| On the thorny issue of contraception the encyclical leaves both sides of the argument somewhat frustrated. The Pope brushed aside the foreseeable calls to consider by insisting that the problem was not population growth in poor countries but massive over consumption by the rich. It was a line echoed by Prof John Schellnhuber who added: “It's not poverty that destroys the environment - it's wealth, consumption and waste.” But the traditionalist Catholic group Voice of the Family issued a statement voicing dismay that there was no explicit reaffirmation of the Church’s stance on birth control. John Smeaton, co-founder of the group Voice of the Family and Chief Executive of Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, insisted: “The international environmental movement often seeks to convince children that the world is overpopulated and that this must be resolved by controlling reproduction through contraception and access to abortion. “There is now grave danger that our children will be exposed to this agenda under the guise of education on environmental concerns.” But the National Secular Society was among the first to blame “Catholic dogma” on birth control as one of the root causes of the problem. 13.18pm Getting down to nitty-gritty, the Pope’s conclusions will delight some but dismay others, writes John Bingham: He calls for the effective phasing out of fossil fuels including oil but says the world must work out how to pay for it and that the onus must be on the rich countries “which are more powerful and pollute the most”. He warns against international agreements which impose too heavy a burden on developing countries. He also dismisses the trade in carbon credits as a “new form of speculation” likely to do nothing to reduce emissions in the end. Likewise he rubbishes the notion of “internationalising” the Amazon basin but does give strong backing to the idea of giving indigenous people a special status in their own countries. He also proposes radical plans to impose a form of powerful new international control over the oceans, which he calls the “global commons” to stop pollution and exploitation of resources. On the controversial issue of GM crops he shrugs off claims that they could be harmful to health and recognises they could do good but warns they could wipe out ecosystems and hand control of agriculture over to “oligopolies”. 12.52pm Arguing that environmental damage is intimately linked to global inequality, the Pope says that doomsday predictions can no longer be dismissed and that: "The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth." QuoteThe effects of the present imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action, here and now. We need to reflect on our accountability before those who will have to endure the dire consequences. 12.40pm Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, economist and author of an influential report on climate change, says the publication of the encyclical is of "enormous significance". QuoteMoral leadership on climate change from the Pope is particularly important because of the failure of many heads of state and government around the world to show political leadership. I hope other religious and community leaders will also speak out about how to tackle the two defining challenges of our generation, namely overcoming poverty and managing the risks of climate change. This would encourage greater political leadership in the run-up to the summit in Paris at the end of this year where countries should reach a new international agreement on tackling climate change. 12.38pm Jessica Hellmann, Director of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, writes: E-mail The challenge the Pope raises today must be taken up immediately by the young and the old, but as a professor I think about the challenges and opportunities confronting young people. They will be responsible for identifying and implementing solutions to environmental problems. They also must hold their elders accountable for fixing problems before they get worse, for reinventing what it means to lead a good life. They will need to understand how science and value interact and how to move between knowledge and wisdom. 12.25pm The Telegraph's Religious Affairs Editor John Bingham has this analysis on Pope Francis and the parable of the plankton: Pope Francis is nothing if not ambitious. In the opening passages of his long anticipated encyclical on the environment he makes clear that he is content not merely with influencing the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics or the 2.4 billion or so who might more broadly be classed as Christian. “Faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet,” he announces matter-of-fact tones. The text of Laudato Si does all the things it was supposed to do: it warns of doom from man-made climate change, it lambasts politicians for failing to act more decisively and takes aim at the global financial system and the plight of the poor. ... He invests in his message with something which the UN’s climate change panel or celebrity eco-toffs of the western world will never be able to turn to – the power of a religious imperative. He tells people to view something as simple as reusing rather than discarding something as “an act of love” to mankind. If the legacy of this encyclical is persuade even a fraction of those 1.2 billion – let alone “every person living on this planet” to reduce waste, its social impact could be greater than we know. 12.22pm Jessica Hellmann, Director of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, has this response to a reader's concern (12.15pm) about idealising nature: E-mailDr Woo's sentiment that nature is valuable has two key parts. First, life on earth for humans would not be possible without the many living things that feed us, clean our water, house us, and provide other goods and services. When the fabric of life is diminished, these services are diminished too, and that's bad for our economy and our well-being. Second, we have responsibility to steward living things for their own sake. That is not to say that we cannot control species like pests and disease, but when we destroy habitats and change the climate, we put hundreds of thousands or even millions of valuable creatures at risk. 12.20pm The Church of England has also hailed the encyclical as a vital text for Christians and anyone living on Earth. The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, said climate change is “one of the great moral challenges of our times”. He said: Quote has been much anticipated and lives up to our hopes that it would be a very substantial and compelling document not just for Roman Catholics but for the whole Church and all people who live together in our common home. The moral gravity of the challenge of climate change is also recognised by all the world faiths present in the UK. The transition to a low carbon economy is urgent. Churches and other faith communities have a unique power to mobilise people for the common good and change attitudes and behaviours.” 12.15pm A reader emails in: E-mailDr Woo's comment on the value and place of everything in Creation might be sentimentalising some parts of Nature that threaten the rest, for example the deadly virus. Perhaps we should not idealise too much? 12.05pm Answering a question, Schellnhuber says that the internationally recognised limit of two degrees centigrade above the average world temperatures before the industrial revolution is "the absolute maximum of global warming that we might be able to digest", and even then many people would suffer, for example from sea level rise inundating small island states. It would be better to aim for a 1.5 degree rise. Warming could be limited to that but it would require enormous political will. 11.52am The Telegraph's Geoffrey Lean writes: Leading Republican climate change sceptics have shown no sign so far that they are prepared to be convinced by the Pope, who will address them in person when he speaks to both houses of Congress in September. Only one of the 14 or so presidential candidates of the Grand Old Party, Lindsey Graham, accepts the science of climate change. Although Florida is one of the parts of the country most at risk from sea levels rising, two leading Republican candidates with strong links to the state, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, have already come out against the Pope's message. Republican (and Catholic) Presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Pope Francis should “leave science to the scientists” - perhaps forgetting that those specialising in the climate almost overwhelmingly sound the same alarm. Similarly, fellow Republican James Inhofe, the leading sceptic in Congress said, “the Pope ought to stay with his job and we'll stick with ours” - but then went on somewhat to undermine his case by telling followers than in opposing measures to control global warming they were “doing the Lord's work” adding “He will eventually bless you for it. Amen”. 11.46am Cardinal Turkson has issued a strong rebuff to critics who claim the Pope shouldn't get involved in science. Asked by a Bloomberg reporter what he had to say to those who have strongly urged Pope Francis to stay away from the issue, he said the Pontiff had every right to talk about science as it was a "public domain". "We talk about the subject not because we're experts but because we are concerned and because it impacts our lives," Cardinal Turkson said. He adds: Quote For some time now, there has been an attempt to emphasise the split between religion and public life. The better recommendation would be to encourage a dialogue between faith and reason. 11.37am Carolyn Woo: "The Pope is a forward-thinking business leader." Investing in sustainability is good for the economy. 11.35am Jessica Hellmann, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame and Director of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, studies the effects of climate change and how to help people and ecosystems adapt to climate change. She writes: Quote A critical part of the responsibility the Holy See asks of humanity is adaptation - helping the most vulnerable confront the effects of climate change. Climate change affects people and other living things all around the world, but lower income countries have lesser capacity than the wealthy countries to handle the disturbances of climate change. They have less protection from climate disasters and less ability to protect the systems that deliver life-giving services. The Global Adaptation Index, for example, shows that countries in Africa are, as a group, among the most vulnerable countries on Earth. 11.29am Dr Carolyn Woo, the President of the Catholic Relief Services, who is now speaking, represents another important strand in the development of the encyclical, writes Geoffrey Lean: The church - as a highly centralised, but also a grassroots, organisation - has been heavily influenced by information filtering up from throughout the world about how poor people are already suffering from the effects of climate change, as harvests are hit and droughts, floods and storms increase. Dr Woo has just called it "heartbreaking evidence of devastation and destruction". The Pope himself has little background of environmental concern, but is especially concerned about the fate of the world's poorest people. Indeed the decision to issue the encyclical was taken after he visited the Philippines following the devastating 1973 Typhoon Haiyan. 11.25am The encyclical has now been released, in which the Pope warns that the world is facing a peril “unprecedented in the history of humanity” and lashes out at “obstructionist attitudes” of climate change sceptics. You can also read a summary of the 10 things we've learnt from the encyclical. You can also read the full 180-page document here. 11.21am 11.15am Prof. Schellnhuber says "the encyclical is aligned with the scientific evidence". "The vital organs of the world's body will collapse" as temperatures rise. Examples include the dying of the Amazon rainforest and the melting of the Antarctic ice sheets. Amazon Rainforest 11.13am Prof. Schellnhuber adds that that it is not population growth among the poor but "wealth, consumption and waste" that is endangering the planet. The poorest billion contribute virtually nothing to carbon emissions. 11.07am Prof Schellnhuber says the encyclical brings together faith, science and reason which is the only way to tackle the combined environmental and social crisis facing the world. Prof. Schellnhuber says that civilisation was made possible by a "miracle", 11,000 years of stable, benign world climate after millions of years of wild fluctuations. 10.59am Prof. John Schellnhuber, founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, is now speaking. He jokes that in another first, this will be the first encyclical launch accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation. 10.57am The Vatican’s veteran spokesman Father Federico Lombardi says that he has never seen such sustained interest in a single papal pronouncement as the encyclical on the environment during his 25 years in the role. “Clearly humanity has wanted to hear the word of the pope, considering it important and timely,” he remarked. “On this day we feel the universal church united with the Pope.” 10.56am 10.52am A nun reads a copy of Pope Francis's encyclical, a of principles to guide Catholic teaching, "Laudato Si" (Praise Be) 10.47am Metropolitan John of Pergamon says that sin against the environment must be included in the catalogue of sins. He adds that the danger is that we "will bequeath to future generations a world damaged beyond repair". Watch live: 10.45am Unusually a senior figure in the Greek Orthodox church, Metropolitan John of Pergamon is now helping to launch the encyclical, writes Geoffrey Lean. He is the right-hand man on the environment of Pope Francis' Greek Orthodox counterpart at the head of the Greek Orthodox church, Patriarch Bartholomew. Both men have been highly influential, in the process leading up to todays events. The relationship goes back 20 years ago to the first-ever pilgrimage by ro-ro car ferry, in which I took part. Led by the Pope's Greek Orthodox counterpart, Patriarch Bartholomew, it was a floating seminar – attended by scientists, environmentalists and religious leaders – which wound itself through the Aegean Sea to the Island of Patmos in 1995. There on the 1900th anniversary of the writing of the Book of Revelation the Greek Orthodox church solemnly pronounced pollution to be a sin. The only trouble was that the ship that was to take us broke down just before we set out, which is where the hastily-hired ro-ro ferry came in.... Catholic cardinals took part and a dialogue opened up on the environment between the two churches. Seven years later, at the conclusion of a similar seminar-voyage – this one through the Adriatic – the Patriarch and Pope John-Paul II issued a joint statement to lay the foundations of a joint “environmental ethos”. They were due to do it together in the magnificent Palazzo Ducale in Venice, from where a 13th century Doge diverted a crusade to sack Constantinople, marking the lowest point in relations between the two churches. But Jean-Paul was too ill to make the journey , and instead we watched him – visibly unwell - take part by video link. His Eminence Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon and Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson 10.41am Pope Francis has concluded that human action is one of the factors causing climate change, Cardinal Turkson disclosed as he began to outline the contents of the eagerly anticipated Papal encyclical, writes the Telegraph's John Bingham: Signalling that Pope Francis is placing the issue at the centre of the agenda for his papacy, to build a “poor church for the poor”, Cardinal Turkson told a packed press conference in Rome: “We have a serious responsibility to do everything we can to reduce its impact on the environment and the poor. “It is a responsibility for the whole of humanity.” But as he outlined dire warnings about the consequences of inaction, he insisted there is still hope of averting catastrophe. “Not everything has been lost,” he said. Human beings can also overcome this.” 10.39am His Eminence Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church, is now speaking, having played an important part in helping Pope Francis with the encyclical. 10.32am Cardinal Turkson: human activity is one factor of climate change. 10.26am Cardinal Turkson: At the heart of the encyclical is the question, "What kind of world do we want to leave to our children?" 10.20am 10.12am Cardinal Peter Turkson, the Ghanaian head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, is outlining that the inspiration of St Francis was the starting point for the Pope's encyclical. Pope Francis took his name from St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment, when he was elected to the Seat of St Peter in 2013. 10.05am 9.58am For a live feed of the press conference, see below: 9.56am Although the encyclical has yet to be published officially, aid agencies and environmental groups are already jubilant. Christine Allen, policy director of Christian Aid, said: “To those suffering the effect of climate change and those who feel politicians are letting them down, this is a message of hope. “We’ve heard the scientists, and the economists and the politicians, it’s now time for faith leaders to speak up. Not only is the Pope speaking to Catholics, he’s addressing the whole world. “My hope is that faith leaders of every kind will follow Pope Francis’ example and recognise that they have a crucial role to play in putting humanity back on track towards a sustainable and prosperous planet.” David Nussbaum, chief executive of WWF UK, said: “The encyclical is a clear call to action for everyone, everywhere. “I am hugely encouraged that the Pope has clearly laid out how humans and nature are intrinsically linked and that economic, social and ecological justice are indivisible. “In order for people and nature to thrive - to promote the common good - we must look after our common home. That means treating the Earth and the resources we derive from it with greater respect, rising to the challenge of climate change and pursuing sustainable and equitable economic development.” 9.37am On Wednesday Pope Francis asked that people read the encyclical, "Laudato Si (Be Praised), On the Care of Our Common Home", "with an open spirit". Most encyclicals are addressed to Catholics but Pope Francis repeated on Wednesday that he wants a wider audience. "This home of ours is being ruined and that damages everyone, especially the poor," he said at his weekly general audience. "Mine is an appeal for responsibility ... I ask everyone to receive this document with an open spirit". 9.20am John Bingham, the Telegraph's social and religious affairs editor, says one of the most intriguing aspects of Pope Francis's intervention on the environment is its potential impact on public opinion in the United States – whose worshippers are the biggest source of financial backing to the Catholic Church worldwide. Until recently the American right seemed able to count on the Vatican as a solid ally, sharing the same socially conservative outlook on questions such as gay marriage. They diverge sharply on the question of man-made climate change. New polling published this week by the respected Pew Research Institute showed that American Catholics are as divided on the issue as the US population as a whole. Although about seven in 10 US Catholics believe the planet is getting warmer, not even half (47 per cent) attribute it to human causes. While six in 10 Catholics who identify with the Democrats say global warming is a man-made phenomenon only about a quarter of Catholics who support the Republicans agree. With Pope Francis poised to make a landmark visit to the US in a few months, addressing Congress and the UN on the way, he will have his work cut out. The encyclical has already drawn the wrath of many US conservatives, including Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush. Mr Bush, a convert to Roman Catholicism, said on Tuesday: "I don't get my economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals or my pope". 9.15am Alice Philipson in Rome has more detail on the people who helped research the encyclical: Pope Francis had help writing the encyclical from three people – two senior clerics and one scientist. The clerics are Cardinal Peter Turkson, the Ghanaian head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and Metropolitan John Zizioulas of the Orthodox Church. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, a professor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, is the scientist. Professor Schellnhuber, a mathematician and a theoretical physicist as well as a climate expert, has been described as “the father of the two degree target”. He maintains that if the temperature of the planet increases by more than 2C, it could be tipped into disaster. However, not everything in the encyclical is new. According to Vatican insiders, it shares many similarities with previous documents issued by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from the 1980s onwards. The stance taken on issues such as the general distribution of goods, nuclear weapons (Pope Francis warns against them) and water shortages echo that of the Holy See in past years. 9.10am The Telegraph's environment editor Geoffrey Lean has this analysis: The encyclical scores an unprecedented tally of 'firsts'. The first to be entirely prepared by Pope Francis, it is also the first one ever on the environment. Appropriately from the first scientist pontiff (he trained as a chemist) it is the first consciously to be rooted in science. It is the first to be addressed to people of all faiths and none, and – most importantly – it is the first deliberately to set out to influence a global political process, the negotiations leading up to the climate summit in Paris in December. Pope Francis poses with youths during a meeting with the Piacenza diocese in Saint Peter's Basilica (Reuters) 9.05am A draft document of the encyclical was leaked by an Italian news publication on Monday, three days ahead of its official publication. The Vatican insisted that the 192-page document was not the final draft and swiftly punished the journalist it accused of being behind the early release, withdrawing the press accreditation of veteran Vatican correspondent, Sandro Magister. In the draft encyclical Pope Francis blamed global warming largely on man-made phenomena such as the burning of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gases. He said that unless urgent action is taken to protect the environment, the Earth risked “transforming itself into an immense rubbish dump”. 9am (All times BST) Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of the keenly anticipated release of Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment. Pope Francis is issuing a plea to the world to take urgent action to combat climate change in an eagerly anticipated Papal encyclical – a modern-day epistle – on the environment. The document, published in Rome, is being billed as a potential “game-changing” moment in the debate over global action to curb carbon emissions, bringing the authority of the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics to bear. Its publication is also expected to be a defining moment in the papacy of Francis, the first Pope from the developing world. But it will also set the Catholic Church directly at odds with sections of right-wing opinion, long seen as traditional allies of the Vatican, on the question of whether climate change is man-made. He is expected to come down unequivocally on the side of the green lobby in a sweeping encyclical which will also highlight the plight of the world’s poor. The document is published at 11am BST (12pm local time) and there is a press conference from 10am BST. |
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