Laudate Deum was published on October 4, 2023, just a few weeks before the United Nations COP 28 conference in Dubai. This series of conferences has been a primary global forum on climate change for decades. COP 28 was clearly a target audience for Pope Francis in writing this document. The Pope had been formally invited to attend, and at one point plans were forming for him to go. Sadly, his health prevented him from attending. This was the first COP conference where major religious figures were invited to the leadership sessions.
In the Church’s view, these international conferences are very important for creating the political and social support required to accomplish big changes. The Catholic Church has promoted international dialogue on many topics in modern times, including on nuclear arms control, peace negotiations during wartime, and addressing poverty and migration. In the grand scheme of things, the Church recognizes that diplomacy and negotiation are always required to resolve conflicts. Promotion of international conferences makes sense from a moral perspective. God’s Kingdom is one of peace and justice, so we work to foster these goods in our world. Many of these past efforts have produced significant results, which proves the Church’s wisdom on these efforts.
It's in this context that Pope Francis addresses the COP conferences. He is not happy with their results, which have been meager. He says in summary, quoting from Laudato Si’:
Today we can continue to state that, “the accords have been poorly implemented, due to lack of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in cases of noncompliance. The principles which they proclaimed still await an efficient and flexible means of practical implementation”. (52)
The COP 3 conference in Kyoto produced a significant protocol for greenhouse gases in 1997, and COP 21 in Paris created another major agreement in 2015. Overall, though, this conference series has failed to make steady progress toward eliminating our climate crisis. In the Church’s view, this is due to a weak framework to manage compliance, for example on national commitments to reduce carbon emissions. In the recent past, unplanned global issues including Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have also slowed progress.
The Pope dedicates an entire section of the document to the COP 28 conference in Dubai. He encourages bold, dramatic action there, and exhorts the attendees to work for the common good over “petty interests”. He labels those who deny the climate crisis “irresponsible” and encourages them to accept the reality of our situation. This is very strong language for a papal document, reminiscent of documents from the late 19th and early 20th centuries on social issues of that time. Today, we are less used to our Pontiffs expressing such strong opinions.
We know in hindsight that the COP 28 conference accomplished very little. Its most trumpeted achievement was a toothless statement that fossil fuel use must someday end. This was supposed to be a major concession from the oil-rich countries, who happened to host the conference last year. The Pope is correct to sound the alarm on this international conference, and to call for more substantive results from global leadership. Laudate Deum will not be the last word on the COP conferences from Pope Francis and future Popes.
Notes
Photograph from COP 28, Fotografía oficial de la Presidencia de Colombia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Many countries have reasons for not making more progress than they have but pretty much they all center on money and social/economic disruption. According to Dignitas Infinitum, human dignity is infinite. Now we need the Pope to speak on the need for getting on with the job without regard to whether other nations are doing their part!