Pope’s message, a big push for climate change

By Shai Panela

MANILA–The socially radical Pope Francis will call on people across the world for changes in lifestyle and energy consumption during his encyclical or teaching letter, based on the leaked document published by an Italian magazine on Monday.

L’Espresso magazine defied the embargo on the 192-page document which was set to be released on June 18.

Based on the leaked document as reported in The Guardian, Pope Francis acknowledges that while there may be natural causes to global warming, he states that climate change is mostly a man-made problem.

He wrote, “Humanity is called to take note of the need for changes in lifestyle and changes in methods of production and consumption to combat this warming, or at least the human causes that produce and accentuate it.”

The leaked encyclical, intended to be disseminated to more than 5,000 bishops all over the world, is not only for Catholics but for all people, regardless of religion.

The papal message is a crucial statement that comes five months before the United Nations-backed climate change negotiations in Paris in December where governments will try to hammer a binding agreement on the issue.

Various environmental organizations and government officials hope that the message to be outlined by the pope will inspire some of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics on climate action and environmental protection.

According to the draft, the Pope rejects “carbon credits” as a solution to climate change. It said that carbon credits “could give rise to a new form of speculation and would not help to reduce the overall emission of polluting gases,” but it could also help “support the super-consumption of certain countries and sectors.”

Meanwhile, the Vatican Press Office issued a statement regarding the leaked document.

“Please note that it is not the final text, and that the rules of the Embargo remain in place,” it said. “We ask journalists to respect professional standards, which call for waiting for the official publication of the final text,” it added.

Story by Shai Panela

photo credit: CBCP Mission; CBCP news