COP28 Dubai

Ahead of COP28, the U.N. climate change conference, Catholic leaders in Africa called for decisive action against climate change, as churches and agencies moved to aid people affected by floods.

Catholics hope Pope Francis' first-ever papal visit to a United Nations climate change conference at COP28 in Dubai this year can be the push international climate talks need to get back on track.

Pope Francis is set to speak at the inauguration of the first-ever "Faith Pavilion" during the upcoming 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates.

Religious leaders have called on decision-makers to use COP28 to usher in a rapid transition to clean energy sources, and for nations to establish accountability mechanisms to hold them to climate action pledges.

Releasing the schedule for the pope's trip Nov. 9, the Vatican said he would address the conference Dec. 2 and spend the rest of the day in "private bilateral meetings." The inauguration of the Faith Pavilion will be Dec. 3.

The degree to which Pope Francis has engaged with the central debate in environmental thought over the past half a century — anthropocentrism versus eco- or biocentrism — has not been adequately recognized. 

In an interview broadcast in Italy Nov. 1, the pope had said he intended to go to COP28 next month, but the Vatican did not confirm the trip until Nov. 3. Pope Francis will travel to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates Dec. 1-3 to participate in the U.N. Climate Change Conference, the Vatican press office confirmed.

Pope Francis said he will attend the United Nations' COP28 climate change conference in Dubai next month, becoming the first pontiff to ever address such a high-level summit.

As President Biden urged global cooperation at the U.N. to combat climate change, U.S. Catholic groups are calling on his administration to use debt relief to help countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

The United Nations held its first-ever "Climate Ambition Summit" Sept. 20 — a conference that included 41 countries, but excluded both the United States and China because the U.N. invited only leaders from nations with concrete plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

There is a growing demand for climate action. But that is not what the world got from the United Nations mid-year climate talks. Many observers and party delegates were dissatisfied with the process and the outcomes.

During a private meeting with John Kerry on June 19, Pope Francis signaled an openness to attending the COP28 climate summit in Dubai later this year.

Pope Francis used his 2023 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation message to call for an end to "the fossil fuel era," saying it is "madness to permit continued exploration and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure."