On the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, forty world faith leaders have called climate change a moral issue. The response to climate change requires an "ecological conversion" among all people. Religious communities must take more active political participation on environmental issues. The communities must act to reduce emissions, pursue sustainability, encourage simpler lifestyles, seek out ethically produced goods and services, and apply environmentally and socially responsible standards to investments, including shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
The religious leaders urged governments to "achieve net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible." Wealthier nations, which are the major emitters, must lead that effort, they said, as well as follow through on long-promised financing— $100 billion annually through the Green Climate Fund — to help less-industrialized nations curb emissions and adapt to climate change. They also urged developed nations to commit to "loss and damage" payments to less-industrialized countries for climate-related destruction that has already occurred. They advocated a new economic model that prioritizes human dignity, inclusivity, ecologically friendly practices over exploitation and excess, and "one based not on endless growth and proliferating desires, but on supporting life."1
The address of Pope Francis to the participants in the “Faith and Science Towards COP26” meeting describes a love that is the mirror of an intense spiritual life: a love that extends to all, transcending cultural, political and social boundaries; a love that is inclusive, concerned especially for the poor, who so often teach us how to overcome the barriers of selfishness and to break down the walls of our ego.
This represents a challenge born of our need to counter the “throwaway culture” so prevalent in our society and resting on what our Joint Appeal calls the “seeds of conflicts: greed, indifference, ignorance, fear, injustice, insecurity and violence”. Those seeds of conflict cause the serious wounds we are inflicting on the environment, such as climate change, desertification, pollution and loss of biodiversity. These in turn are leading to the breaking of “that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying”. [4] The challenge to work for a culture of care for our common home, but also for ourselves, is one that inspires hope, for surely humanity has never possessed as many means for achieving this goal as it possesses today. We can face this challenge on various levels. I would like to emphasize two of them in particular: example and action, and education. Inspired by our religious beliefs and spiritual traditions, we can make important contributions in both these areas. Many opportunities present themselves, as the Joint Appeal clearly notes in pointing to the various educational and training programmes that we can develop to promote care for our common home.2
Action for sustainability
An interfaith program called "Faith Plans for People and the Planet," aimed at leveraging religious groups' assets and investments, was launched on Oct. 4. The Vatican is creating the Laudato Si' Action Platform, a seven-year roadmap to sustainability for all types of Catholic institutions, from families and dioceses to hospitals and schools.These initiatives support our need to counter the “throwaway culture” so prevalent in our society. This culture rests on greed, indifference, ignorance, fear, injustice, insecurity and violence.
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