The encyclical: spirituality and ethics join the climate debate
When talking about climate change, ethical arguments have tended to
be overshadowed by scientific, economic and political reasoning. Of
course, there are many good reasons to go after a strong and unequivocal
climate agreement in Paris. Since 1990, five IPCC (UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change) assessment reports, using building scientific
evidence, have warned us again and again about the catastrophic risks
posed by greenhouse gas emissions.
The increasingly destructive effects of climate change are ramping up
its urgency and raises questions about justice for all. As soon as it
was understood that catastrophic climate change is already affecting
millions of mainly poor people who are the most vulnerable while being
the least responsible for dangerous global warming it became an ethical
issue. As Greenpeace International Political Director Daniel Mittler, put it,
"climate change is no longer merely an issue to prepare for. Its
effects are happening now. They are already real – and all too often
deadly – today".
