THE WARREN REPORT


The passing of an environmental champion


The world has not only lost the leader of the Catholic faith, but also a vocal proponent of energy conservation. Andrew Warren mourns the passing of an influent ial voice.


H


e was the world’s most popular influencer. He had 1.4 billion signed up followers – approaching


one in five of adults alive. He was certainly the greatest proponent for energy conservation. Because, crucially, he was less concerned with promoting energy efficiency per se, but in conserving the world’s finite resources. A vigorous opponent of material excess, he was unquestionably the world’s most respected environmental champion. Of Argentinian origin, Jorge Mario


Bergoglio died last month. His funeral in Rome made headlines everywhere and was attended by practically every world leader. Because 13 years ago, he ceased being a Cardinal in his homeland, and became the first ever Pope called Francis. A major milestone in Francis’ papacy was his 180-page encyclical on climate change, Laudato Si’ (Praise Be), published in June 2015. “Science and technology are not


neutral; from the beginning to the end of a process, various intentions and possibilities are in play and can take on distinct shapes,” he wrote. “Nobody is suggesting a return to the Stone Age, but we do need to slow down and look at reality in a different way, to appropriate the positive and sustainable progress which has been made, but also to recover the values and the great goals swept away by our unrestrained delusions of grandeur.” The encyclical cited climate change


as “one small sign of the ethical, cultural, and spiritual crisis of modernity,”


The Pope continued to prioritise


climate action in his final years, even as he battled with ill-health. In 2018, he convened some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies – including ExxonMobil, BP and Shell – for closed-door discussions about the climate imperative. After the meeting, some of the executives even issued a statement acknowledging the importance of their addressing global warming. A statement that few now are still putting into practice. He frequently met with senior


climate diplomats and campaigners, and in 2023 he published Laudate Deum, an apostolic exhortation which was even more stark than the earlier encyclical in its criticism of the forces that were driving the climate crisis. It specifically called out the US by pointing out its disproportionately high emissions. “With the passage of time, I have


realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point,” he wrote.


reflected in a “structurally perverse” and unequal economic system. “We all know that it is not possible


to sustain the present level of consumption in developed countries and wealthier sectors of society, where the habit of wasting and discarding has reached unprecedented levels,” Francis wrote. “The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits and we still have not solved the problem of poverty.”


Paris Agreement Laudato Si has led to some 900 spinoff Catholic support organisations across the world. It was timed for release in the run-up to the COP21 Climate Summit in Paris in November 2015, which culminated in the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement . The Pope was rumoured to have


played a key private role in the negotiation’s dramatic denouement, with reports suggesting he directly


called world leaders in a bid to help get the agreement and its target to keep global temperature increases ‘well below 2°C’ over the line. Laurence Tubiana, one of the key


architects of the Paris Agreement, said: “Pope Francis has been an important voice of the 2010s and 2020s. He has promoted a humanist vision of the global management of common goods. Laudato Si is a founding text of Christian commitment to climate action, which has inspired and marked a new generation of committed people. By clearly setting out the causes of the crisis we are experiencing, Pope Francis has reminded us who the fight against the climate crisis is aimed at: humanity as a whole." Her comments were echoed by UN


Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, who described Pope Francis as “a towering figure of human dignity, and an unflinching global champion of climate action as a vital means to deliver it”. “Through his tireless advocacy,


Francis saw cooperation among governments as key to addressing climate change


Pope Francis reminded us there can be no shared prosperity until we make peace with nature and protect the most vulnerable, as pollution and environmental destruction bring our planet close to ‘breaking point’,” he added. “He had a deep working knowledge of complex climate issues, and his leadership brought together those most powerful forces of faith and science to deliver unimpeachable truths, highlighting the costs of the climate crisis for billions of people.


EIBI | MAY 2025


Spreading the word Francis saw cooperation among governments as key to addressing climate change, and during his time as pope, the Vatican hosted conferences with mayors, religious leaders, money managers, as well as oil companies, to find solutions. He also criticised climate sceptics, lamenting the “certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church”. He called on Catholics to divert investment away from fossil fuels. Last August, Reuters reported that he was writing a follow-up to his landmark 2015 encyclical on the protection of the environment and the dangers of climate change, “to bring it up to date”. He had made the surprise announcement in a brief, unprepared addition in a speech to a group of lawyers from Council of Europe countries. Sadly, this follow-up was not


completed before his death, although it is understood that his very last audience, ironically held with American vice president James “JD” Vance, did include discussion of these concerns. When the world’s biggest economy


is retreating from climate activism and embracing a cynical climate ‘realism’ akin to outright denial of its existence, the Vatican conclave of cardinals has a chance this month to stand out by electing another vocal environmentalist to lead, not just 1.4 bn Catholics, but the entire world. ■


Andrew Warren


Chairs the British Energy Efficiency Federation


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