‘Laudato Si’ The Importance of Biodiversity

Sean McDonagh gives his reaction to the report from COP20 in Lima.
The Lima document broke with all previous COPs where the burden of reducing greenhouse gases was placed squarely on the shoulders of rich countries which historically have been emitting carbon dioxide since the beginning of the industrial revolution. In Lima poor countries felt that rich countries were attempting to move the burden of reducing carbon dioxide emissions on to their shoulders.

Seán McDonagh, SSC reports on a Joint Consultation on ‘Laudato Si’ and the Path to ‘COP 22’ organised by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences.
He quotes Prof. Ramanathan Veerabhadran as saying “the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming is the most important environmental issue facing the world today.”
“At the end of the meeting the group released this document in preparation for the COP 22 which will take place in Marraakesh from November 7 to 18th 2016.
“ The Paris Climate Agreement is historic. For the first time since the signing of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), all countries have agreed to act in order to protect the planet. The core goals include: (1) keeping warming to “well below 2-degrees C” and “to pursue efforts to keep below 1.5-degree C”; (2) enabling countries to adapt to the adverse impacts already underway; and (3) ensuring the flow of fair and equitable financing to achieve the climate goals.”

Sean McDonagh kindly provides the text of an interview he did with Brian Rowe of the National Catholic Reporter during his recent 10-day speaking tour of the East Coast of the U.S. which focused on his new book on Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.”
Sean tells us “This is potentially an extraordinary moment for the church,” … “… Now do we take it or do we go back into our burrows? I hope we take it.”

Seán McDonagh, drawing on the wisdom of ‘Laudato Si’ brings to our attention the impact the consumption of meat is having on Humans and the Global Environment.
“We might think that this generation is merely following the tradition of our ancestors when it comes to eating meat. In reality the global meat industry has grown dramatically in recent decades. Between 1963 and 2014 meat production globally has grown from 78 million tons to 300 million tons.”
“to reach a healthy level of meat consumption, citizens of the United States would have to cut their meat consumption by two-thirds, while in Britain and Ireland we should be eating half as much meat as we do.”