“The policy makers who will meet at COP26 in Glasgow are urged to provide effective responses to the current environmental crisis,” said the Pope on Friday in a message broadcast on BBC radio. In this way, they could set “concrete signs of hope” for future generations.
At the same time, the head of the Catholics emphasized that each and every one of us could contribute to «influencing the common response to this unprecedented threat of climate change and the decline of our common home».
At the beginning of October, the Pope, together with other religious leaders, had already made an appeal to the participants in the world climate summit. It called on the heads of state and government to adopt “quick, responsible and joint” measures to protect “injured humanity and the house entrusted to us”.
From Sunday on, the governments will be negotiating at the World Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, how they can actually meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. This provides for a limitation of global warming to well below two and if possible to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial age.
The Pope does not attend the conference; instead, a delegation headed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin is traveling to Glasgow. But Francis is meeting with several heads of state who are attending the G20 summit in Rome at the weekend before leaving for Scotland. On Friday he received US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae In for audiences. A meeting with Indian President Narendra Modi is planned for Saturday.