Pope Francis has warned that the world is reaching a ‘point of no return’ while blaming climate change on ‘the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the West.
The pontiff urged world leaders on Wednesday to commit to binding targets to slow climate change before it’s too late, warning that God’s increasingly warming creation is fast reaching a ‘point of no return.’
In an update to his landmark 2015 encyclical on the environment, Francis heightened alarm about the ‘irreversible’ harm to people and planet already underway and lamented that once again, the world’s poor and most vulnerable are paying the highest price.
He said: ‘We are now unable to halt the enormous damage we have caused. We barely have time to prevent even more tragic damage.’
He took aim at the United States, noting that per-capita emissions in the U.S. are twice as high as China and seven times greater than the average in poor countries.
‘We can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact,’ he said.
While individual, household efforts are helping, ‘we can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact,’ he said.
The document, Praise God, was released on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, and was aimed at spurring negotiators to commit to binding climate targets at the next round of U.N. talks in Dubai.
Using precise scientific data, Francis also delivered a moral imperative for the world to transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy with measures that are ‘efficient, obligatory and readily monitored.’
He said: ‘What is being asked of us is nothing other than a certain responsibility for the legacy we will leave behind, once we pass from this world.’
