Pope says throwaway lifestyles of the rich are destroying planet

POPE Francis is squaring up for a battle with climate change sceptics as he prepares to publish a critical paper on the environment.

The Pope is to publish the first-ever papal encyclical on the environment, a highly authoritative letter setting out Catholic church doctrine. Previous papal encyclicals have included Paul VI’s banning contraception and abortion.

Close aides say that the document, to be published on Thursday, will note the disproportionate impact of climate change on the poor, and rich nations will be asked to reassess their ‘throwaway lifestyles’.

Pope Francis will be hoping to focus the minds of delegates at the UN General assembly in New York, which he is due to address in September, when countries will sign up to new anti-poverty and environmental goals for the next 15 years.

He will also be looking for the paper to encourage the world’s 1.2billion Catholics to lobby policy-makers before an important UN climate summit in Paris in December.

Yesterday Francis said he hoped the encyclical called Laudato Si, or Be Praised, would lead to ‘greater responsibility for the common home that God has entrusted to us’.

However, i t has already angered businesses, who have described it as an attack on free market capitalism and ‘a call to arms’ for Left-wing revolutionaries.