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A boat is seen near Combu Island with the city of Belem, Brazil, in the background Nov. 9, 2025. Belem is hosting the U.N. Climate Conference, COP30. (CNS photo\/Sergio Moraes, COP30)<\/p>\nVATICAN CITY (CNS) \u2013 While \u201ccreation is crying out\u201d and millions of people suffer the effects of climate change and pollution, politicians are failing to act, Pope Leo XIV said.<\/p>\n
As the U.N. Climate Conference, COP30, began its final week of meetings Nov. 17, the pope sent a video message to Christian representatives and activists from the global south who were holding a side event to the conference in Belem, Brazil.<\/p>\n
The Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 at COP21 \u201chas driven real progress and remains our strongest tool for protecting people and the planet,\u201d Pope Leo said in the video.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we must be honest: it is not the agreement that is failing, we are failing in our response,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat is failing is the political will of some.\u201d<\/p>\n
A boat is seen near Combu Island with the city of Belem, Brazil, in the background Nov. 9, 2025. Belem is hosting the U.N. Climate Conference, COP30. (CNS photo\/Sergio Moraes, COP30)<\/p>\n
While Pope Leo did not specify which nations were at fault, the U.S. government was not represented at COP30 because U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue leadership means service, and support at a scale that will truly make a difference,\u201d the pope said. \u201cStronger climate actions will create stronger and fairer economic systems. Strong climate actions and policies \u2014 both are an investment in a more just and stable world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCreation is crying out in floods, droughts, storms and relentless heat,\u201d Pope Leo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne in three people live in great vulnerability because of these climate changes,\u201d he added. \u201cTo them, climate change is not a distant threat, and to ignore these people is to deny our shared humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
As government representatives from most of the world\u2019s countries \u2014 more than 190 nations registered delegations \u2014 struggled to finalize agreements on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing reliance on fossil fuels, Pope Leo told the Christian activists he believed \u201cthere is still time to keep the rise in global temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius, but the window is closing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs stewards of God\u2019s creation, we are called to act swiftly, with faith and prophecy, to protect the gift he entrusted to us,\u201d the pope said.<\/p>\n
In safeguarding creation as a gift of God, he said, \u201cwe walk alongside scientists, leaders and pastors of every nation and creed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are guardians of creation, not rivals for its spoils,\u201d the pope said. \u201cLet us send a clear global signal together: nations standing in unwavering solidarity behind the Paris Agreement and behind climate cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the challenges, Pope Leo told the activists, \u201cyou chose hope and action over despair, building a global community that works together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The efforts have made a difference, he said, \u201cbut not enough. Hope and determination must be renewed, not only in words and aspirations, but also in concrete actions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VATICAN CITY (CNS) \u2013 While \u201ccreation is crying out\u201d and millions of people suffer the effects of climate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-39150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}