CAFOD welcomes Querida Amazonia
Source: CAFOD
Clare Dixon, Head of Latin America at Catholic aid agency CAFOD, has welcomed Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia. She said:
"This is another example of a Pope who is prepared to show the leadership we need in a world so lacking in it.
"As he did ahead of the Paris climate talks in 2015, the Holy Father is calling on the world to act urgently in the run-up to the vital meetings taking place on biodiversity and COP26 this year.
"The Pope is pointing to the Amazon as a microcosm of the crisis we are facing - with the fires, pollution and displacement we've seen in the region showing the deadly interaction of poverty and the destruction of nature.
"But Francis is also imploring us to listen to the wisdom of the people of the Amazon, insisting that we learn from the way they live with the environment rather than in competition with it.
"We must ensure that these communities are at the conference tables alongside world leaders this year."