Pope Francis last weekend told some of the world’s leading oil executives that while “civilisation requires energy”, energy use “must not destroy civilisation”, write James Roberts and CNS.
He was speaking on 9 June to industry leaders taking part in a 8-9 June conference, “Energy Transition and Care for Our Common Home”. The event was sponsored by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
The private conference brought together leaders of energy, petroleum and natural gas companies and the heads of investment firms. Among those taking part were Larry Fink, chairman of BlackRock, an American multinational investment management corporation; Darren Woods, chairman of ExxonMobil; Vicki Hollub, president of Occidental Petroleum; and Bob Dudley, group chief executive of BP.
“We are challenged to find ways of ensuring the immense supply of energy required to meet the needs of all,” said Francis. This included the estimated more than 1 billion people who lack access to electricity, the Pope said. At the same time as providing for these people, it was necessary to develop means of using natural resources “that avoid creating environmental imbalances resulting in deterioration and pollution”.
There is an urgent need, Francis said, “to devise a long-term global strategy able to provide energy security and, by laying down precise commitments to meet the problem of climate change, to encourage economic stability, public health, environmental protection and integral human development”.
“This is a challenge of epochal proportions,” Francis said. “Our desire to ensure energy for all must not lead to … a catastrophic rise in global temperatures.”
Despite nations agreeing to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions with the [2015] Paris Agreement, such emissions still remain very high, he said. “Yet even more worrying is the continued search for new fossil fuel reserves.
“This is why we need to talk together – industry, investors, researchers and consumers – about transition and the search for alternatives,” the Pope said.
n Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, took part in the Bilderberg Conference – an annual gathering of global political, business and media leaders – held in Turin between 7 and 10 June.
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