In a statement issued ahead of COP28, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, two bishops who chair USCCB committees said that “climate goals must represent both the ‘cry of the earth’ and the ‘cry of the poor,’ and include the financial support by developed nations for adaptation, resilience, and recovery of the most vulnerable.”
“Despite the tremendous growth of renewable energy worldwide, the global economic system remains largely powered by fossil fuels,” said Archbishop Borys Gudziak and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan. “Decarbonization of the economy—through the replacement of fossil fuels with secure, reliable, affordable, and clean energy—is the preeminent environmental challenge faced by all nations.”
The chairmen of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and the Committee on International Justice and Peace warned that “no government will be successful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the long run if it requires a significant increase of the energy costs of middle—and low-income citizens … Justice for the poor, including the 3.3 billion people worldwide with limited energy and 700 million without any electricity, constitutes an essential test of ethical climate policy.”