(Vatican City) A pope facing “sinners”: Francis will be the first pontiff to participate in a UN climate conference in early December in Dubai, with the hope of advancing crucial negotiations for the planet.
The 86-year-old Argentinian elected in 2013, who has made defense of the environment one of the pillars of his pontificate, will deliver a highly anticipated speech to COP 28 in Dubai on December 2. He should denounce the inaction of the countries concerned and encourage them to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
It could also have a role in restoring trust between climate-vulnerable countries and rich, polluting economies.
This will be the first time that a pope will participate in person at a COP summit since the conference was established in 1995.
Faced with countries that increase rather than reduce their production of fossil fuels, “the pope stands out as almost a divine presence in the midst of hordes of sinners,” observes Professor Sverker Sörlin, environmental specialist at the Royal Institute. of technology in Stockholm.
“The pope may not be able to change the situation at the top, but he could be the needle on the scale that tips the negotiators […] in the right direction,” said the scientist, whose own work was cited by the pope.
PHOTO REMO CASILLI, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Pope Francis
The spiritual leader of the 1.3 billion Catholics, more than half of whom live in developing countries, has long insisted on the link between climate change and poverty, while the most marginalized pay the highest price in the face of global warming.
He who chose to take the name of the patron saint of ecology upon his election, published in 2015 his encyclical “Laudato si” (“Praised be you”), a 200-page manifesto for an “integral ecology” , based on scientific studies, a first for a religious leader.
This text sparked a global debate, an unprecedented phenomenon for a religious text, including comments in scientific journals.
A few months later, an agreement was reached at the COP in Paris, where countries committed to limiting global warming “well below” +2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.
“A turning point”
But the UN warned this year that these commitments would not be kept, leading the pope to publish a new text in early October entitled “Laudate Deum” (“Praise God”), which calls on the great powers to abandon fossil fuels.
The Argentine Jesuit deplores “insufficient” responses while the world […] collapses” and approaches a “breaking point”.
According to him, the Dubai conference can, however, represent “a turning point” in the event of a binding agreement on the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources such as wind and solar, otherwise it will be “a great disappointment “.
Tebaldo Vinciguerra, member of the Vatican office for environmental issues, told AFP that a “central theme” would be the financing of the fund to compensate those most affected by climate change (pollution, restricted access to water, deforestation…).
According to him, Dubai negotiators cannot “pretend as if nothing had happened or limit themselves to treating the symptoms”,
Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, kicked off the Vatican’s ecology initiatives by installing solar panels on the roof of the immense Paul VI Hall hosting weekly papal audiences in 2008.
Fifteen years later, the Vatican has committed to reducing its gas emissions by 20% by 2030 compared to the 2011 level. A commitment that is above all symbolic in view of the contribution of the tiny State to global emissions.
The Holy See also signed an interfaith declaration this month with 27 other leaders, including the prominent environmentalist Rabbi David Rosen, representatives of the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque, a senior Sunni authority, the Orthodox Patriarch Russian Kirill and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
In a sign of the growing engagement of religions on climate, the Dubai COP will include for the first time a multi-faith pavilion, which will be inaugurated by Francis and will host meetings with religious leaders, scientists and political leaders.
The Pope will also take advantage of his presence in Dubai to have private bilateral meetings, while conflicts rage in Ukraine and the Middle East.