Global Problem Calls for Global Response

Some 80 scholars and experts from 20 countries participated in the International Conference on Climate Change and Development organized by Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, April 26–27 in Rome.

In his address, David Miliband, British minister for the environment, food and rural affairs, said: “Climate change cannot be solved by governments or businesses alone. We must succeed in mobilizing the citizens of the world. Religious groups are playing an increasingly vital role to help the world face the challenge of climate change.

He continued, “The Vatican’s attention on climate change is enormously significant for the rest of the world. The phenomenon raises ethical questions on the balance of responsibility between generations, between rich countries and poor. Religious groups can help us develop a moral and ethical basis for international action.”

In his message to participants, Pope Benedict XVI invited everyone to adopt “a way of living, models of production and consumption marked by respect for creation and the need for sustainable development of peoples, keeping in mind the universal distribution of goods, as is so often mentioned in the Church’s social doctrine.”

Cardinal Martino added that The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church published by the same dicastery, underlines that environmental education is everyone’s responsibility, inasmuch as the environment is a collective good made for everyone.

Global warming is no longer only a problem of environment. It is also a problem of development and security, as highlighted in April by the United Nations Security Council. This is a global problem that calls for a global response.