The pope's encyclical on climate change – as it happened
This article is more than 8 years old
On Thursday the Vatican published Pope Francis’s long-awaited encyclical on the environment, which warns of ‘serious consequences’ if the world does not act on climate change
Environmental activists display a banner as they prepare to listen to speeches inside a Roman Catholic church in Manila, Philippines, to coincide with Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change . Photograph: Bullit Marquez/AP
Environmental activists display a banner as they prepare to listen to speeches inside a Roman Catholic church in Manila, Philippines, to coincide with Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change . Photograph: Bullit Marquez/AP
The Pope has warned of an “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems” and “serious consequences for all of us” if humanity fails to act on climate change, in his encyclical on the environment, published by the Vatican on Thursday.
Senior Catholic figures in the US and UK have said the Pope’s central message is: what sort of world do we want to leave for future generations?
The UN secretary general, the World Bank president, plus the heads of the UN climate talks and the UN environment programme have all welcomed the encyclical, along with scores of charities and faith groups.
Church leaders will brief members of Congress on the encyclical on Thursday, and the White House on Friday on the encyclical. “It is our marching orders for advocacy,” said Joseph Kurtz, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishop
Cardinal Peter Turkson, the pope’s top official on social and justice issues, flatly rejected arguments by some conservative politicians in the US that the pope ought to stay out of science.
“Saying that a pope shouldn’t deal with science sounds strange since science is a public domain. It is a subject matter that anyone can get in to,” Turkson said at a press conference on Thursday.
The pontiff’s upcoming document is being hailed as a major intervention in the climate change debate – but what exactly is an encyclical?
In an apparent reference to comments by Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush, who said he did not take economic advice from the pope, Turkson said that politicians had the right to disregard Francis’s statement, but said it was wrong to do so based on the fact that the pope was not a scientist.
“For some time now it has been the attempt of the whole world to kind of try to de-emphasise the artificial split between religion and public life … as if religion plays no role,” he said. Then, quoting an earlier pope, he said the best position was to “encourage dialogue between faith and reason”.
The secretary-general welcomes the papal encyclical released today by His Holiness Pope Francis which highlights that climate change is one of the principal challenges facing humanity, and that it is a moral issue requiring respectful dialogue with all parts of society. The secretary-general notes the encyclical’s findings that there is “a very solid scientific consensus” showing significant warming of the climate system and that most global warming in recent decades is “mainly a result of human activity”.
Ban called on governments to “place the global common good above national interests and to adopt an ambitious, universal climate agreement” at the UN climate summit in Paris this December.
There are shades of the Pope’s own language there. In the encyclical, he says: “International [climate] negotiations cannot make significant progress due to positions taken by countries which place their national interests above the global common good”.
US church leaders said they saw the message as an urgent call for dialogue and action – one they intend to amplify on social media and in the pulpit.
“It is our marching orders for advocacy,” Joseph Kurtz, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archbishop of Louisville. “It really brings about a new urgency for us.”
Church leaders will brief members of Congress on Thursday, and the White House tomorrow on the encyclical.
“I don’t think he is presenting a blue print for saying this is exactly a step by step recipe,” Kurtz said. “He is providing a framework and a moral call as a true moral leader to say take seriously the urgency of this matter.”
Here’s a selection of some more US faith group reaction:
Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Stockton:
This document written for all people of good will challenges institutions and individuals to preserve and respect creation as a gift from God to be used for the benefit of all.
Rabbi Marvin Goodman, Rabbi in Residence, Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, San Francisco:
I’m inspired and grateful for the Pope’s high profile leadership and commitment to environmental justice.
Imam Taha Hassane, Islamic Center of San Diego:
Local and National Muslim Leadership support policies that both halt environmental degradation and repair that which has already occurred. We stand with any leader, secular or spiritual, who is willing to speak out against this issue.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols in the UK has echoed US Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz in his view of what the Pope’s central message is: what sort of world do we want to leave for future generations to inherit?
The Press Association reports:
Speaking at Our Lady & St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, in Poplar, east London, against the backdrop of the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said one of the key messages of the document was asking “what kind of world we want to leave to those who come afterwards”.
The pope’s message challenged the idea that infinite material progress was possible, with more goods and more consumption, that “we have to have the latest phone”, said the cardinal, who is head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
The US House of Representatives’ Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition says – in an apparent reference to climate denial on the US right – that “the political will of many is still askew” when it comes to tackling global warming. It hopes the Pope’s encyclical might change that:
For those unmoved by the science of climate change, we hope that Pope Francis’ encyclical demonstrates the virtue and moral imperative for action. Today’s announcement further aligns the scientific and moral case for climate action, yet the political will of many is still askew. The time to act on climate is now, and failure to do so will further damage the planet, its people, and our principles.
Pope Francis’s guidance as a pastor and a teacher shines a light on the moral obligation we all share to address the climate crisis that transcends borders and politics. This Encyclical underscores the need for climate action not just to protect our environment, but to protect humankind and the most vulnerable communities among us. The vision laid out in these teachings serves as inspiration to everyone across the world who seeks a more just, compassionate, and healthy future.
In case you don’t have enough time to read the 100+ page encyclical itself (the length varies depending on the language and font size of the versions kicking around), we’ve published an extract of some key passages here.
Some more reaction from UK charities on how governments meeting in Paris later this year should listen to the Pope.
Adriano Campolina, chief executive of ActionAid International, said:
The Pope’s message highlights the important links between climate change, poverty and overconsumption. They are part of the same problem and any lasting solution to climate change must tackle these fundamental issues.
The powerful truth in Pope Francis’ message reaches far beyond the Catholic Church or climate campaigners. Action on climate requires both environmental and social justice. As negotiators work on a climate deal for Paris, our leaders must show the same moral and political courage that Pope Francis has.
Christian conservation group A Rocha said: “national governments should follow the Pope’s example and take ‘meaningful action’ on climate change”.
One of the most senior figures in the US Catholic church, Joseph Edward Kurtz, Archbishop of Louisville, has been speaking at a US press conference. He said that that perhaps the central message of the encyclical is: what kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us?
Here are some highlights from Kurtz:
It’s really a very beautiful and very extensive treatment of what Pope Francis has called our common home.
...
The Pope over and over again says that care for the things of this Earth is necessarily bound with care for one another and especially those who are poor. He calls it an interdependency.
...
He speaks on very indivudal choices as well as the public sphere
...
Over and over again he talks about the world as a gift
...
He uses a phrase he’s used very often: to reject a throwaway culture.
...
He talks about very specific things, about slums in which people are forced to live, the lack of clean water, about the consumerism mentality.
And that perhaps this is the centre of his message: what kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us?
...
Our pope is speaking with a very much pastor’s voice and with a deep respect for the role of science.
…
Three essential areas that our Catholic community is being called to being involved in:
1) to advocate, a local, national and global level, to advocate for the common good. We know that faith if done well, actually enriches public life. And we know that technology tells us what we can do, but we need moral voices that tell us what we should do
2) [the video cut out at this point so I’m afraid I missed his second point]
3) The use of our resources, in whole we build buildings, should honour the Earth
Here’s the Pope himself on that issue of what we leave future generations:
Leaving an inhabitable planet to future generations is, first and foremost, up to us. The issue is one which dramatically affects us, for it has to do with the ultimate meaning of our earthly sojourn.
We may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth. The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes, such as those which even now periodically occur in different areas of the world. The effects of the present imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action, here and now.
We’ve just published a video of the encyclical’s launch this morning:
On Thursday at the Vatican, the orthodox metropolitan of Pergamon, Joannis Zizioulas, unveils Pope Francis’s environment encyclical, a collection of principles to guide Catholic teaching on the issue. Guardian
The Pope has warned of an “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems” and “serious consequences for all of us” if humanity fails to act on climate change, in his encyclical on the environment, published by the Vatican on Thursday
The pontiff said that the world should phase out coal in favour of gas, while renewable energy technology scales up
The heads of the UN climate talks and the UN environment programme have said the Pope’s intervention should act as a “clarion call” for governments meeting in a bid to work out a climate change deal at a summit in Paris later this year
Today’s release of Pope Francis’ first encyclical should serve as a stark reminder to all of us of the intrinsic link between climate change and poverty. We know the scientific, business and economic case for action to combat climate change and I welcome the pope’s emphasis on our moral obligation to act.
He added:
The pope’s encyclical comes at a pivotal moment in the lead up to December’s Paris meeting on climate change.
The World Council of Churches welcomes Pope Francis’ encyclical which catalyses what churches and ecumenical organizations have been doing for decades on caring for the earth and climate justice issues. By affirming human induced climate change and its impacts on the poorest and most vulnerable communities, the Encyclical is an important call to urgently act as individuals, citizens and also at the international level to effectively respond to the climate crisis.
Dr. Steven Timmermans, executive director of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, said:
We affirm Pope Francis’ moral framing of the threats posed by climate change. We have too many brothers and sisters around the world living on the edge of poverty whose livelihoods are threatened—and too many little ones in our congregations set to inherit a dangerously broken world—to believe otherwise. For too long the church has been silent about the moral travesty of climate change. Today, the Pope has said, ‘Enough is enough,’ and the Christian Reformed Church welcomes his voice.
Sister Pat McDermott, president of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, said:
We welcome Pope Francis’ critique of the current, dominant economic model that prioritizes the market, profit and unharnessed consumption and regards Earth as a resource to be exploited.
Rev. Mitch Hescox, president of the US-based Evangelical Environmental Network, which lobbies American politicians on environmental issues, welcomed the Pope’s encyclical. He said:
It’s time to make hope happen by fuelling the unstoppable clean energy transition, stopping the ideological battles, and working together.
Creating a new energy economy that benefits all and addresses climate change is not about a political party but living as a disciple of Jesus Christ. We urge all people of good will, especially fellow Christian conservatives to read and study these timely words from Pope Francis.
The New York Times’ Justin Gillis says (fairly, in my opinion) that the Pope is more cautious on the science behind climate change than many scientists.
...amid all his soaring rhetoric, did the pope get the science right?
The short answer from climate and environmental scientists is that he did, at least to the degree possible in a religious document meant for a broad audience. If anything, they say, he may have bent over backward to offer a cautious interpretation of the scientific facts.
For example, a substantial body of published science says that human emissions have caused all the global warming that has occurred over the past century. Yet in his letter, Francis does not go quite that far, citing volcanoes, the sun and other factors that can influence the climate before he concludes that “most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases” released mainly by human activity.
The world’s most authoritative body on climate science, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, found in its landmark report last year that global warming is “unequivocal” and humanity’s role in causing it is “clear”.
In some places, cooperatives are being developed to exploit renewable sources of energy which ensure local self-sufficiency and even the sale of surplus energy. This simple example shows that, while the existing world order proves powerless to assume its responsibilities, local individuals and groups can make a real difference.
Bob Perciasepe of US thinktank Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, has blogged on the unique role the Pope can play in the climate change arena and how he might influence American minds:
Scientists, environmentalists, politicians, business executives, and military leaders have all raised concerns for years about the real risks of climate change. But few individuals are as influential as the pope. By calling on people to act on their conscience, Pope Francis provides a powerful counterpoint to what has become a largely ideologically-driven debate, especially here in the United States.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion