Pope addresses Pacific Islands Forum leaders
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday shared the
concerns of island, coastal and fishing communities, and called for global
cooperation, solidarity and strategies to address issues such as the
deterioration of the environment and the health of oceans.
Meeting some 46 members of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in
the Vatican, the Pope shared the concerns of those exposed to frequent extreme
environmental and climate events, and the impact of rising sea levels and the
continuous deterioration of the barrier reef.
He blamed many of the causes of this “environmental decay”
on the short-sighted human activity… connected with certain ways of exploiting
natural and human resources.
Earth without borders
The Pope however expressed satisfaction that the problem of
global warming and rising sea levels that mainly affect impoverished
coastal populations, are being discussed in international forums, such as the
on-going United Nations COP-23 Climate
Change Conference in Bonn.
He evoked the vision of an “earth without borders” that
calls for the need for a global outlook, international cooperation and
solidarity, and a shared strategy, to address environmental problems.
He lamented that since the appeal by
the Filipino bishops nearly 30 years ago, the situation of the oceans
and the marine ecosystem, especially the barrier reef, has not really
improved. We still face problems, including pollution caused by the
accumulation of plastics and micro-plastics in oceans, the Pope said.
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