Cardinal Parolin at COP30: Greater political will needed to address climate change

By Federico Piana

Cardinal Parolin’s speech delivered on Friday afternoon in Belém during the climate summit attended by 70 world leaders ahead of COP30 — which will open Monday in Brazil — began with a powerful premise, a warning for the entire world: “Ten years ago, the international community adopted the Paris Agreement. The challenges identified in it are more relevant today than they were ten years ago, yet achieving its goals still seems far away. We cannot afford another decade of missed opportunities. We must ask ourselves what is missing.”

An important agreement

In his remarks at a round table entitled “10 Years of the Paris Agreement: Nationally Determined Contributions and Financing”, the Secretary of State drew attention to the importance of that agreement, which, he said, “has not only environmental, economic, and political significance, but also social and ethical relevance, since it primarily affects the lives of the poorest and most fragile.”

Therefore, he continued, it is necessary to approach it with an integral perspective that ensures its proper implementation: “We know that the connection between ethics and education is profound: education is one of the main tools by which our ethical sense is formed, and ethics, in turn, guides the aims and methods of education. In this context, the educational component of the implementation of the Paris Agreement is of the utmost importance.”

Positive strategies

Cardinal Parolin recalled how Pope Francis — during the High-Level Virtual Climate Ambition Summit 2020 on December 12, 2020 — had announced the Holy See’s commitment to adopt a net-zero emissions strategy by 2050. The Pope, Cardinal Parolin said, “emphasized the importance of achieving this goal, moving on two fronts. On the one hand, Vatican City State is committed to intensifying its environmental management efforts, which have been ongoing for several years. These issues are presented in detail in the first BTR (Biennial Transparency Report) as well as in the recent National Communication submitted by the Holy See, in the name and on behalf of Vatican City State. On the other hand, the Holy See is committed to promoting education in integral ecology. Political and technical measures must be combined with an educational process that fosters a cultural model of development and sustainability based on fraternity and stewardship of creation.”

A new cultural model

The cultural model referred to by Cardinal Parolin must be capable of overcoming the “throwaway culture” and replacing it with a “culture of care.” But this new model must also take into account environmental justice, which, he noted — citing Leo XIII — “an urgent need that involves much more than simply protecting the environment. For it is a matter of justice – social, economic and human.”

Concluding his speech at the climate summit — which preceded the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) to be held in Belém from November 10 to 21 — Cardinal Parolin issued a strong call to action: “We need to increase our political will to undertake this path consciously. The Holy See is ready to support this process, aware that under our common Father, we are one single human family: there are no frontiers or barriers, political or social, behind which we can hide.”