Pope: we all must be more responsible for environment
POPE Francis yesterday called for countries to protect the environmental gains made during the coronavirus lockdown, which saw air-pollution levels fall across the world.
“The pandemic caused us to reflect on the relationship between man and the environment,” he told the small, socially distanced crowd gathered for his Sunday address in St Peter’s Square, which reopened to members of the public a month ago.
“The closures reduced pollution and allowed us to rediscover the beauty of so many places free of traffic and noise.
“Now, as activities resume, all of us should be more responsible about caring for our common home.”
Lockdowns saw major reductions in the use of motor vehicles and energy from fossil-fuel sources, giving citizens a rare taste of clean air.
Nasa reported that India’s air pollution had dropped to a 20-year low within one week of the lockdown, with some parts of India seeing the Himalayas clearly for the first time in decades.
Meanwhile, boars and goats ventured into the streets of European cities, dolphins swam closer to shore, and the canals of Venice ran clear without sediment stirred up by boat traffic. A survey carried out during the pandemic by the online polling service Yougov found broad support for stricter air-quality regulations from people polled in Britain, Bulgaria, India, Nigeria and Poland.
Pope Francis said he supported the calls for environmental action that have sprung up across the globe.
“I appreciate the many grassroots initiatives across the world that are going in this direction,” Pope Francis said.
His comments come as the Roman Catholic Church marks the fifth anniversary of Francis’s Laudato Si (Praised Be) encyclical on the need to protect nature and reduce exploitation of natural resources and the world’s most vul- nerable people.
On Thursday, the Vatican released a 225-page manual urging Catholics to consider their investments and the environmental impact of companies they may be shareholders in.