Fifty years ago the Apollo 8 astronauts were overcome by their view of the earth’s ‘singular beauty, isolation and fragility’. Today that sense of fragility has taken on a new meaning as we hold the future of the planet in our hands.
Conservative projections indicate that the world is on course to become at least 3 degrees hotter by the end of this century than in pre-industrial times. We have not seen a 3 degrees rise for around 3 million years and 4 or 5 degrees for tens of millions of years. Such a temperature rise would transform the relationship between human beings and the planet. Most of Southern Europe would look like the Sahara desert, with Bangladesh and Florida largely submerged. Hundreds of millions of people could be on the move, with severe conflict a certain outcome. The World Bank estimates there could be upwards of 140 million refugees by 2050 – more than 100 times Europe’s Syrian crisis.
The Australian National Centre for Climate Restoration says that human civilisation as we know it may have already entered its last decades. We are burning 80% more coal than we did at the turn of the millennium - proof that globally we are not doing enough.
So what more can governments, politicians and society do?
In a recent House of Lords lecture, the Astronomer General, Lord Rees of Ludlow, emphasised that no political decision is ever purely scientific. It involves economics, ethics and politics. So politicians need to work with as many groups as possible in the global race to save the planet. This is where the Church and, in particular, Laudato Si’, enter centre stage.
As a ‘practicing but unbelieving Anglican’, Lord Rees was encouraged by Pope Francis to contribute to the encyclical. He praised the pope for his global leadership and said: ‘There is no gainsaying the Church’s global reach, its long-term vision and concern for the world’s poor.’
Jeffrey Sachs, described by Time magazine as ‘the world’s best known economist’, is an unabashed Pope Francis fan. He says that Francis offers the most compelling leadership on the planet, warning about economic and environmental degradation and projecting a compelling vision in a world threatened with extinction. He argues that Catholic Social Teaching, from the Gospels to Laudato Si’, puts the question of economics into a moral framework.
Laudato Si’ is a radical call to conversion. It advocates ‘ecological conversion’ in which our encounter with Jesus is realised as a ‘vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork’. In a recent interview, Pope Francis said that it is not a green encyclical but a social encyclical based on a ‘green’ reality, the custody of creation.
Over the years, I have seen the good work done by Justice and Peace groups in schools and communities throughout the country. Laudato Si’ strikes me as being a tailor-made manifesto for Justice and Peace groups in the 21st century. With possible catastrophe facing humanity in the coming decades, there is no more relevant social teaching than Laudato Sí, which addresses not just a single issue, but the great global challenges of our time.
Lord John McFall