INTRODUCTION
“Eight years have passed since I published the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, when I wanted to share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet, my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home. Yet, with the passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.” (LD 2)
“‘Praise God for all his creatures’. This was the message that Saint Francis of Assisi proclaimed by his life, his poetry and all his actions.” (LD 1)
“Praise God” is the title of this letter. For when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies.” (LD 73)
CHAPTER 1 – ALARM BELLS FROM CLIMATE SCIENCE
(titled “The Global Climate Crisis”)
“Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident. No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone.” (LD 5)
“If the global temperature increases by 1.5° C… heat waves will be much more frequent and with greater intensity. If it should rise above 2 degrees, the icecaps of Greenland and a large part of Antarctica will melt completely, with immensely grave consequences for everyone.” (LD 5)
“While I was writing Laudato Si’ in 2015, [CO2 concentrations] hit a historic high – 400 parts per million – until arriving at 423 parts per million in June 2023.” (LD 11)
“We are now unable to halt the enormous damage we have caused. We barely have time to prevent even more tragic damage.” (LD 16)
“I feel obliged to make these clarifications, which may appear obvious, because of certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church. Yet we can no longer doubt that the reason [is] unchecked human intervention on nature in the past two centuries.” (LD 14)
CHAPTERS 3, 4 & 5 – MULTILATERALISM, CLIMATE SUMMITS & THE ENERGY TRANSITION
(titled “The Weakness of International Politics”, “Climate Conferences: Progress and Failures”, and “What to Expect from COP28 in Dubai?”)
ON MULTILATERALISM & THE COPs
“The [climate] accords have been poorly implemented, due to lack of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in cases of noncompliance.” (LD 52)
“International negotiations cannot make significant progress due to positions taken by countries which place their national interests above the global common good.” (LD 52)
“Despite the many negotiations and agreements, global emissions continue to increase.” (LD 55)
ON COP28 & THE ENERGY TRANSITION
“We can keep hoping that COP28 will allow for a decisive acceleration of the energy transition.” (LD 54)
“If there is sincere interest in making COP28 a historic event that honours and ennobles us as human beings, then one can only hope for binding forms of energy transition that meet three conditions: that they be efficient, obligatory and readily monitored. This, in order to achieve the beginning of a new process marked by three requirements: that it be drastic, intense and count on the commitment of all.” (LD 59)
ON THE ENERGY TRANSITION & FOSSIL FUELS
“Fossil fuels still provide 80% of the world’s energy, and their use continues to increase” (LD 50)
“Gas and oil companies are planning new projects… with the aim of further increasing their production… [It] would be suicidal, for it would mean exposing all humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change”. (LD 53)
“The necessary transition towards clean energy sources such as wind and solar energy, and the abandonment of fossil fuels, is not progressing at the necessary speed.” (LD 55)
ON THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: CORPORATE INTERESTS
“Regrettably, the climate crisis is not exactly a matter that interests the great economic powers, whose concern is with the greatest profit possible at minimal cost” (LD 13)
“The ethical decadence of… marketing and false information, useful tools in the hands of those with greater resources to employ them to shape public opinion.” (LD 29)
On false solutions promoted by industry (CCS, geo-engineering, etc):
“To suppose that all [climate] problems in the future will be able to be solved by new technical interventions is a form of homicidal pragmatism, like pushing a snowball down a hill.” (LD 57)
ON ACTIVISM / PUBLIC MOBILIZATION AS A RESPONSE
“Civil society with its organizations is capable of creating effective dynamics that the United Nations cannot.” (LD 37)
“The demands that rise up from below throughout the world, where activists from very different countries help and support one another, can end up pressuring the sources of power.” (LD 38)
“Once and for all, let us put an end to the irresponsible derision that would present this issue as something purely ecological, “green”, romantic, frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests… In Conferences on the climate, the actions of groups negatively portrayed as “radicalized”… are filling a space left empty by society as a whole.” (LD 58)
CHAPTERS 2 & 6 – THE DEEPER ROOTS
(titled “A Growing Technocratic Paradigm” and “Spiritual Motivations”)
ON THE TECHNOCRATIC PARADIGM
“Artificial intelligence and the latest technological innovations start with the notion of a human being with no limits, whose abilities and possibilities can be infinitely expanded thanks to technology. In this way, the technocratic paradigm monstrously feeds upon itself.” (LD 21)
“God has united us to all his creatures. Nonetheless, the technocratic paradigm can isolate us from the world that surrounds us.” (LD 66)
“Let us stop thinking, then, of human beings as autonomous, omnipotent and limitless, and begin to think of ourselves differently, in a humbler but more fruitful way.” (LD 68)
ON SPIRITUAL MOTIVATIONS
“I cannot fail in this regard to remind the Catholic faithful of the motivations born of their faith [which] sheds light on our relationship to others and with creation as a whole.” (LD 61)
“The world sings of an infinite Love: how can we fail to care for it?” (LD 65)
“All of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect.” (LD 67, quoting LS)
“There are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes.” (LD 70)
A FINAL CALL TO ACTION
“I ask everyone to accompany this pilgrimage of reconciliation with the world that is our home and to help make it more beautiful.” (LD 69)
“A broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact.” (LD 72)
Note: needless to say, this brief selection of quotes misses many other important themes of the document. The best thing is to read the full document yourself, to have the full picture.