According to Vatican expert Martina Giacomel, the financial impact of the climate crisis will be the most difficult issue to resolve at the upcoming COP28 global climate summit in Dubai, where Pope Francis is expected. Giacomel works within the Dicastery for the Integral Development of Man, headed by Cardinal Michael Czerny, and goes to Dubai with his delegation.
Stefano Leszczynski and Gudrun Sailer – Vatican City
“The part with the financial implications is probably the most difficult in the debate on the energy transition and the fight against global warming,” the Vatican expert said in an interview with us. “So it’s about investing in new technologies and resources. But it is first a question of taking into account the financial losses in order to determine the realities of the transition. How can we address these questions, which are perhaps the most sensitive? Even if everyone agrees on the need to reverse global warming, Giacomel said, a number of financial questions need to be clarified. “Money always remains, as Pope Francis deplores, the determining factor.”
Pope Francis will participate in the COP28 climate summit as part of an unusual trip. He will visit Dubai in person from December 1 to 3. “The presence of Pope Francis will – we hope – strengthen the climate of dialogue and cooperation between states,” Giacomel said. The leadership role of the head of the Church is also recognized outside the Catholic world. “The Holy See has this special contribution to make: it not only offers technical solutions, but also advocates for an alliance between countries and for education in the concept of integral ecology, which is a key concept of the pope’s pontificate Francis – and he certainly wants to bring this subject to the negotiating table through his symbolic presence.”
Integral ecology means that the fight against climate change also has a social and moral-ethical dimension that cannot be ignored, Giacomel said. “It is therefore not only a question of protecting the planet from the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but also of facing all the consequences that result from it: social consequences, migrations, injustices linked to climate change. » Francis regularly emphasizes that humanity has the means to face this change. “But this requires a real conversion, individual but also collective, and therefore a transition towards a more holistic and integral model based on the principle of solidarity.”
(vatican news – gs)
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