San Francisco Frontiers - Schwarzenegger's 'action hero' pope says don't give up on climate change

"There is no room for indifference or resignation," Leo told environmental experts and campaigners from around the world gathered at a climate conference near Rome.

The three-day event marks the 10th anniversary of late Pope Francis's landmark climate manifesto "Laudato Si", which appealed for action on human-caused global warming.

US-born Pope Leo, who was elected head of the Catholic Church in May following Francis's death, said it was time for "everyone in society... (to) put pressure on governments".

"Citizens need to take an active role," he said.

Time is of the essence. The emissions which drive climate change have been rising around the world, but need to almost halve by the end of the decade to limit global warming to the safer levels agreed under the 2015 Paris deal.

How to achieve that will be the focus of the upcoming UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil in November.

The conference "Raising Hope for Climate Justice" -- held in Castel Gandolfo, where the pope has a summer residence -- is looking at progress made and "urgent steps" now needed, organisers said.

Schwarzenegger, a former bodybuilder, actor and politician who has championed environmental issues, called the pope an "action hero".

He referenced the Vatican's efforts to go carbon neutral, which include plans announced this summer to build a large new solar panel park to provide its electricity needs.

As cardinals in the audience chuckled, Schwarzenegger said: "You're laughing because he doesn't look maybe like one, like you see in the movies with the muscles and with the guns and all that stuff."

The former governor of California said it was "very important" for the Catholic Church to throw its weight behind the global challenge.

"The Catholic Church has 1.4 billion members, 400,000 priests, 600,000 nuns, 200,000 churches. Now think about that. That power... involved in our environmental movement to terminate pollution," Schwarzenegger said.

- 'Speak to the heart' -

Leo warned that using facts and figures -- however scary -- was unlikely to change people's habits, urging climate campaigners instead to speak "to the heart... where decisions are forged".

"We must shift from collecting data to caring; and from environmental discourse to an ecological conversion that transforms both personal and communal lifestyles," he said.

Before becoming pope, Robert Francis Prevost spent around 20 years as a missionary in Peru, where he helped vulnerable communities hit by the effects of climate change, including severe floods.

Leo said he hoped COP30 would "listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, families, Indigenous peoples, involuntary migrants and believers throughout the world".

According to the Laudato Si' Movement organising the conference, participants will make a new pledge in memory of Pope Francis "to fulfil the vision" of his call to climate action, which will then be delivered to COP30.

Allen Ottaro, 41, founder of the Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa, said the Church in many parts of the world was "already... transforming energy systems, use of solar, recycling, waste water, organic agriculture".

"This is a crucial moment," he told AFP.

Despite "extreme weather events... some major powers... are clearly showing that they are no longer interested in the direction the world should take."

The conference -- which brings together bishops, climate and biodiversity experts, Indigenous leaders and civil society representatives -- was "an opportunity to showcase what people are doing, and use that as a motivator to inspire others to do even more", he said.

Experts credited Francis with having influenced the landmark 2015 Paris climate accords with his "Laudato Si" encyclical, which argued that developed economies were to blame for an impending environmental catastrophe.

Nearly a decade later in 2023, Francis warned that some of the damage was "already irreversible".

Z.Sanchez--SFF