What need does the Earth have of us?

Catholics must listen to and act on the many different warning signs our beleaguered planet is giving us, writes Max Dalzell

That is the key question Pope Francis asks in his encyclical Laudato Si’. It is not a rhetorical question, but one that requires an answer.

You would be forgiven for thinking that the issue of climate change and caring for our world is a new idea, considering all the recent press coverage. This includes COP26, where world leaders gathered in Glasgow to discuss the urgent threat posed by climate change. This issue, however; dates back thousands of years: how can humanity sustain itself, while caring for the world around us? This question is addressed from the beginning – in Genesis 1:28, when God gives dominion of the Earth to humanity. God gives every individual a position of both power, and responsibility – to protect and to nourish God’s creation. In the book of Job, we are told to be attentive to the world: “Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you” (Job 12:7-10). As Catholics we must listen and act on the warning signs our planet gives us. These warning signs come in many different shapes and sizes, from changing migration patterns to extreme and frequent weather events. The damage human activity is doing to the world, to God’s creation, is now visible for all to see. In his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis stressed the importance of our role to preserve and protect God’s creation: “We must protect creation for it is a gift which the Lord has given us.” Pope Francis leads by example, with the environmental efforts of the Vatican: eliminating single-use plastics, generating electricity with solar panels, and the Vatican committing to carbon-neutrality by 2050.

We all need to “care for our common home”. We all have a responsibility to ensure that the poorest in society are not disproportionately impacted by our use of the world’s resources. It is our responsibility to preserve our planet for future generations to live, and to thrive.

Max Dalzell is a student at English Martyrs’ Catholic School in Leicester.

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