Pope urges climate action in COP28, decries 'irresponsible' Western lifestyle

Pope Francis on Wednesday (Oct 4) urged participating countries of the upcoming COP28 climate talks to agree over binding policies for phasing out of fossil fuels. He warned that the world "is collapsing" because of global warming.

Pope Francis published a follow-up eight years after his landmark thesis that spoke about devastation of manmade climate change. He warned that some damage was 'already irreversible'.

"With the passage of time, I have realised that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point," he wrote in the 12-page letter.

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Pope said that the UN climate talks in Dubai that open on November 30 "can represent a change of direction" if participating countries agreed on binding policies for a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy such as wind and solar.

The Pope wrote that only a real commitment for change "can enable international politics to recover its credibility"

Pope's 200-page encyclical titled "Laudato Si" ("Praise Be To You") came out in 2015. It was akin to global call to arms for protection of Earth. The thesis was widely discussed and debated upon and was even taken note of in scientific journals.

Just months after the thesis came out, there was a breakthrough in UN climate talks held in Paris. Nearly every nation ono Earth committed to control global warming "well below" two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

However, just last month, the UN warned that the world was not track to hit the goal. There are predictions that the year 2023 would be the hottest year in human history.

Pope Francis said in "Laudate Deum" (Praise God), the document released on Wednesday, that he hopes COP28 will allow for a decisive acceleration of energy transition, with effective commitments subject to ongoing monitoring"

He referenced concerns about the UN talks being held in oil-rich United Arab Emirates, noting that while it was a "great exporter of fossil fuels" it also made "significant investments" in renewable energy sources.

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"To say that there is nothing to hope for would be suicidal, for it would mean exposing all humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change," wrote Francis.

In the document, Pope described "certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church".

"Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativise the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident," he wrote.

In Wednesday's text, he said that "regrettably, the climate crisis is not exactly a matter that interests the great economic powers, whose concern is with the greatest profit".

He also repeated a call for changes in the "irresponsible lifestyle" of rich countries, and said relying on technological innovation is not enough.

(With inputs from agencies)

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