Pope Francis And Climate Change: Does Morality Play A Role In Climate Policy

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Nives Dolsak is Stan and Alta Barer Professor in Sustainability Science and Director of the School of Marine & Environmental Affairs. Aseem Prakash is the Walker Family Professor and the Director of the Center for Environmental Politics. Both are at the University of Washington, Seattle. DISCLAIMER: Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors, and do not reflect the views of the University of Washington, nor any funding body.

Pope Francis is among the most important moral leaders of our times. His public pronouncements often focus on moral dimensions of global challenges. While he is outspoken on climate issues, it is less clear whether his climate pronouncements affect public policy and individual behavior. This raises the question of how moral reasoning might influence climate politics.

Pope Francis’ climate message has not altered climate attitudes in Catholic countries such as Italy either, where exposure to his message is more likely. In a co-authored with Nela Mrchkovska, we explored if referencing Pope Francis’ encyclical,motivates individuals to donate €20 to a hypothetical nongovernmental organization that advocates for a meat tax.

Lastly, moral messaging gets ignored when it clashes with widespread consumerism and the devotion to carbon-intensive lifestyles. As per thereport, only 10% of Americans, including 8% of the religiously affiliated, say it is morally wrong to drive low gas mileage cars. Similarly, only 3% of U.S. adults say this is morally wrong to eat food that takes a lot of energy to produce.

In sum, climate politics must pay attention to two factors. First, how to compensate actors who lose from climate policy. Second, which moral foundations might persuade climate opponents to support policy actions? Without careful examination of both, climate policy progress will continue to lag.

 

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Current Climate: The Pope Urges The World To Solve Climate ChangeI'm a senior editor at Forbes covering healthcare, science, and cutting edge technology. I also co-author the Current Climate and InnovationRX newsletters.
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