Pope Francis on Saturday, December 2, called on the participants of the COP28 in Dubai for "a turning point" in order to achieve "a decisive acceleration of the ecological transition". The speech of the pope, who had to give up coming in person to Dubai where the international meeting is being held because of bronchitis, was read by the Vatican's number two, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
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Let this COP be a turning point: let it demonstrate a clear and tangible political will, leading to a decisive acceleration of the ecological transition," he said. And this "through forms that have three characteristics: that they are efficient, restrictive and easily controllable. Let them be implemented in four areas: energy efficiency, renewable sources, the elimination of fossil fuels and education for less dependent lifestyles."
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Please: let's move forward, let's not go back," urged Francis, who since his election in 2013 has made the defense of the environment a leitmotif of his pontificate, to the point of dedicating to it in 2015 his encyclical "Laudato si" ("Praise be to you"), a 200-page manifesto for an "integral ecology." On October 4, Francis published a new text on climate, entitled "Laudate Deum" ("Praise God"), which calls on major powers to abandon fossil fuels. And this at a time when carbon emission reduction targets seem increasingly difficult to achieve.