Francisco sent a speech to the conference and said that indigenous populations are those most affected by climate change
O Pope Francis held rich countries responsible for global warming in a speech sent this Saturday (Dec 2, 2023) to COP28, the US climate conference. UN (United Nations), held in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
The pontiff did not participate in the meeting with global leaders due to medical recommendations after being diagnosed with a lung infection.
“It’s not the fault of the poor, because almost half of the world, the poorest, is only responsible for 10% of polluting emissions”says an excerpt from the text read by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Here’s the complete (PDF – 93 kB).
According to the pope, less developed countries suffer from the decision to “a few nations, responsible for a worrying ecological debt to many others”.
Francisco said that social minorities are the biggest victims of climate-related catastrophes. He mentioned indigenous populations, affected by the deforestation of forests and the lack of water when there are droughts in the rivers.
The Argentine blamed the mode of production for extreme weather events. He spoke of a need to make money that exceeded the limits of the planet: “The ambition to produce and possess turned into obsession and resulted in limitless greed, which made the environment the object of unbridled exploitation”.
The pope also criticized the lack of dialogue between countries in international relations. According to him, nations have lost trust in each other, which would make it difficult to develop solutions to climate change.
“It is worrying to see that the warming of the earth is accompanied by a general cooling of multilateralism, by a growing distrust in the international community”he declared.
Francisco stated that it was the duty of young people to increase dialogue to reverse the situation that would affect global leaders.
The Pope defined the global climate situation as a “an offense to God, a sin not only personal but also structural that affects human beings”.
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