Pope and climate change – “man has slapped nature on face”
Pope Francis says he is convinced global warming is mainly man-made and is disappointed with Peru climate change talks
Pope Francis has now said he is convinced that global warming is "mostly" man-made and that he hopes his upcoming encyclical on the environment will encourage negotiators at the next climate change meeting in Paris to make "courageous" decisions to protect God’s creation.
The Pope has spoken out frequently about the "culture of waste" that has imperiled the environment weather conditions that global warming has wrought.
"I don’t know if it (human activity) is the only cause, but mostly, in great part, it is man who has slapped nature in the face," he said. "We have in a sense taken over nature."
"I think we have exploited nature too much," Francis said, citing deforestation and monoculture. "Thanks be to God that today there are voices, so many people who are speaking out about it."
Francis, who pledged on the day of his installation as Pope to make the environment a priority, said he expected his encyclical on ecology to be released by June or July.
He said he wanted it out in plenty of time to be read and absorbed before the next round of climate change negotiations opens in Paris in November after the last round in Lima, Peru, failed to reach an agreement.
"The meetings in Peru were nothing much, I was disappointed," he said. "There was a lack of courage. They stopped at a certain point. We hope that in Paris the representatives will be more courageous going forward."
Environmentalists are hopeful that Francis’ encyclical will jump-start the talks, and note that the pope is due to speak at the United Nations in New York in September where he may use the global stage to make some points before negotiations get under way.
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