On Monday, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had passed away after suffering from a stroke. In his lifetime, Francis spoke forcefully on issues related to climate change, making environmental stewardship a central theme of his papacy.
In his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, Francis framed climate change as not just a scientific or political issue, but a profound moral failure with the worst consequences for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. In the years that followed, Francis continued to deliver stark warnings to world leaders in interviews, public addresses, and at climate summits like COP28. Here are 11 of the late pope’s most trenchant quotes on climate change and the environment.
11. Meeting with the president of Ecuador
Photo by Lucas Allmann on Pexels
Year: 2013
“Take good care of creation. St. Francis wanted that. People occasionally forgive, but nature never does. If we don’t take care of the environment, there’s no way of getting around it.”
10. Meeting with young people, Santo Tomás University, Manila
Photo by Marta Ortigosa on Pexels
Year: 2015
“You are called to care for creation not only as responsible citizens but also as followers of Christ! Respect for the environment means more than simply using cleaner products or recycling what we use. These are important aspects, but not enough. We need to see, with the eyes of faith, the beauty of God’s saving plan, the link between the natural environment and the dignity of the human person.”
9. Laudato Si', 5
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Year: 2015
“Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and 'take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system'. Accordingly, our human ability to transform reality must proceed in line with God’s original gift of all that is.”
8. Laudato Si', 21
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Year: 2015
“Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources. The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish.”
7. Laudato Si', 12
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Year: 2015
“Nature is a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness. Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.”
6. Laudato Si', 11
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Year: 2015
“If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs.”
5. Speech to COP26 delegates
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Year: 2021
“[Love] represents a challenge born of our need to counter the 'throwaway culture' so prevalent in our society and resting on what our Joint Appeal calls the 'seeds of conflicts: greed, indifference, ignorance, fear, injustice, insecurity and violence.' Those seeds of conflict cause the serious wounds we are inflicting on the environment, such as climate change, desertification, pollution and loss of biodiversity. These in turn are leading to the breaking of 'that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying.”
4. Laudate Deum
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Year: 2023
“Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident. No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone.”
3. COP28 address
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Year: 2023
“I am with you to raise the question which we must answer now: Are we working for a culture of life or a culture of death? To all of you I make this heartfelt appeal: Let us choose life! Let us choose the future! May we be attentive to the cry of the earth, may we hear the plea of the poor, may we be sensitive to the hopes of the young and the dreams of children! We have a grave responsibility: to ensure that they not be denied their future.”
2. COP28 address
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Year: 2023
“The destruction of the environment is an offense against God, a sin that is not only personal but also structural, one that greatly endangers all human beings, especially the most vulnerable in our midst and threatens to unleash a conflict between generations.”
1. 2024 social media address
Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Pexels
Year: 2024
“If we took the planet's temperature, it will tell us that the Earth has a fever. And it is sick, just like anyone who's sick. But are we listening to this pain?”
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