Currently — October 5, 2023: Pope issues an urgent call for climate action

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Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of more than a billion Christians worldwide, has issued a forceful new call for bold climate action.

The document is addressed specifically to the world’s wealthy and privileged, particularly in the US and Europe, to show compassion for people around the world who have done little to cause the climate emergency and who are already feeling its effects profoundly.

“Our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point,” he wrote.

The Pope called for a transition away from lifestyles of consumption and extraction and towards a more ecologically-focused society. His message is timely as the world prepares to gather in Dubai for the latest global climate negotiations next month.

In 2015, Pope Francis made a similar appeal in advance of the Paris climate accords, and was widely credited at helping steer the conversation away from the impersonal numbers and scientific debate towards justice and social progress.

— Eric Holthaus

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