Pope Francis urges people to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy

Pope Francis is urging people and businesses to reduce the use of fossil fuels and look for substitutes in renewable energy in order to help save the climate. The Pope opened up about the climate change issue Laudato si, a Vatican encyclical written by Pope Francis and Antonio Spadaro. Francis said that the problem arises because the current model of development is built on the intensive use of fossil fuels. The Pope also said that another determining factor behind climate change is deforestation for agricultural purposes. 

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"The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life. A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the sea level and, it would appear, by an increase of extreme weather events, even if a scientifically determinable cause cannot be assigned to each particular phenomenon," The Pope wrote in the encyclical. 

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Pope urges developed nations to help

The Pope urged developed countries to come forward and help the poor countries in shifting to renewable energy. He also said that its worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in the coming decades because many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to warming, and their means of subsistence are largely dependent on natural reserves and ecosystemic services such as agriculture, fishing, and forestry. The Pope also noted a tragic rise in the number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing poverty caused by environmental degradation. 

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"There is an urgent need to develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced, for example, substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy. Worldwide there is minimal access to clean and renewable energy. There is still a need to develop adequate storage technologies. Some countries have made considerable progress, although it is far from constituting a significant proportion," The Pope said in the encyclical.

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