Environmental activists display a banner as they prepare to listen to speeches inside a Roman Catholic church in Manila, Philippines, on 18 June 205, to coincide with Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change. Photo: Bullit Marquez / AP

By Adam Vaughan
18 June 2015 (The Guardian) – On Thursday the Vatican published Pope Francis’s long-awaited encyclical on the environment, which warns of ‘serious consequences’ if the world does not act on climate change. [English translation: LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore] Ban Ki-moon reacts:

The secretary-general welcomes the papal encyclical released today by His Holiness Pope Francis which highlights that climate change is one of the principal challenges facing humanity, and that it is a moral issue requiring respectful dialogue with all parts of society. The secretary-general notes the encyclical’s findings that there is “a very solid scientific consensus” showing significant warming of the climate system and that most global warming in recent decades is “mainly a result of human activity”.

Ban called on governments to “place the global common good above national interests and to adopt an ambitious, universal climate agreement” at the UN climate summit in Paris this December. There are shades of the Pope’s own language there. In the encyclical, he says: “International [climate] negotiations cannot make significant progress due to positions taken by countries which place their national interests above the global common good”. [more]

The Pope’s encyclical on climate change – live reaction and analysis