Vatican calls for ‘clear roadmap’ as climate summit enters final stretch

The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) logo displayed on a smartphone. / Rafapress via Shutterstock.

Vatican City, Nov 11, 2021 / 10:50 am (CNA).

The Vatican called on Thursday for a “clear roadmap” as the United Nations climate summit in Scotland entered its final stretch.

The Vatican said on Nov. 11 that the Holy See delegation, led by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, appreciated the commitments made by states taking part in COP26, a two-week gathering in Glasgow that ends on Friday.

“During these two weeks, various ‘gaps’ have emerged in the fields of mitigation, adaptation, and financing,” a Vatican statement said.

“The resources made available for these three aspects, which are fundamental for achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement, will need to be strengthened and renewed in order to achieve these goals.”

“The Holy See hopes that COP26 can reach an agreement on a clear roadmap to close these gaps soon, with developed countries taking the lead.”

The Vatican issued the statement hours after releasing a letter from Pope Francis to Scotland’s Catholics.

Expressing regret that he was unable to attend the summit in person, the pope wrote: “Time is running out; this occasion must not be wasted, lest we have to face God’s judgment for our failure to be faithful stewards of the world he has entrusted to our care.”

COP26 President Alok Sharma echoed the pope’s words on Nov. 10, saying that “time is running out” to reach an agreement and calling for a breakthrough on financial support for poorer countries most affected by climate change.

Pope Francis has sought to galvanize efforts to protect the environment since his election in 2013. He issued the encyclical Laudato si’ in 2015, ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in France, which negotiated the Paris Agreement.

The Glasgow summit is encouraging governments to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Vatican said on Thursday that the Holy See’s delegation had brought the pope’s concerns to COP26 participants, “emphasizing the human face of the climate crisis, its impact on the poorest and those who have done the least to cause it.”

“The ambitious commitments made by states to limit the rise of the global average temperature to 1.5 °C [2.7°F] above pre-industrial levels and to provide the needed financial resources to do so are promising and indeed essential for the survival of the most vulnerable communities,” it said.

The Holy See highlighted the “issue of loss and damage,” which it said was vital to communities suffering most from climate change.

It said that a joint message signed by faith leaders and scientists at the Vatican on Oct. 4 recognized the importance of the topic.

It also noted that the pope had stressed “the ecological debt and the solidarity that industrialized countries owe to the poor” in Laudato si’.

It concluded: “The Holy See delegation hopes that the final decisions of this conference may be inspired by a genuine sense of responsibility towards present and future generations, as well as the care of our common home, and that these decisions may truly respond to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.”