Mexico: Catholic Church notes social roots of global warming

The United Nations Conference on climate change opened on November 29 in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun, Mexico. The meeting is held every year - this is number 16 - with the aim of reaching a broad consensus among all countries, beginning with the most developed, to reduce energy consumption of fuels that affect the global climate. According to environmental advocates, global warming is increasing and the intention among them is to achieve the goal of reducing the temperature by half a degree Centigrade by 2020.

The Archdiocese of Mexico noted the Catholic Church's participation in the meeting. “The presence of the Church is through Caritas, an organization present in 165 countries, which is involved in the social work of the Catholic Church, not only to help those in need, but also natural disaster victims, and also in improving consumer behaviour to avoid this common problem.”

The statement added, “Specifically, during the meeting, Caritas will urge governments from around the world to engage in two vital issues: funding to protect the most vulnerable communities, victims of climate change, and to reach a fair but ambitious and binding agreement, built on the Kyoto Protocol, which obliges countries to reduce their emissions.”  “We must not forget that the environmental issue is a social problem, and for this reason, as pointed out in the document prepared by the Church for the meeting, entitled 'Climate change in the light of Caritas in Veritate and the social doctrine of the Church', one must distinguish man's concern for nature and the fight against climate change from the interests of political and economic groups.”