Conservatives in the Church, many aligned with conservative political forces, are climate change skeptics and contest the majority scientific opinion that global warming is mostly caused by people. “When people are driven out because their local environment has become uninhabitable, it might look like a process of nature, something inevitable,” Francis wrote. The pope criticized former U.S President Donald Trump when he withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris accord to limit global warming. The Vatican has welcomed President Joe Biden’s return to the accord. At the Climate Adaptation Summit hosted by the Netherlands in January, leaders were told that climate change could depress global food production by up to 30% while rising seas and greater storms could force hundreds of millions in coastal cities out of their homes.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 30, 2021 12:56 UTC