The Pope’s global warming challenge to world leaders

The need for urgent action to address global warming has been the key point in a major document released by the Vatican on October 4. In his appeal to the world leaders, entitled Laudate Deum, Pope Francis expressed hope that the forthcoming COP28 meeting "will allow for a decisive acceleration of energy transition, with effective commitments subject to ongoing monitoring."

The Pope's urging comes at an appropriate juncture in the now-flagging momentum of the global environmental movement. The Northern Hemisphere experienced its hottest summer this year. Climate change had all but disappeared from US media for almost a year since the war in Ukraine became the talking point and the presidential elections came rolling around.

It has almost been eight years since the Paris Climate Accord, an international treaty on climate change, was adopted in December 2015. The Accord has laudable goals for climate mitigation, adaptation, and finance. But much water has flown down the Ganges since then, and progress has been very slow on all fronts. While the bar was set very high, the goals seemed achievable by 2030. It was stipulated in the Accord that emissions should be reduced as soon as possible and should reach net zero by the middle of this century. To stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, emissions needed to be cut by roughly 50 percent by 2030.

But the UN warned last month that the world is not on track to meet these goals, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that 2023 will be the hottest year in human history.

One important point raised by the Vatican was that the world's wealthiest countries are responsible for the rapid change in the environment and exhorted that the consumption patterns of the wealthiest nations have to change. The Pope notes that "emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries."

As we know, wealth, energy use, and the consumption of goods and services are unevenly distributed across the world. In 2021, the average North American emitted 11 times more energy-related CO2 than the average African. Yet, variations across income groups are even more significant. The top one percent of emitters globally each had carbon footprints amounting to over 50 tonnes of CO2 in 2021, at least a thousand times greater than those of the bottom one percent of emitters. These sharp contrasts reflect great differences in income and wealth, and in lifestyles and consumption patterns. It is about time that the United States and other wealthy countries reiterate their commitment to do more to help poor nations, which have contributed the least to the climate crisis.

This brings us to the next step needed to revive the climate push and the possible reason why the global environmental movement will welcome the Pope's encyclical. The COP28 meeting is only a few weeks away before it assembles in Expo City, Dubai next month. Taking place from November 30 to December 12, it will provide an unprecedented opportunity to change course and create a better world for people, nature, and the climate. It is noteworthy that the host of the conference is Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, who was named the president of COP28.

To allay any fears that an oil tycoon may not be best suited for the new role, Al Jaber has recently made more ambitious statements saying the world must "phase down" fossil fuels themselves. But he has so far avoided calling for the complete phasing-out of oil, coal, and gas that scientific organisations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) say is essential to tackle the climate crisis.

Will the Pope's appeal make any difference? The answer is a qualified "yes." He is the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics and has been a consistent advocate for a cleaner environment and carbon-free energy sources. In 2015, prior to the Paris meeting, the Pope made a similar declaration to world leaders to come to an agreement to reduce emissions and finance mitigation and adaptation. His words did not fall on deaf ears then. And now, at a time of chaos and crises around the world, the Pope is considered a solid rock, or even like the North Star, during these turbulent times.

To mollify the sceptics, Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, an international environmental organisation, said, "The work of spiritual leaders around the world may be our best chance of getting hold of things… Yes, the engineers have done their job. Yes, the scientists have done their job. But it's high time for the human heart to do its job. That's what we need this leadership for."

Let me wrap up this note by summarising the current state of affairs and the takeaway from the Pope's message: 1) Rich countries need to reduce their consumption, 2) The polluters must provide support to poorer countries to adapt and mitigate, and 3) The global leaders can take action to reallocate resources away from the greedy and towards the needy.

To note, the Pope repeatedly mentioned "global warming" in his message rather than the broader "climate change." And this caught a lot of attention. We need a more engaging slogan to end climate change. Climate leaders must also emphasise that we need more funding for the poor. "COP28 also needs to ensure that finance going to the Global South to fund this transition is massively increased. Currently, Africa has 39 percent of the world's potential for renewable energy, yet it receives just two percent of global investment in the sector."

One can hope that the Pope will go further in his follow-ups and urge the rich countries to provide support to the poorer countries. "Wealthy nations must provide the finance necessary to make adaptation possible in the countries that need it most," said a report from Washington, DC-based think-tank World Resources Institute. An op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on October 7 said that, of the $3 trillion investment in rich countries for greener technology, only a fraction is allocated to improving the lot of the poor and an even smaller fraction is being channelled to funding for projects in the poor countries.

Dr Abdullah Shibli is an economist and works for Change Healthcare, Inc, an information technology company. He also serves as senior research fellow at the US-based International Sustainable Development Institute (ISDI).

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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