Notes from the Field- Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity: The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development

Casina Pio IV, Vatican City- April 28, 2015: Organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, SDSN and Religions for Peace, the goal of this summit was to help strengthen the global consensus on the importance of climate change in the context of sustainable development. Attendance was limited to Vatican officials and 60 high-level invitees, among which Jennifer Gross of the Blue Chip Foundation was honored to count herself. She was one of the few selected from science, business, diplomatic and development experts; religious leaders and academicians and scholars.

Jennifer remembers an intense moment during the summit, sharing: “Several Climate Change deniers snuck into the building, including members of the US Congress. They got thrown out immediately, but there was an electric-feeling charge in the room afterwards. I remember locking eyes with Sri Sugunendra Theertha Swamiji, and both of us burst into ear-to-ear smiles of excitement over being present in that room.”

At the conclusion of the event, a joint statement on the moral and religious imperative of sustainable development, highlighting the intrinsic connection between respect for the environment and respect for people was issued. Here is an excerpt from that statement:

… In the face of the emergencies of human-induced climate change, social exclusion, and extreme poverty, we join together to declare that:

Human-induced climate change is a scientific reality, and its decisive mitigation is a moral and religious imperative for humanity;

In this core moral space, the world’s religions play a very vital role. These traditions all affirm the inherent dignity of every individual linked to the common good of all humanity. They affirm the beauty, wonder, and inherent goodness of the natural world, and appreciate that it is a precious gift entrusted to our common care, making it our moral duty to respect rather than ravage the garden that is our home;

The poor and excluded face dire threats from climate disruptions, including the increased frequency of droughts, extreme storms, heat waves, and rising sea levels;

The world has within its technological grasp, financial means, and know how the means to mitigate climate change while also ending extreme poverty, through the application of sustainable development solutions including the adoption of low-carbon energy systems supported by information and communications technologies;

The financing of sustainable development, including climate mitigation, should be bolstered through new incentives for the transition towards low-carbon energy, and through the relentless pursuit of peace, which also will enable the shift of public financing from military spending to urgent investments for sustainable development;

The world should take note that the climate summit in Paris later this year (COP21) may be the last effective opportunity to negotiate arrangements that keep human-induced warming below 2degrees C, and aim to stay well below 2degree C for safety, yet the current trajectory may well reach a devastating 4degrees C or higher;

Political leaders of all UN member states have a special responsibility to agree at COP21 to a bold climate agreement that confines global warming to a limit safe for humanity, while protecting the poor and the vulnerable from ongoing climate change that gravely endangers their lives. The high income countries should help to finance the costs of climate change mitigation in low income countries as the high income countries have promised to do;

Climate change mitigation will require a rapid world transformation to a world powered by renewable and other low carbon energy and the sustainable management of ecosystems. These transformations should be carried out in the context of globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals, consistent with ending extreme poverty; ensuring universal access for healthcare, quality education, safe water, and sustainable energy; and cooperating to end human trafficking and all forms of modern slavery…

All signatories committed to do everything possible in their individual capacities in accordance with this statement, and they ask that others do as well.