32
tion to assume its costs, and the duty to assess
the environmental impact of given projects and
works. It set the goal of limiting greenhouse gas
concentration in the atmosphere, in an effort to
reverse the trend of global warming. It also drew
up an agenda with an action plan and a conven-
tion on biodiversity, and stated principles regard-
ing forests. Although the summit was a real step
forward, and prophetic for its time, its accords
have been poorly implemented, due to the lack
of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic
review and penalties in cases of non-compliance.
The principles which it proclaimed still await an
efficient and flexible means of practical imple-
mentation.
168. Among positive experiences in this regard,
we might mention, for example, the Basel Con-
vention on hazardous wastes, with its system of
reporting, standards and controls. There is also
the binding Convention on international trade in
endangered species of wild fauna and flora, which
includes on-site visits for verifying effective com-
pliance. Thanks to the Vienna Convention for the
protection of the ozone layer and its implementa-
tion through the Montreal Protocol and amend-
ments, the problem of the layer’s thinning seems
to have entered a phase of resolution.
169. As far as the protection of biodiversity and
issues related to desertification are concerned,
progress has been far less significant. With re-
gard to climate change, the advances have been
124
32
125
regrettably few. Reducing greenhouse gases re-
quires honesty, courage and responsibility, above
all on the part of those countries which are more
powerful and pollute the most. The Conference
of the United Nations on Sustainable Develop-
ment, “Rio+20” (Rio de Janeiro 2012), issued a
wide-ranging but ineffectual outcome document.
International negotiations cannot make signifi-
cant progress due to positions taken by countries
which place their national interests above the
global common good. Those who will have to
suffer the consequences of what we are trying to
hide will not forget this failure of conscience and
responsibility. Even as this Encyclical was being
prepared, the debate was intensifying. We believ-
ers cannot fail to ask God for a positive outcome
to the present discussions, so that future gener-
ations will not have to suffer the effects of our
ill-advised delays.
170. Some strategies for lowering pollutant gas
emissions call for the internationalization of en-
vironmental costs, which would risk imposing
on countries with fewer resources burdensome
commitments to reducing emissions comparable
to those of the more industrialized countries.
Imposing such measures penalizes those coun-
tries most in need of development. A further in-
justice is perpetrated under the guise of protect-
ing the environment. Here also, the poor end up
paying the price. Furthermore, since the effects
of climate change will be felt for a long time to
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39
126
come, even if stringent measures are taken now,
some countries with scarce resources will require
assistance in adapting to the effects already being
produced, which affect their economies. In this
context, there is a need for common and differ-
entiated responsibilities. As the bishops of Bo-
livia have stated, “the countries which have ben-
efited from a high degree of industrialization, at
the cost of enormous emissions of greenhouse
gases, have a greater responsibility for providing
a solution to the problems they have caused”.
127
171. The strategy of buying and selling “car-
bon credits” can lead to a new form of specula-
tion which would not help reduce the emission
of polluting gases worldwide. This system seems
to provide a quick and easy solution under the
guise of a certain commitment to the environ-
ment, but in no way does it allow for the radi-
cal change which present circumstances require.
Rather, it may simply become a ploy which per-
mits maintaining the excessive consumption of
some countries and sectors.
172. For poor countries, the priorities must be
to eliminate extreme poverty and to promote the
social development of their people. At the same
time, they need to acknowledge the scandalous
level of consumption in some privileged sectors
127
B
olivian
B
ishoPs
’ C
onferenCe
, Pastoral Letter on the
Environment and Human Development in Bolivia El universo,
don de Dios para la vida (March 2012), 86.
44
127
of their population and to combat corruption
more effectively. They are likewise bound to de-
velop less polluting forms of energy production,
but to do so they require the help of countries
which have experienced great growth at the cost
of the ongoing pollution of the planet. Taking
advantage of abundant solar energy will require
the establishment of mechanisms and subsi-
dies which allow developing countries access
to technology transfer, technical assistance and
financial resources, but in a way which respects
their concrete situations, since “the compatibility
of [infrastructures] with the context for which
they have been designed is not always adequate-
ly assessed”.
128
The costs of this would be low,
compared to the risks of climate change. In any
event, these are primarily ethical decisions, root-
ed in solidarity between all peoples.
173. Enforceable international agreements are
urgently needed, since local authorities are not
always capable of effective intervention. Rela-
tions between states must be respectful of each
other’s sovereignty, but must also lay down mu-
tually agreed means of averting regional disasters
which would eventually affect everyone. Global
regulatory norms are needed to impose obliga-
tions and prevent unacceptable actions, for ex-
ample, when powerful companies or countries
128
P
ontifiCal
C
ounCil
for
J
ustiCe
and
P
eaCe
, Energy,
Justice and Peace, IV, 1, Vatican City (2014), 53.
32
128
dump contaminated waste or offshore polluting
industries in other countries.
174. Let us also mention the system of gov-
ernance of the oceans. International and regional
conventions do exist, but fragmentation and the
lack of strict mechanisms of regulation, control
and penalization end up undermining these ef-
forts. The growing problem of marine waste and
the protection of the open seas represent par-
ticular challenges. What is needed, in effect, is
an agreement on systems of governance for the
whole range of so-called “global commons”.
175. The same mindset which stands in the
way of making radical decisions to reverse the
trend of global warming also stands in the way
of achieving the goal of eliminating poverty. A
more responsible overall approach is needed to
deal with both problems: the reduction of pol-
lution and the development of poorer coun-
tries and regions. The twenty-first century, while
maintaining systems of governance inherited
from the past, is witnessing a weakening of the
power of nation states, chiefly because the eco-
nomic and financial sectors, being transnation-
al, tends to prevail over the political. Given this
situation, it is essential to devise stronger and
more efficiently organized international institu-
tions, with functionaries who are appointed fairly
by agreement among national governments, and
empowered to impose sanctions. As Benedict
XVI has affirmed in continuity with the social
41
129
teaching of the Church: “To manage the global
economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to
avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and
the greater imbalances that would result; to bring
about integral and timely disarmament, food se-
curity and peace; to guarantee the protection of
the environment and to regulate migration: for
all this, there is urgent need of a true world po-
litical authority, as my predecessor Blessed John
XXIII indicated some years ago”.
129
Diplomacy
also takes on new importance in the work of de-
veloping international strategies which can antic-
ipate serious problems affecting us all.
ii. d
ialogue
for
neW
national
and
loCal
PoliCies
176. There are not just winners and losers
among countries, but within poorer countries
themselves. Hence different responsibilities
need to be identified. Questions related to the
environment and economic development can no
longer be approached only from the standpoint
of differences between countries; they also call
for greater attention to policies on the national
and local levels.
177. Given the real potential for a misuse of
human abilities, individual states can no longer
ignore their responsibility for planning, coordi-
129
B
enediCt
XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29
June 2009), 67: AAS 101 (2009).
32
130
nation, oversight and enforcement within their
respective borders. How can a society plan and
protect its future amid constantly developing
technological innovations? One authoritative
source of oversight and coordination is the law,
which lays down rules for admissible conduct in
the light of the common good. The limits which
a healthy, mature and sovereign society must
impose are those related to foresight and secu-
rity, regulatory norms, timely enforcement, the
elimination of corruption, effective responses
to undesired side-effects of production process-
es, and appropriate intervention where potential
or uncertain risks are involved. There is a grow-
ing jurisprudence dealing with the reduction of
pollution by business activities. But political and
institutional frameworks do not exist simply to
avoid bad practice, but also to promote best
practice, to stimulate creativity in seeking new
solutions and to encourage individual or group
initiatives.
178. A politics concerned with immediate re-
sults, supported by consumerist sectors of the
population, is driven to produce short-term
growth. In response to electoral interests, gov-
ernments are reluctant to upset the public with
measures which could affect the level of con-
sumption or create risks for foreign investment.
The myopia of power politics delays the inclu-
sion of a far-sighted environmental agenda with-
in the overall agenda of governments. Thus we
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