To His Excellency Mr. Alok Sharma
President of COP26, 26th session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Excellence,
As the Glasgow Conference begins, we are all aware that it matters
the task of showing the entire international community whether the political will really exists to allocate with honesty, responsibility and courage more human, financial and technological resources to mitigate the negative effects of climate change as well as to help the poorest and most vulnerable populations, which are those who suffer most from it.
But, in front of us, there is more: this task must, in fact, be carried out in the midst of a pandemic that has been scourging our humanity for almost two years. Alongside the various tragedies that Covid-19 has brought, the pandemic also teaches us that we have no alternatives: we will only be able to defeat it if we all take part in this challenge. All this, we know well, requires a profound and solid collaboration between all the peoples of the world.
There was a before the pandemic; it will inevitably be different from the post-pandemic that we must build together, taking a cue from the mistakes made in the past.
It is possible to do the same in tackling the global problem of climate change. We have no alternatives. We can achieve the objectives written in the Paris Agreement only if we act in a coordinated and responsible manner. These are ambitious goals, but they cannot be postponed. Today these decisions are up to you.
COP26 can and must actively contribute to this conscientious construction of a future where daily behavior and economic-financial investments can really safeguard the conditions for a life worthy of today’s and tomorrow’s humanity on a “healthy” planet.
This is a period change, a challenge of civilization for which there is a need for the commitment of everyone and in particular of the countries with greater capacities, which must take a leading role in the field of climate finance, of the decarbonisation of the system. economic and people’s lives, the promotion of a circular economy, the support to the most vulnerable countries for the activities of adaptation to the impacts of climate change and of response to the losses and damages deriving from this phenomenon.
For its part, the Holy See, as I indicated at the High Level Virtual Climate Ambition Summit of 12 December 2020, has adopted a strategy of reducing net emissions to zero (net-zero emission) which moves on two levels: 1) l ‘commitment by the Vatican City State to achieve this goal by 2050; 2) the commitment of the Holy See itself to promote education in integral ecology, well aware that political, technical and operational measures must be combined with an educational process which, also and above all among young people, promotes new lifestyles and foster a cultural model of development and sustainability centered on fraternity and the alliance between the human being and the natural environment. Thousands of initiatives have been born from these commitments all over the world.
Also in this perspective, on 4 October last, I had the pleasure of meeting with various religious leaders and scientists to sign a joint Appeal in view of COP-26. On that occasion, we heard voices from representatives of many faiths and spiritual traditions, of many cultures and scientific fields. Different voices and with different sensitivities. But what could be clearly perceived was a strong convergence of all in committing themselves to the urgent need to initiate a change of course capable of moving with decision and conviction from the “throwaway culture” prevalent in our society to a “culture of the care ”of our common home and of those who live there or will live there.
The wounds brought to humanity by the Covid-19 pandemic and the phenomenon of climate change are comparable to those resulting from a global conflict. Just as in the aftermath of the Second World War, it is necessary today that the entire international community prioritizes the implementation of collective, solidarity and far-sighted actions.
We need hope and courage. Humanity has the means to face this transformation which requires a real conversion, individual but also community, and the determined will to undertake this path. It is about the transition towards a more integral and integral development model, based on solidarity and responsibility; a transition during which the effects it will have on the world of work must also be carefully considered.
In this perspective, particular attention must be paid to the most vulnerable populations, towards which an “ecological debt” has matured, connected both to commercial imbalances with environmental consequences, and to the disproportionate use of the natural resources of their own and other countries . We cannot deny it.
The “ecological debt” recalls, in some ways, the question of foreign debt, the pressure of which often hinders the development of peoples. The post-pandemic can and must restart taking into consideration all these aspects, also connected with the launch of careful negotiated procedures for the forgiveness of foreign debt associated with a more sustainable and just economic structure, aimed at supporting the climate emergency. It is “necessary that the developed countries contribute to solving the debt [ecologico] by significantly limiting the consumption of non-renewable energy, and contributing resources to the countries most in need to promote sustainable development policies and programs ». A development in which, finally, everyone can participate.
Unfortunately, we must bitterly note how far we are from achieving the desired goals to combat climate change. It must be said honestly: we can’t afford it! At various times, in view of COP26, it became clear that there is no more time to wait; by now, too many human faces are suffering from this climate crisis: in addition to its increasingly frequent and intense impacts on the daily lives of many people, especially the most vulnerable populations, we realize that it has also become a crisis in the rights of children and that, in the near future, environmental migrants will be more numerous than conflict refugees. We must act with urgency, courage and responsibility. Also take action to prepare for a future in which humanity is able to take care of itself and nature.
The young people, who in recent years have been asking us with insistence to act, will not have a different planet from the one we leave them, from the one they will be able to receive according to our concrete choices today. This is the moment of the decision that gives them reasons for confidence in the future.
I wanted to be there with you, but it wasn’t possible. However, I accompany you with prayer in these important choices.
Please receive, Mr. President, my most heartfelt and cordial greetings. From the Vatican, 29 October 2021.