Catholic Church leaders call for just and transformational climate agreement

Cardinals and bishops from around the world have launched an appeal to COP21 climate negotiators meeting in Paris to create an effective agreement that really leads to changes. The appeal was released in a press conference by the Vatican on Monday (Oct. 26), a month before the beginning of COP21.

"We are calling for the approval of a fair, legally binding, and truly transformational climate agreement during the conference. This will make a difference in the people's attitude for placing the new man at the center of everything. I think that's the message of Pope Francis' pontificate, to place the man at the center of everything," reported Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, India, when signing the appeal.

Inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical letter, published in June this year, which related the climate issue to a social perspective, the Catholic Church leaders presented a ten-point policy proposal to guide the discussion to set a goal for "complete decarbonisation" by 2050.
 
The proposal was made "linking climate change to social injustice and social exclusion of the poorest and most vulnerable of our citizens." According to the document, climate-change strategies should be based not only on technical dimensions, but also on moral and ethical grounds.

Bishops spoke on the need to develop new models of development and lifestyles that are climate compatible. Central to this issue is to put an end to the fossil fuel era, and provide affordable, reliable, and safe renewable energy access for all. And they defended that the leaders working towards climate agreement should devote special attention to the need for an adaptation approach, especially for most vulnerable communities.

"Those responsible for climate change have responsibilities to assist the most vulnerable in adapting and managing loss and damage, and to share the necessary technology and knowhow," the bishops appealed in the proposal, which ended calling for serious ecological awareness and education.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta