It likely came as a surprise to many that Pope Francis has once again dedicated a papal document, his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, to climate change. It seems that the issue was more relevant than they believed. With this new text, it will hopefully become even clearer that the Pope feels, and wants to convey to us, ‘heartfelt concern’ over how we are taking care of the planet we call home.
Francis’ new text follows a similar structure to that of the encyclical Laudato si’, published eight years ago, including the context, roots of the problem and the need for more effective commitment to solve it, and finishing by offering spiritual reasons as to why the Catholic Church must take the ‘environmental question’ seriously.
However, there are two new elements: on the one hand, the text focuses – almost exclusively – on climate change and, on the other, it includes, I believe for the first time in a pontifical document, several quotes extracted from scientific sources.
The pope’s focus on climate change is justified by the seriousness of the problem, its global impact and the fact that the document was published just several weeks before the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai takes place in November.
Francis has urged the participating countries to reach binding and effective agreements in the summit: “We must move beyond the mentality of appearing to be concerned but not having the courage needed to produce substantial changes” (Laudate Deum, 56).
The second aspect, which underpins the first portion of the document (“The global climate crisis”), will raise eyebrows among the most sceptical for including several quotes from the International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) most recent report in which scientific evidence of what is happening to our planet is presented.
Obviously, the existence of climate change and its human-caused origin is not a question of faith, but it seems reasonable for the Pope to present the best scientific findings available on this issue, without going into controversial interpretations.
It is important to remember that the IPCC does not generate its own research; rather, it gathers in its reports findings published in specialised journals on the various issues it analyses, synthesising the enormous amounts of information available.
To give an idea, volume one of the three volumes which make up the latest report is dedicated entirely to physics-related aspects of climate change, and includes more than 14,000 references from articles published in scientific journals, amounting to almost 4,000 pages of research.
Controversies
From this first section the Pope concludes: “Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativise the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident” (Laudate Deum, 5). And he reiterates that the most vulnerable populations suffer the most from its negative consequences.
The Pope voices disappointment over the scepticism which still exists within some circles: “I feel obliged to make these clarifications, which may appear obvious, because of certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church” (Laudate Deum, 14).
The noise generated by the media surrounding climate change is undoubtedly one of the main obstacles hindering us from taking the necessary measures to mitigate the problem, as was the case with other social issues like anti-smoking legislation. Effective measures are delayed or abated due to alleged scientific controversy which is more media-created than real.