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Pope Francis at the end of Mass, October 4, 2023Haynes/LifeSiteNews

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has published his second document on the topic of “climate change,” condemning “human-induced climate changes” and calling for “obligatory” measures across the globe to address the issue.

There must be “binding forms of energy transition that meet three conditions: that they be efficient, obligatory and readily monitored,” wrote Pope Francis, outlining his hopes for the upcoming COP28 “climate change” conference, which he highlighted as a potentially “historic event.”

The Pope’s text – released October 4, which is the last day of the Vatican-observed season of creation – contains several strong statements warning of the dangers of “climate change,” and decrying those who oppose measures intended to lessen “human-induced climate changes.”

“We are not reacting enough, as the world that welcomes us is crumbling and perhaps approaching a breaking point,” said Pope Francis in the opening lines of his second ecological text – the Apostolic Exhoration Laudate Deum, which comes as a follow up to his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’.

It is addressed to “all people of good will,” and subtitled as being “on the climate crisis.”

The text presents numerous strong claims and statements made by the Pope regarding the climate, as he writes that “it is verifiable that some human-induced climate changes significantly increase the likelihood of more frequent and more intense extreme events.”

Man’s impact on climate

“It is no longer possible to doubt the human – ‘anthropic’ – origin of climate change,” wrote the Pontiff. 

Drawing from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Francis stated that “we have confirmed that in the last fifty years the temperature has risen at an unprecedented speed, greater than any time over the past two thousand years.”

READ: Renowned climate scientist blasts ‘anti-capitalist’ climate agenda, ‘manufactured’ consensus

He claimed that the human effect upon the planet was undeniable: “it is not possible to conceal the correlation of these global climate phenomena and the accelerated increase in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly since the mid-twentieth century.”

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Climate change conferences

Laudate Deum references the varying efficacy of the international “climate change” Conference of Parties events, known as “COP.” Praising some for having “enabled important steps” regarding implementation of climate policies, the Pope also critiqued others as a “failure.” 

He praised in particular the 2015 COP event in Paris, which led to the promulgation of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. That meeting “was another significant moment because it produced an agreement that involved everyone,” wrote Francis. “It can be seen as a new beginning, given the failure to meet the targets set in the previous phase.”

In 2022, the Vatican officially joined the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, in a move that was unprecedented on many levels. Pope Francis defended the move, saying that the Holy See had “generously shouldered its grave responsibilities” regarding the “care of creation.” He suggested that “a covenant between human beings and the environment” should underpin the pro-abortion Agreement.

READ: Pope Francis is subverting faith to the all-consuming ideology of ‘climate change’

But even the Paris COP meeting Francis criticized for not being strict enough in its enforcement: “it does not provide for real sanctions and there are no effective tools to ensure compliance. It also provides for forms of flexibility for developing countries.”

Subsequent COP events have evidently displeased the Pope, who bewailed their “imprecise” actions, their disruption due to COVID-19 or the war in Ukraine, and their inability to implement the policies of the Paris Agreement.

He stopped short of preemptively condemning the upcoming COP28 meeting in Dubai later this year, writing that “to say that there is nothing to hope for would be suicidal, for it would mean exposing all humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change.”

Strong rhetoric against ‘irresponsible’ actions

Summarizing the repeated themes of Laudate Deum, were the Pope’s passages warning against “irresponsible” actions which failed to address climate issues. There was a risk, he said, of “remaining trapped in the mindset of pasting and papering over cracks, while beneath the surface there is a continuing deterioration to which we continue to contribute.”

To suppose that all problems in the future will be able to be solved by new technical interventions is a form of homicidal pragmatism, like pushing a snowball down a hill.

Once and for all, let us put an end to the irresponsible derision that would present this issue as something purely ecological, ‘green,’ romantic, frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests. Let us finally admit that it is a human and social problem on any number of levels. For this reason, it calls for involvement on the part of all. 

Mandatory climate action

In a series of notably strong passages, Pope Francis made a striking call for mandatory policies implementing climate change measures. He argued that every family should “realize” the dangers of “climate change”:

In conferences on the climate, the actions of groups negatively portrayed as ‘radicalized’ tend to attract attention. But in reality they are filling a space left empty by society as a whole, which ought to exercise a healthy ‘pressure,’ since every family ought to realize that the future of their children is at stake.

Consequently, Francis argued in favor of implementing decisions from the upcoming COP28 in an unprecedented, mandatory manner.

If there is sincere interest in making COP28 a historic event that honors and ennobles us as human beings, then one can only hope for binding forms of energy transition that meet three conditions: that they be efficient, obligatory and readily monitored.

This, in order to achieve the beginning of a new process marked by three requirements: that it be drastic, intense and count on the commitment of all. That is not what has happened so far, and only a process of this sort can enable international politics to recover its credibility, since only in this concrete manner will it be possible to reduce significantly carbon dioxide levels and to prevent even greater evils over time.

Quoting from his 2020 encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti, Francis called for “more effective world organizations, equipped with the power to provide for the global common good, the elimination of hunger and poverty and the sure defence of fundamental human rights.”

READ: A pro-lifer’s guide to refuting the anti-human claims of climate alarmists

Such groups, he argued, “must be endowed with real authority, in such a way as to ‘provide for’ the attainment of certain essential goals. In this way, there could come about a multilateralism that is not dependent on changing political conditions or the interests of a certain few, and possesses a stable efficacy.”

Climate and globalism

The Pope downplayed arguments that restrictive climate-oriented measures would lead to a negative impact on people’s lives:

It is often heard also that efforts to mitigate climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels and developing cleaner energy sources will lead to a reduction in the number of jobs. What is happening is that millions of people are losing their jobs due to different effects of climate change: rising sea levels, droughts and other phenomena affecting the planet have left many people adrift.

Proposing general calls to action which would lead to a direct impact on people’s lives, Francis decried businesses for not acting fast enough on “climate change.” Instead, he called on the business sector to move to “renewable forms of energy, properly managed, as well as efforts to adapt to the damage caused by climate change,” which would be a move “capable of generating countless jobs in different sectors.”

READ: Nobel Prize winner denounces alarmist climate predictions: ‘I don’t believe there is a climate crisis’

“This demands that politicians and business leaders should even now be concerning themselves with it,” he added, pre-empting his later comments pertaining more to the international sphere of global politics. 

On multiple occasions, the Pope’s document took on a particularly globalist tone, arguing for international changes in culture and practice, employing language that was more lofty than precise:

The old diplomacy, also in crisis, continues to show its importance and necessity. Still, it has not succeeded in generating a model of multilateral diplomacy capable of responding to the new configuration of the world; yet should it be able to reconfigure itself, it must be part of the solution, because the experience of centuries cannot be cast aside either.

He has previously called on global leaders and international bodies such as the U.N. to implement climate policies across the globe, and in Laudate Deum this call was re-issued. “Our world has become so multipolar and at the same time so complex that a different framework for effective cooperation is required.”

READ: Pope joins with global companies to promote capitalism in line with UN’s pro-abortion goals  

“It is a matter of establishing global and effective rules that can permit ‘providing for’ this global safeguarding,” he argued, in a section of the document entitled “the Weakness of International Politics.”

Such a new system of global action against “climate change” would require “the development of a new procedure for decision-making and legitimizing those decisions, since the one put in place several decades ago is not sufficient nor does it appear effective,” wrote Francis. He highlighted the need for “conversation, consultation” and “‘democratization’ in the global context,” so that “caring” for the “rights” of all would be respected.

The Pope also echoed the U.N.’s arguments regarding the United States’ emissions levels, stating that “if we consider that emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries, we can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact.”

“As a result, along with indispensable political decisions, we would be making progress along the way to genuine care for one another,” he argued, repeating his call for mandatory climate based polices once again.

Pro-life and family advocates have continually expressed concern over the climate activism movement, as it is often aligned with pro-abortion and population control advocates and lobby groups. Others say much of climate activism is about garnering government grants and exerting statist power.

As already noted on numerous occasions by LifeSiteNews, the Paris Agreement which underpins the majority of current “climate change” action is indeed pro-abortion and connects to the stated U.N. goal of creating a universal right to abortion in line with Goal No. 5.6 of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The goal to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” includes the following aim: “Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights,” which is phraseology commonly used to refer to abortion and contraception.

The U.N. aims to have achieved the SDGs by 2030.

The Pope’s previous text, Laudato Si’, led to the birth of a global movement, which links “climate change” activism to the Pope’s words. The Laudato Si’ Movement issues calls to divest from fossil fuels, and aims to “turn Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’ into action for climate and ecological justice.”

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