Betsy's epiphany - 'the climate debate is over'

I

Minneapolis Mayor,
Betsy Hodges.

t is often said that travel broadens horizons. Such was the case when Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges left the City of Lakes for Rome this week.

About half-way through her second day at the Vatican, attending an international conference of mayors organized by Pope Francis that began Tuesday, Hodges had an epiphany: climate change isn’t up for debate in the rest of the world.

Read the EcoWatch story - “Mayor’s Epiphany at the Vatican: Climate Debate Is Over for the Rest of the World”.

'Reverse course or face extinction' - California Governor, Jerry Brown

C

alifornia Governor Jerry Brown, in an ominous appeal on climate change, says that the world may already have "gone over the edge" on global warming and that humanity must reverse course or face extinction.

"We don't even know how far we've gone, or if we've gone over the edge," Brown said on Tuesday (local time) at a climate summit at the Vatican. "There are tipping points, feedback loops - this is not some linear set of problems that we can predict. We have to take measures against an uncertain future which may well be something no one ever wants. We are talking about extinction. We are talking about climate regimes that have not been seen for tens of millions of years. We're not there yet, but we're on our way."

Brown, addressing dozens of mayors and other local government officials from around the world, issued his typical criticism of Republican politicians and business interests skeptical of climate change, calling them "troglodytes" to applause.

Brown went beyond his partisan rabble-rousing, however, quoting balefully from St. Paul's biblical message to the Galatians.

"God is not mocked," Brown said, "for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Read the Stuff.co.nz story - “California governor's climate warning: 'We are talking about extinction’”.

Climate activists take their message to the Vatican

S

everal thousand demonstrators from various faiths marched through Rome to the Vatican to demand action on climate change in light of Pope Francis' recent call to action.

Climate activists take their
message to the Vatican.

The crowd was comprised of Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Muslims.

They marched behind banners reading "Many Faiths - One Planet" and "The Earth - Our Common Home - Climate Action Now" to lobby leaders to take decisive action at an upcoming United Nations summit this year to stem the effects of global warming.

Speaking to crowds gathered in St Peter's Square, the Pope acknowledged the groups and encouraged inter-religious collaboration for an "integral ecology" to protect "our common home".

Read the ABC story - “Climate change demonstrators march to the Vatican in inter-religious support of Pope Francis' stance”.

2015 climate accord is our last chance to make it safe: Vatican

T

he 2015 climate accord may be the last chance to keep global warming within a range deemed “safe” for the world, its people and its ecosystems.

'2015 climate accord is
our last chance' - Vatican.

That is according to the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, the attendees — including not only scientific leaders but also religious and political luminaries who made this statement following a Vatican climate change meeting on Tuesday.

A Washington Post story - “2015 the ‘last effective opportunity’ to safely limit warming, says Vatican conference statement” – said, “Human-induced climate change is a scientific reality, and its decisive mitigation is a moral and religious imperative for humanity.”

Vatican and the United Nations team up to warn the world of climate change

T

he Vatican and the United Nations teamed up to warn the world of the effects of climate change on Tuesday, coming down firmly against sceptics who deny human activities help change global weather patterns.

Pope Francis has teamed with U.N.
 to warn of climate change.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon discussed climate change with the pope before opening a one-day conference of scientists and religious leaders called "The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development".

The pope, who is due to make a major address on sustainable development at the United Nations in September, has said he believes man is primarily responsible for climate change and is writing an encyclical on the environment.

Ban, opening the conference of some 60 scientists, religious leaders and diplomats hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, urged industrialised countries to invest in clean energy and reduce their carbon footprints.

Read the Thompson Reuters Foundation story: “Vatican and U.N. team up on climate change against sceptics”.