The Steering Committee and the International Support Team, behind the campaign for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty comments that just like fifty years ago, when the world used international treaties to defuse the threats posed by nuclear weapons, today, the world needs a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase out fossil fuels, support dependent economies, workers and communities to diversify away from fossil fuels, ensure 100% access to renewable energy globally and promote a just transition that leaves no-one behind.
On 21 July 2022, a Senior Vatican Cardinal called for an international treaty that tackles the climate crisis at its source: fossil fuels. The call builds on the Vatican’s calls for fossil fuel divestment and new policies for investments in “a more just and sustainable world”.
Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said: “Regarding COP27, Pope Francis again joins scientists in holding to the Paris Agreement’s temperature increase goal of 1.5°C. The planet already is 1.2°C hotter, yet new fossil fuel projects every day accelerate our race towards the precipice. Enough is enough. All new exploration and production of coal, oil, and gas must immediately end, and existing production of fossil fuels must be urgently phased out. This must be a just transition for impacted workers into environmentally sound alternatives. The proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty holds great promise to complement and enhance the Paris Agreement.” (The Vatican Calls for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to Protect People and Planet, 2022)
Tony Annett tweets concerning Pope Francis' moral priorities that includes protecting the environment.
Pope Francis is clear on his moral priorities: protecting the environment, welcoming migrants and refugees, abolishing the death penalty, opposing nationalism, seeking justice for the poor. Yet many on the US Catholic right oppose all these things. This is a problem.
— Tony Annett (@tonyannett) December 24, 2022
Thomas Reese, a Senior Analyst at Religion News Service, writes that Advent should be a time of hope. As a social scientist, he has little hope. As a Christian, he must have hope. This Advent he will be praying for the conversion of hearts to an environmental mindset. He will pray that those being born in the coming year will experience the coming of Christ and not the environmental catastrophe that scientists are predicting.
“Climate change will not wait for us,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state. “Our world is now far too interdependent and cannot permit itself to be structured into unsustainable isolated blocks of countries. This is a time for international and intergenerational solidarity. We need to be responsible, courageous and forward-looking not just for ourselves, but for our children.”
“Our political will,” said the Vatican’s top official, “should be guided by the awareness that either we win together or we lose together.”
Pope Francis was outspoken about environmental issues in his encyclical “Laudato Si.” He was not the first pope to have these concerns. Pope Benedict XVI was referred to as the “green pope” after he had solar panels installed on the roof of the papal audience hall. Both liberal and conservative Catholics should unite in following these popes’ directions in responding to climate change.(Reese, 2022).
The global momentum around the proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty means that three pillars of the policy proposal are now supported by 101 Nobel laureates, 3,000 academics, a growing interfaith group of religious leaders, 320 parliamentarians, thousands of youth activists, more than 1,500 civil society organizations and over 60 cities including London, Paris, Amsterdam, Sydney, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Toronto and Geneva. Let’s join Pope Francis in the assertion that “enough is enough” and respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor presented in the Laudato Si encyclical.
References
Reese, T. (2022, November 28). In Advent, we hope and wait. Climate change doesn't lend itself to either. Religion News Service. Retrieved December 29, 2022, from https://religionnews.com/2022/11/28/advent-and-global-warming/
The Vatican calls for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to protect people and planet. (2022, July 21). The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://fossilfueltreaty.org/vatican
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