Pope Leo XIV delivered his inaugural significant address on climate change on Wednesday, at a conference commemorating the decennial of Laudato Si’, a pivotal papal text authored by his forerunner, Pope Francis. During the address, he underscored the encyclical’s significance, a document advocating for environmental stewardship and directly confronting climate change. He also implored society to insist on greater action from global governments to address this issue.
“Since its inception, this encyclical has profoundly influenced the Catholic Church and numerous individuals of good faith,” he stated. “Its reach has broadened to encompass international gatherings, interfaith dialogues, economic and corporate sectors, and scholarly pursuits in theology and bioethics.”
This document served as an urgent appeal, released prior to the significant Paris Agreement ratified in December 2015. Leaders drew upon Francis’s statements during their addresses to the United Nations climate conference that year.
While today’s discourse represented Leo’s primary address on climate change, the Pontiff had previously touched upon the matter. Early in September, he commented on the climate crisis during his address for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
“Everywhere, injustice, breaches of international law and human rights, severe disparities, and the avarice driving them are leading to deforestation, contamination, and biodiversity loss,” he asserted. “Severe natural events, stemming from human-induced climate shifts, are escalating in their severity and regularity, not to mention the sustained human and environmental damage inflicted by military conflicts.”
Earlier in the summer, Leo endorsed an agreement for a solar farm, positioning the Vatican to become the planet’s inaugural carbon-neutral nation. The previous month, he inaugurated an ecological training facility within the Castel Gandolfo gardens, dedicated to sustainable agriculture, environmental guardianship, and further tenets of Laudato Si.
In his Wednesday address, Leo observed that the issues highlighted in Laudato Si remain “even more pertinent today than a decade ago.”
He emphasized that safeguarding the planet is a collective responsibility, calling on individuals to advocate for political reforms within their local areas.
“All members of society, operating through non-governmental organizations and advocacy bodies, must compel governments to formulate and enact stricter rules, processes, and oversight,” he stated. “Citizens ought to engage actively in political governance at national, regional, and community tiers. This is the sole path to alleviating environmental harm.”
His remarks further signaled that the new Pope, whose views on , is anticipated to adopt a similarly unyielding position on climate change as his forerunner. “We share this planet,” he concluded, “and we must collectively nurture it.”
