Pope Francis urged the international community to act on climate change: “Time is running out, we are at the limit”

Pope Francis on Thursday urged world leaders to protect the planet from climate change and to “act with courage and justice” to that end. “It is time to act, we are at the limit,” he warned in a message for Earth Day.

“Time is running out and, as COVID-19 has shown, we have the means to rise to the challenge. We have the means. It is time to act, we are at the limit “, he said in a video post to a YouTube forum on the EarthDay.org network.

Francisco, who normally devotes part of his teaching to the question of the environment, which centered his encyclical “Laudato si” (2015), argued that humanity “has long realized that nature deserves to be be protected ”.

A lesson which, in his opinion, has been widely understood since the epidemic of the coronavirus pandemic and its advance across the planet. “This pandemic has also shown us what happens when the world stops, stops, even for a few months. The impact this has on nature and climate change, in a sadly positive way. It shows us that global nature needs our lives on the planet ”.

For it, urged political leaders to be clear and “tell the truth” to society so that they become aware of the world situation and react in its protection: “So that people know how to protect themselves from the destruction of the planet, how to protect the planet from the destruction that we repeatedly unleash”.

“I also join you in calling on all the leaders of the world to act with courage, to act with justice and to always speak the truth to the people, so that people know how to protect themselves from the destruction of the planet, how to protect the planet of destruction that many times we unleash (provoke), ”he urged.

The Argentine pontiff hinted at an “old Spanish saying”: “God always forgives, men forgive from time to time, nature no longer forgives”, warning that, when the destruction of nature is unleashed, “it is very difficult to stop it”.

However, the world “still has time” to solve this problem, said Francisco, for whom collaboration between people and a commitment to innovation to seek new ways of life will be essential.

“We will be more resilient when we work together rather than alone. The adversity that we are living with the pandemic, and that we are already feeling in climate change, must lead us, it must lead us to innovation, to invention, to seek new avenues, ”he said. predicted.

And I add: “We don’t come out of a crisis the same way, we come out better or worse. This is the challenge, and if we don’t improve, we are on the road to self-destruction ”.

Francisco also spoke briefly at the virtual climate summit hosted by the President of the United States, Joe biden, an initiative which, he said, “puts the world on track for the COP26 summit in Glasgow (UK) next November.

The Pope has defended that the protection of the environment acquires greater importance in the face of the post-pandemic: “It is not over yet, but come on, we must look forward, because it is a crisis. “

“Our concern is to see that the environment is cleaner, more pure and preserved. And take care of nature so that it takes care of us. I wish you every success in this beautiful decision to meet, to move forward and I will accompany you, ”he settled.

With information from EFE

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