In choosing a brand new chief of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the Vatican had an opportunity to honor the late Pope Francis’ legacy because the greenest pope in fashionable historical past. In selecting the American (and Peruvian) Cardinal Robert Prevost — henceforth referred to as Pope Leo XIV — his fellow cardinals seem to have seized that chance. Humanity’s hope of avoiding the worst of local weather change can solely profit.
We’ll be taught extra in regards to the pope’s views within the days to come back. However he’s on document telling a seminar final November that the world should transfer “from phrases to motion” on local weather change. In the identical speech, he warned that humanity’s “dominion over nature” shouldn’t be “tyrannical” however “a relationship of reciprocity.” He additionally touted the Vatican’s inexperienced document, together with purchases of photo voltaic panels and electrical automobiles — a fleet that now consists of the primary all-electric Popemobile.
In fact, actions converse louder than phrases. However the brand new pope’s phrases on local weather echo these of his predecessor, who put in a few of these photo voltaic panels final 12 months and launched plans for an agrivoltaic photo voltaic array with sufficient energy to run your entire Vatican — probably making it the primary nation to run solely on renewable energy.
Extra importantly, Francis spoke eloquently and infrequently about local weather. His 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, which bemoaned humanity’s wanton “use and abuse” of the Earth, offered ethical gasoline for the landmark Paris local weather accords in 2015. A number of signatories cited his work in speeches forward of the settlement. It impressed the Laudato Si’ Motion, a community of Catholic teams taking local weather motion world wide.
Francis’ environmental advocacy wasn’t simply primarily based on an summary love of nature. He additionally acknowledged that essentially the most susceptible human beings on this planet — together with Catholics in Peru, the nation of Pope Leo XIV’s twin citizenship — would endure essentially the most. A church devoted to serving to the poor and struggling can’t ignore the ravages of an overheating planet.
Eight years after he wrote Laudato Si’, after watching the world run low on the ethical gasoline that drove the Paris settlement, Francis wrote one other encyclical, Laudate Deum, chastising world leaders for failing to dwell as much as their very own lofty phrases.
Simply earlier than his dying, he needed to witness the return to energy of President Donald Trump, who has been vigorously hacking away at every little thing constructive his authorities has ever completed for the local weather. In the meantime, the buzzword heard too typically in world local weather discussions at present is “pragmatism,” which is a brief hop from defeatism.
In a flash, Pope Leo XIV has turn into one of the vital well-known and essential individuals on this planet. He has a chance to make use of his new vaunted platform to hold on Francis’ work and push again towards local weather defeatism. It is going to require not solely extra highly effective phrases but in addition highly effective actions.
