The 7,000-word document, called Laudate Deum , is a follow-up to Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on the environment.
He warned against putting too much trust in technology to capture gas emissions, saying while it is promising, it does not tackle the human causes at the root of global warming. “Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativise the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident,” he said.
Saying “it is no longer possible to doubt the human – ‘antropic’ – origin of climate change”, he took aim at those who “deride these facts”, saying they use “allegedly scientific data” to show that the planet has always had periods of warming and cooling. Failure in Dubai, he said, “will be a great disappointment and jeopardise whatever good has been achieved thus far”.