- Pope Francis may attend the COP28 climate conference starting next month in Dubai.
- Pope Francis has made protecting the environment one of the hallmarks of his papacy.
Vatican sources have said that Pope Francis may attend the COP28 climate conference starting next month in Dubai. This is to drive home his recent appeal for action to curb global warming. It would be the first time a pope has attended a U.N. climate change conference since they began in 1995.
Pope Francis wants to go to Dubai, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said on the sidelines of a Catholic-Jewish event in Rome on Wednesday. He added that no final decision had been taken. Moreover, the Pope, 86, has made the protection of the environment one of the hallmarks of his papacy and met last week with COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber. In a major document on Oct. 4, Francis appealed to climate change deniers and foot-dragging politicians to have a change of heart. He stated, “They cannot gloss over human causes or deride science while the planet “may be nearing the breaking point”.
Furthermore, the document, known as an Apostolic Exhortation and titled Laudate Deum (Praise God), was a follow-up to Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si” (Praise Be). Recent extreme weather events prompted the challenges facing COP28 several times. Francis, in the document, said, “ Failure in Dubai will be a great disappointment and jeopardize whatever good has been achieved thus far.”