Pope Leo XIV called on governments worldwide to increase regulations aimed at mitigating climate change, continuing the teachings of the late Pope Francis.
The Chicago-born pope made the remarks at the Raising Hope conference just south of Rome. The conference is intended to mark the 10th anniversary of Francis’s landmark encyclical on the environment.
Published in 2015, Laudato Si called on the Catholic Church to put the environment at the center of its social teachings. Francis wrote that the Earth was starting to look like “an immense pile of filth,” adding that the church holds a moral obligation to support efforts aimed at combating climate change.
Leo praised his predecessor’s words and his impact on Wednesday, saying the encyclical has greatly inspired the church in the years since it was published.
However, Leo warned that the challenges Francis wrote about are more relevant today, not only in a religious and spiritual nature, but also in a political one.
Leo pointed to an apostolic exhortation released by Francis in 2023, which illustrated how divisive the matter of climate change has become and criticized those who have “chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change.”
Francis insisted that caring for the environment is intrinsically linked with the Catholic faith, later putting pressure on individuals to more strongly advocate mitigating actions.
“Pope Francis emphasized that the most effective solutions would not come from individual efforts alone, but above all from major political decisions on the national and international levels,” Leo said.
“Everyone in society, through nongovernmental organizations and advocacy groups, must put pressure on governments to develop and implement more rigorous regulations, procedures, and controls,” he continued. “Citizens need to take an active role in political decision-making at national, regional, and local levels. Only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to the environment.”
Only five months into his tenure as pope, Leo has made it clear that tackling climate change and lowering the risks of global warming for poor and vulnerable individuals will be a priority during his papacy.
In July, Leo held a special mass urging Catholics to engage in efforts aimed at combating the effects of climate change, noting that the planet is experiencing an “ecological crisis.”
Leo has also prioritized environmentally friendly changes in the Vatican, including using solar power to make Vatican City the first carbon-neutral state. Additionally, he launched a new ecological center and farm dedicated to sustainability.
The American pope’s emphasis on addressing climate change is a break from the current political focus of the U.S. government. President Donald Trump has rolled back numerous climate-related policies and again pulled the United States from the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement.
TRUMP CALLS CARBON FOOTPRINT A ‘HOAX’ IN UN ADDRESS CRITICIZING GREEN POLICIES
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has escalated pressure on the European Union to do the same, targeting methane and other climate change-related regulations that fossil fuel companies say will hurt their ability to increase exports abroad.
While Energy Secretary Chris Wright, for example, has said climate change is a real phenomenon and a global challenge, the administration has insisted it is not an essential threat and is less important to address than getting ahead in the artificial intelligence race.
