In a new Apostolic Exhortation, the head of the Catholic Church said that our warming planet is one of the greatest challenges facing the global community.Pope Francis writes that “the necessary transition towards clean energy sources such as wind and solar energy, and the abandonment of fossil fuels, is not progressing at the necessary speed.
“Let us finally stop the irresponsible derision that would present this issue as something purely ecological, ‘green,’ romantic – and frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests.” There is no lack of people who talk down the observations of experts, adding that“ however much one may try to deny, hide, conceal or relativise them, the signs of climate change are there and are becoming ever more evident.”
The “Laudate Deum” is to be understood as an update of the much-acclaimed environmental encyclical “Laudato Si’” from 2015.In “Laudato Si,” Francis called for an “ecological conversion” and denounced environmental destruction, social injustice and consumerism.