Vatican urges global alliance to combat climate change

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the UN has called for countries to work together help avert climate change. The 62nd UN General Assembly met in New York on 11 and 12 February to consider the theme: "Addressing Climate Change: the United Nations and the World at Work". During the meeting, the Archbishop gave an address, the text of which was just made public on Friday. He told the Assembly: "The use of 'clean technologies is an important component of sustainable development. To help industrialising countries avoid the errors that others committed in the past, highly industrialised countries should share with the former their more advanced and cleaner technologies". He said: "Moreover, markets must be encouraged to patronise 'green economics' and not to sustain demand for goods whose very production causes environmental degradation. Consumers must be aware that their consumption patterns have direct impact on the health of the environment". "Indeed, the challenge of climate change is at once individual, local, national and global. Accordingly, it urges a multilevel co-ordinated response, with mitigation and adaptation programmes simultaneously individual, local, national and global in their vision and scope. ... It demands a global alliance for the adoption of a co-ordinated international political strategy towards a healthy environment for all". Source: VIS