Take climate change seriously, or earth will be nothing but 'rubble' and 'refuse'


Pope Francis made an ardent appeal to governments around the world on Friday during a papal address to heed his warning on climate change, insisting that Earth will one day be nothing but a giant pile of rubble if environmental concerns aren’t addressed swiftly.

As The Hill reports, Francis spoke on the third anniversary of “Praise Be,” which is an encyclical letter that confirms the stance that the Catholic Church has taken on climate change in which they describe the issue as being one that is both moral and scientific in nature.

The Pope explained that there is a very real chance that if things continue as they are going at the present rate, the future of life on Earth will be a harsh one, with many areas of it completely uninhabitable.

When Pope Francis wrote his “Praise Be” letter back in 2015, he did so before the Paris climate conference that year. With 195 countries around the world deciding that it would be wise to dramatically scale back greenhouse gas levels and cut these in half if they could, the Pope has now said that these gases continue to be on the rise, along with carbon dioxide emissions, and addressed governments everywhere to alert them to what he believes is truly “a cause for real concern.”

On Friday, Pope Francis urged governments to take their agreement seriously before it was too late. He further implored the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and numerous other institutions to do their part to help combat global warming, especially when it comes to developing countries, according to Jezebel.

“It grieves us to see the lands of indigenous peoples expropriated and their cultures trampled on by predatory schemes and by new forms of colonialism, fueled by the culture of waste and consumerism. We all know that much still needs to be done to implement that Agreement. All governments should strive to honor the commitments made in Paris, in order to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. Reducing greenhouse gases requires honesty, courage and responsibility, above all on the part of those countries which are more powerful and pollute the most, and we cannot afford to waste time.”

This echoes the speech that the Pope made back in June when he told oil company executives that “civilization requires energy, but energy use must not destroy civilization.”

The Vatican announced that the climate change speech Pope Francis gave on Friday was intended to help the Catholic Church “impress a sense of urgency about global warming and the threat it poses.”

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