By Junno Arocho Esteves Pope Francis’ call to action on climate change does not want to ruin any business, provoking job losses, but seeks to point humanity in the right direction in protecting the environment for future generations, a Vatican official said.
“It’s not about the pope wanting to create joblessness,” Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told journalists following a panel discussion on integral ecology at the Vatican.
“The same pope cannot be encouraging us to advise bishops to create jobs for people and create joblessness. It’s about the need to look beyond; from what appears to be short-term goals to transform it into long-term visions. That is basically the mission of the encyclical,” Cardinal Turkson said.
The cardinal also noted that while the 2015 Conference of Parties, or COP21, has prepared the groundwork for a global commitment on climate change, it will not lead to progress if not followed by concrete actions.
If there is no serious and drastic reduction in carbon emissions, the agreement to limit the rise in global temperatures below 20 will “mean nothing”, he said.
“If people have difficulty with climate change,” he said, the discussion should shift to a common point, such as, “climate-related disaster.”
“The climate right now is causing disasters and making it difficult for people to live wholesome, decent lives,” the cardinal said. —CNS
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