lasting effect.
Saying that there is no hope would be extremely dangerous. It would mean that everyone, especially those who have less money, would experience the horrible effects of climate change.
Carbon capture is a process that is similar to papering over cracks.
Pope Francis said that world governing bodies need a new way to make decisions because the current process that was put in place a long time ago is not enough and doesn’t seem to work well.
He says that anything people do might be seen as a trick to divert attention. He is talking about politicians, especially regarding the change from using fossil fuels to clean energy. He believes this change is happening too slowly and won’t have a big impact.
Pope Francis agreed that some progress was made during the COP summits but expressed disappointment over the absence of penalties for failing to fulfill commitments.
He said that some suggestions in the most recent global agreement, from COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, were not clear enough.
The pope cautioned that we should not rely too much on carbon capture technologies because it’s like trying to hide the problem instead of solving it.
He said that thinking all future problems can be solved using new technology is a dangerous and unrealistic mindset, similar to pushing a snowball downhill.
Pope Francis is encouraging people to take action on climate change just like he did in his 2015 encyclical. He argues that it is both a moral and scientific responsibility.
Towards the end of his plea, he speaks directly to the leaders of the world.
To the people in charge, I have a question for you: Why would someone want to stay in power, only to be remembered for not doing anything important when it was really necessary.