Pope Francis joins religious leaders in call for governments around the world to combat climate change

Pope Francis has said that that religious leaders and governments around the world need to pull together to combat climate change.

He is joined by 40 other faith leaders, from Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, who are estimated to represent around 84% of the world’s population.

They signed an appeal to governments around the world to take decisive action to ‘safeguard, restore and heal our wounded humanity and the home entrusted to our stewardship’.

The religious leaders also vowed to help with tackling climate change which would involve them educating their followers, playing an active role in in public debate and supporting sustainable developments within their communities.

Their appeal comes ahead of the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow.

The Pope officially signed the appeal at the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi ceremony at the Vatican.

It said: “We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert to our children.

“Glasgow represents an urgent summons to provide effective responses to the unprecedented ecological crisis and the crisis of values that we are presently experiencing, and in this way to offer concrete hope to future generations.

“We want to accompany it with our commitment and our spiritual closeness.”

The appeal was handed to British politician Alok Sharma who is President of the United Nations 26th Climate Change Conference, who described it as a ‘powerful call to action for the world’.

He said: “We must all hear the voices of those most affected by climate change and I hope people of faith will continue to be a key part of this dialogue as we work together to drive forward climate action.”

Pope Francis is planning to attend the UN summit. He will become the first Pope in three decades to appear at a UN climate change conference.

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