Negotiators of a global agreement on climate change must take effective action to protect creation, leading bishops from around the world said on Monday. “This agreement must put the common good ahead of national interests. It is essential too that the negotiations result in an enforceable agreement that protects our common home and all its inhabitants,” said the bishops’ Oct. 26 appeal.
The bishops’ appeal addressed negotiators at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will take place in Paris in Nov. 30 – Dec. 11. The bishops said negotiators must secure an agreement that is “fair, legally binding and truly transformational,” Vatican Radio reports. “The building and maintenance of a sustainable common home requires courageous and imaginative political leadership,” the bishops continued, calling for legal frameworks which “clearly establish boundaries” and ensure protection for the ecosystem.
They called on the climate change conference to forge an international agreement to limit global temperature increases as suggested by the scientific community in order “to avoid catastrophic climatic impacts, especially on the poorest and most vulnerable communities.”
“The need to work together in a common endeavor is imperative,” they said. The bishops advised that the global climate change agreement recognize “the need to live in harmony with nature” and the need to guarantee human rights for everyone, including indigenous peoples, women, youth and workers. The conference should “develop new models of development and lifestyles that are climate compatible, address inequality and bring people out of poverty.”
