Pope Francis Emphasizes Responsibility and Solidarity in Addressing Climate Change on World Environment Day

(Vatican News Network) On the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5, Pope Francis received the promoters of the Italian “Green and Blue Festival” (Green and Blue Festival) who came to the Vatican and talked to them about the major challenges of the moment, That is to change the current mode of consumption and production, reject indifference, abandon the environment and human culture. This is a challenge that requires great effort, the Pope said, while also reminding the world of the importance of respecting creation and neighbor.

World Environment Day commemorates the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm on June 5, 1972. The Pope said that 50 years of growing attention to environmental issues had also “enlarged our knowledge of the impact of individual actions on our common home and on the people who inhabit it today and in the future”, while increasing “our A sense of responsibility before God who has entrusted us with the care of creation, with our neighbor and with future generations”.

The Pope stressed that everyone should work together to deal with the crisis brought about by climate change. He said: “The phenomenon of climate change continues to remind us of our responsibility: it disproportionately hits the poorest and most vulnerable, and those who are not responsible for causing climate change. This is a matter of justice first, and second. It’s a matter of solidarity.”

Indeed, irresponsible behavior is the real enemy, affecting us as human beings today and in the future. The Pope cited the testimony he heard when he met with the fishing delegation of San Benedict in Trento. What these fishermen go out to sea for a day is not fish, but tons of plastic from the seabed, which improves the environment. Another example of environmental protection is when interviewing managers of McDonald’s fast food industry, they talked about switching to recycled paper as packaging bags instead of plastic.

These, the Pope pointed out, are concrete actions so that those born today will not live in an uninhabitable world 30 years from now. “We must not deprive new generations of the hope of living in better times,” the Pope concluded.

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