A moral and faith perspective, CIDSE Policy Briefing, June 2024
In recent years, the Catholic community has increasingly recognized the urgent need to address the multifaceted challenges posed by climate change. The Pope’s encyclical Laudato Si’ and his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum underscore climate change as one of the most urgent issues of our time, which has significant economic, social, political and cultural facets, not simply a scientific one.
Climate finance is a pivotal obligation for addressing the urgent moral imperative of climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience and addressing losses and damages. But it cannot be just and equitable without reforming the underlying global tax system and financial architecture.
Drawing chiefly from two core concepts of Catholic Social Teaching – responsibility for the common good and the preferential option for the poor – to address ecological debt, this briefing paper aims to explore how meeting the extensive demand for climate finance ranging from $9-10 trillion by 2030 and 2050 intersects with the imperatives of Catholic social teaching.
Additional information:
– The policy briefing will be presented at a UNFCCC SB60 side event in Bonn on 10 June 2024 organised by CIDSE, CAFOD, Caritas Internationalis, KOO and Maryknoll Sisters.
– Fair finance for the climate fightback: Where should the money come from?, CAFOD Discussion Paper, 2024
CIDSE contact: Lydia Machaka, Energy and Extractivism Officer, machaka(at)cidse.org.
Cover photo: demonstration at COP27, 2022. Credit: CIDSE.