Pope Francis spoke from Rome in a video message projected at the “Pavilion of Faith”, in Dubai, during COP 28. The sovereign pontiff calls on religions to work for the climate, and declared this December 3, 2023 that the “climatic drama” is also “a religious drama”.
On the occasion of the inauguration of the “pavilion of faith”, a space dedicated to meeting and dialogue between religious and political leaders to promote action on the climate, Pope Francis spoke on December 3 2023 in a message projected to the hundred people present at COP 28 in Dubai.
The sovereign pontiff explained that the “climatic drama” is also “a religious drama”.
Suffering, Pope Francis was unable to inaugurate the “Pavilion of Faith” in person. This is the first time that an interreligious space has been set up within an international climate conference.
During this COP 28, which ends on December 12, this place welcomes religious and political leaders but also around fifty religious organizations and scientists in order to promote action on the climate.
It was from Rome that the Pope sent a video message and left it to his Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to read his speech. The Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayyeb, who signed the Document on Human Fraternity with the Pope in 2019 in Abu Dhabi, was also present at the pavilion of faith.
Religions are called to “educate in contemplation”
“The climatic drama is also a religious drama: because it finds its source in the presumption of self-sufficiency of the creature,” declared Pope Francis, through the voice of the Italian cardinal who had already delivered the message the day before of the pontiff in front of heads of state and government from around the world for COP28. For Francis, religions are the “consciences of humanity” and remind us of the finitude of man. “Yes, we are mortal, we are limited, and protecting life also means opposing the delusion of greedy omnipotence which is ravaging the planet,” he writes.
Religious adhere to the Paris Agreement
Pope Francis signed, on the morning of December 3, 2023, at the Vatican the interreligious declaration, which had been prepared during the world summit of religious leaders on climate change, organized in early November in the United Arab Emirates, and attended by the cardinal. Pietro Parolin.
This document includes around thirty proposals for actions and commitments, including that of supporting the application of the compensation fund for climate losses and damages in vulnerable countries. But also that of committing to changing ways of consuming to “accelerate the energy transition and achieve the objective of net zero emissions by 2050, as requested by the Paris Agreement”.
This declaration was also signed by around thirty Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist leaders. “You have brought together diverse faiths around a common goal and shown that in a divided world, we can unite around climate action,” Sultan al Jaber, president of COP28, declared in early November.
