MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
To His Excellency
The Right Honourable Alok Sharma
President of COP26, the 26th Session of the Conference of Parties
to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(Glasgow, 31
October – 12 November 2021)
Your Excellency,
As the Glasgow Conference
begins, all of us are aware that it has the vital task of demonstrating to
the entire international community whether there really exists a political will
to devote – with honesty, responsibility and courage – greater human, financial
and technological resources to mitigating the negative effects of climate
change and assisting the poorer and more vulnerable nations most affected by
it. [1]
At the same time, we realize
that this task has to be undertaken in the midst of a pandemic that for almost
two years has devastated our human family. Covid-19 has brought immense
tragedies in its wake, but it has also taught us that, if we are to succeed in
overcoming the pandemic, there is no alternative: all of us must play a part in
responding to this challenge. And that, as we know, calls for profound
solidarity and fraternal cooperation between the world’s peoples.
Our post-pandemic world will
necessarily be different from what it was before the pandemic. It is that world
which we must now build, together, starting from the recognition of
past mistakes.
Something similar could be
said of our efforts to tackle the global problem of climate change. There is no
alternative. We can achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement only if we act
in a coordinated and responsible way. Those goals are ambitious, and they can
no longer be deferred. Today it is up to you to take the necessary decisions.
COP26 can and must offer an
effective contribution to the conscientious construction of a future in which
daily actions and economic and financial investments can genuinely protect the
conditions that ensure a dignified and humane life for the men and women of
today and tomorrow, on a “healthy” planet.
We find ourselves facing an
epochal change, a cultural challenge that calls for commitment on the part of
all, particularly those countries possessed of greater means. These countries need
to take a leading role in the areas of climate finance, decarbonization in the
economic system and in people’s lives, the promotion of a circular economy,
providing support to more vulnerable countries working to adapt to the impact
of climate change and to respond to the loss and damage it has caused.
For its part, the Holy
See, as I stated to
the High Level Virtual Climate Ambition Summit of 12 December
2020, has adopted a strategy of net-zero emissions operating on two levels: 1)
the commitment of Vatican City State to achieve this goal by 2050; and 2) the
commitment of the Holy See to promote education in integral ecology. We fully
realize that political, technical and operational measures need to be linked to
an educational process that, especially among young people, can promote new
lifestyles and favour a cultural model of development and of sustainability
centered on fraternity and on the covenant between human beings and the natural
environment. These commitments have given rise to thousands of initiatives
worldwide.
Along these same lines, on 4 October last, I
joined a number of religious leaders and scientists in signing a Joint Appeal in view of COP26. On that occasion, we listened to
the voices of representatives of many faiths and spiritual traditions, many
cultures and scientific fields. Very different voices, with very different
sensitivities. Yet what clearly emerged was a remarkable convergence on the
urgent need for a change of direction, a decisive resolve to pass from the
“throwaway culture” prevalent in our societies to a “culture of care” for our
common home and its inhabitants, now and in the future.
The wounds inflicted on our
human family by the Covid-19 pandemic and the phenomenon of climate change are
comparable to those resulting from a global conflict. Today, as in the
aftermath of the Second World War, the international community as a whole needs
to set as a priority the implementation of collegial, solidary and farsighted
actions.
We need both hope and courage.
Humanity possesses the wherewithal to effect this change, which calls for a
genuine conversion, individual as well as communitarian, and a decisive will to
set out on this path. It will entail the transition towards a more integral and
integrating model of development, based on solidarity and on responsibility. A
transition that must also take into serious consideration the effects it will
have on the world of labour.
Especial care must likewise be
shown for the most vulnerable peoples, in whose regard there is a growing
“ecological debt” related to commercial imbalances with environmental
repercussions and to the disproportionate use of the natural resources of one’s
own and of other countries. [2] There is no denying this.
The “ecological debt” raises
in some ways the issue of foreign debt, the burden of which often hinders the
development of peoples. [3] The post-pandemic world can and must restart
from a consideration of all these aspects, along with the setting in place of
carefully negotiated procedures for forgiving foreign debt, linked to a more
sustainable and just economic restructuring aimed at meeting the climate
emergency. “The developed countries ought to help pay the ecological debt by
significantly limiting their consumption of nonrenewable energy and by
assisting poorer countries to support policies and programmes of
sustainable development”. [4] A development in which, at last, everyone can
participate.
Sadly, we must acknowledge how
far we remain from achieving the goals set for tackling climate change. We need
to be honest: this cannot continue! Even as we were preparing for COP26, it
became increasingly clear that there is no time to waste. All too many of our
brothers and sisters are suffering from this climate crisis. The lives of
countless people, particularly those who are most vulnerable, have experienced
its increasingly frequent and devastating effects. At the same time, we have
come to realize that it also involves a crisis of children’s rights and that,
in the near future, environmental migrants will be more numerous than refugees
from war and conflicts. Now is the time to act, urgently, courageously and
responsibly. Not least, to prepare a future in which our human family will be
in a position to care for itself and for the natural environment.
The young, who in recent years
have strongly urged us to act, will only inherit the planet we choose to leave
to them, based on the concrete choices we make today. Now is the moment for
decisions that can provide them with reasons for hope and trust in the future.
I had hoped to be with you in
person, but that was not possible. I accompany you, however, with my prayers as
you take these important decisions.
Please accept, Mr President,
my cordial greetings and good wishes.
From the Vatican, 29 October 2021
FRANCIS
