Catholic community urges Amber Rudd to act on climate change

Amber Rudd

Catholic campaigners have called on the UK government to heed the message of Pope Francis as Secretary of State Amber Rudd arrives in Paris to join the second week of the UN climate talks.

More than 40,000 British Catholics, covering every political constituency in England and Wales, have added their names to a CAFOD petition asking David Cameron to ensure climate change does not push people deeper into poverty. Their names form part of a wider 800,000 -strong global petition calling on politicians to rise to the challenge outlined in the Pope's landmark encyclical Laudato Si'. The global Catholic call to action was handed by Cardinal Hummes of Brazil to UNFCCC's climate envoy Christiana Figueres last week as the talks got underway in Paris.

The call by Catholics to heed the words of the Holy Father - who yesterday at the Vatican prayed for courage for delegates at the Paris talks - comes as the Holy See prepares to give its first press conference at a COP. Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who advised Pope Francis on his encyclical, will convey the Holy Father's message on the need for climate action.

Neil Thorns, Director of Advocacy at the British aid agency CAFOD, said: "The Catholic community in England and Wales has sent a clear message to Amber Rudd as she arrives in Paris, that caring for the world's most vulnerable people is an intrinsic part of our faith and that we need the Energy Secretary to act on our behalf to secure a climate deal to protect them.

"David Cameron's speech last Monday called for a strong deal that guarantees adequate climate finance for the world's most vulnerable people and a five year review mechanism to measure and improve progress. We look forward to Amber Rudd rolling her sleeves up and getting involved to make this deal happen."

A delegation of CAFOD supporters will arrive in Paris on Wednesday this week to join other Catholic and Christian pilgrims from around the world who have walked, cycled and travelled to Paris to raise their voices in the crucial closing days of the negotiations.