Pope Leo calls for climate action before disaster strikes

Pope Leo XIV called for a shift in how the world confronts climate change during a Sept. 24 address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

“We cannot respond to these challenges only after disaster has already struck,” he said. “We need to move from emergency response to prevention, from vulnerability to preparedness, and from short-term measures to a wise and farsighted vision for humanity.”

Speaking at the academy’s plenary session on “The Future of Science in a Changing World,” Leo pointed to increasingly frequent and intense heat waves, droughts, floods, storms, and wildfires. He said their effects “fall most heavily upon the poor” and on communities with the fewest resources to adapt.

“It follows that the climate question is not merely an environmental challenge, it is fundamentally a question of justice, human dignity, and solidarity between peoples and generations,” he said.

The pope called for scientists, engineers, economists, physicians, and social scientists to work alongside local communities and policymakers. He welcomed the climate resilience summits the academy has held over the past two years and encouraged it to continue that work.

Leo also addressed…