COP28 and Francis's plea for our suffering planet

Trying to make a living, Mekong Delta, Vietnam, 2023

The Vatican released the new apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis, Laudate Deum, to all people of good will on the climate crisis, on 4 October. It is a document intended to follow up on his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home.

An apostolic exhortation is a teaching document from the pope, which often aims to encourage a particular virtue or activity. Like many papal encyclicals, apostolic exhortations have often developed themes of the Church’s social teaching.

Pope Francis states specifically that the title of this letter is “Praise God” because “when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies” (#73). By this he means that when we seek power for its own sake we damage both ourselves and the planet.

“Eight years have passed since I published Laudato si’, when I wanted to share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet, my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home. Yet, with the passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. In addition to this possibility, it is not to be doubted that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many. We will feel its effects in the areas of healthcare, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migrations, etc.” (2).

I live in Vietnam, which has a population close to 100 million. According to the International Monetary Fund, "... by 2100, climate change could impact more than 12 percent of the Vietnamese population and reduce growth by 10 percent".

Already Ho Chi Minh City, the nation's commercial hub, suffers from flooding in central streets as well as residential areas because it has little elevation above its many tidal rivers and canals. Any rise in sea level will compound what is a dire predicament, not only for this city, but also for the rich agricultural delta regions, where increasingly, sea water intrusion is confounding efforts of farmers to maintain their means of livelihood.  

The IMF study offers a bleak outlook for Vietnam, which is struggling to raise its people from poverty:

Climate change will likely exacerbate pressure on the environment: more frequent and more intense storms could affect crop yields and production, impacting rural incomes, food security, and commodity exports. Increased rainfall intensity will damage roads and railroad networks. Higher temperatures will raise demand for electricity. Risks will weigh disproportionally on the poor who could be forced to migrate inland or towards large cities.

The pope's exhortation uses intense phrasing in striving to move world powers to fulfill the  commitments made at COP21 in Paris in 2015, the last climate conference to have a positive result, which, observers say, flowed from the motivation provided by Francis's Laudato si'. 

In Laudate Deum, Francis points to people choosing to "deride" facts and "ridicule those who speak of global warming," and inertia or indifference by "the great economic powers [business conglomerates], whose concern is with the greatest profit possible at minimal cost and in the shortest amount of time."

A helpful summary develops this line of thought:

Consequently, the pope wrote, "a broader perspective is urgently needed, one that can enable us to esteem the marvels of progress, but also to pay serious attention to other effects that were probably unimaginable a century ago."

People need to assume "responsibility for the legacy we will leave behind" and let go of this "technocratic paradigm" that believes "goodness and truth automatically flow from technological and economic power" and pursues "infinite or unlimited growth."

The great problem, he wrote, is an "ideology underlying an obsession: to increase human power beyond anything imaginable, before which nonhuman reality is a mere resource at its disposal.

"Everything that exists ceases to be a gift for which we should be thankful, esteem and cherish, and instead becomes a slave, prey to any whim of the human mind and its capacities.

"Never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely, particularly when we consider how it is currently being used." 

Pope Francis called for "rethinking our use of power," which requires an increased sense of responsibility, values and conscience with "sound ethics, a culture and spirituality genuinely capable of setting limits and teaching clear-minded self-restraint."

Also, unhealthy notions about hard work, talent and "meritocracy" without "a genuine equality of opportunity" can easily become "a screen that further consolidates the privileges of a few with great power," he wrote. "In this perverse logic, why should they care about the damage done to our common home, if they feel securely shielded by the financial resources that they have earned by their abilities and effort?"

Francis encouraged people, especially those with an "irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model," to reduce pollution and waste, and "consume with prudence." Even though these everyday actions will not produce an immediate, notable effect on climate change, "we are helping to bring about large processes of transformation" and a new culture of care. 

To employ a buzzword, we have to become more "intentional" in simplifying our lifestyle, controlling our wants, and giving far greater respect to the natural order of the world we find ourselves in. Urgency is essential in toning down the customary stance of human domination of Earth, turning instead to the principle of stewardship. We have to learn humility all round.

Ω See also: Resources on the theology and practice of environmental stewardship.

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