Be Responsible! Be Urgent! Be Effective! Be Democratic!

An Ecological Conversion

In his earlier Encyclical entitled Laudato Si’ (2015), Pope Francis called for an “ecological conversion”. We are used to the idea that Christianity calls us to “conversion”, a change of mind and heart resulting in a change of lifestyle. An “ecological conversion” is a deeper and wider conversion which includes a conversion of how we interrelate with the other beings of planet Earth, our “common home”.

In this new Exhortation, entitled Laudate Deum (2023), the pope continues what is essentially the same call but with increased urgency and with updated applications. We are invited into the “marvellous concert of all God’s creatures” in which human beings have a unique value, yet where human life is incomprehensible and unsustainable without other creatures. All of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, “a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect” (LD par 67).

Francis’s call is now more urgent than it was eight years ago and has a sense even of exasperation. It seems our response has been too slow. And the dangers of climate change in particular are now more serious.

The Technocratic Paradigm

In Laudate Deum Francis emphasises again the destructive nature of what he calls the “technocratic paradigm”. This is the mentality, often subconscious but disturbingly influential, which regards reality, goodness and truth as automatically flowing from technological and economic power as such. The immense technological development of the last few decades has not been accompanied by a sound ethics or spirituality capable of setting limits and teaching self-restraint. Francis comments: “to suppose that all problems in the future will be able to be solved by new technical interventions is a form of homicidal pragmatism, like pushing a snowball down a hill” (LD par 57).

Climate Change

Among the many ecological issues that cause us concern today, this Exhortation focuses particularly on climate change. Today, Earth’s climate is changing in unexpectedly dangerous ways. Not all climate change is the result of human activity, of course. Some of it is natural change inherent in the long-term cycles of an evolving planet. But some of it is, indeed, a result of human activity particularly over the last few decades. Some of this activity, like greenhouse gas emissions, we just need to stop because it results in an increase in the heating of the surface of the planet.

Even if some of the heating of Earth’s surfaces is a result of “natural” processes, we need to find ways to cope with the sheer speed of these processes today. Yet we still have not understood nor devised the means to limit the destruction and death that can result. A key point here is that climate change is not just happening. It is happening faster.

Different Levels of Responsibility

Laudate Deum is addressed to all people of good will. It has an expectation or at least a hope that everyone will participate in the needed remedial action. But this will differ according to what we may call the person or group’s level of responsibility.

For most of us, our effective action is limited in outreach. Whether my outreach is local, national, or international it is still important. The pope notes, for example, that efforts to combat environmental destruction can be quite effective at the level of households and local groups. Perhaps even more important than the actions themselves, efforts by households to reduce pollution and waste and to consume with prudence, are creating a new culture. The mere fact that personal, family, and community habits are changing is contributing to greater concern about the unfulfilled responsibilities of the political sectors and indignation at the lack of interest shown by the powerful. At this basic level, we are helping to bring about large processes of transformation rising deep within society.

What Does It Mean for Us?

What could be the “take-home” messages for Aotearoa New Zealand from this Exhortation?

Our Local Involvement

Households and small groups at the local level like local churches and local organisations, play an important role in conservation and in mitigation of environmental destruction, but also in changing attitudes and lifestyles.

Our National Responsibilities

Some remedies, however, require action at a national or regional level. Energy transition is one of these. The use of fossil fuels for transport is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions. We need an energy transition towards clean energy sources such as wind and solar energy and the abandonment of fossil fuels. There is already a movement in Aotearoa New Zealand towards this objective. Yet it is a massive task to reduce transport emissions.

Just as most of us in our homes and work have learnt to follow the principle “reduce, reuse, recycle” so in our use of transport we need to follow the trajectory of avoid (the need for motorised transport), shift (to more sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport), and improve the energy use of existing means of transport.

There is a sign of hope that in Aotearoa New Zealand greenhouse gas emissions are now on the way down with annual emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels the lowest since 1999. And for the future, Aotearoa has untapped resources of renewable energy, wind, solar and geothermal. An even bigger supply of offshore wind is now being explored. Yet these shifts will require a national will with political coordination from all the major political parties.

Our International Responsibilities

At the international level Pope Francis has an eye towards COP28 (the annual meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in Dubai later this year. He notes that at this level we need a new process marked by three requirements: that the procedures decided upon be efficient, obligatory and readily monitored.

Democratic Processes

The central focus here is not, however, on how we can better manage the environment. It is about how we manage our own attitudes and behaviour, that is, it is about our own conversion, including how we make decisions together. It cannot be achieved through autocratic decisions by the powerful.

Following on from his hope for a development in human responsibility, values and conscience, Pope Francis notes a need for conversation, consultation, arbitration, conflict resolution and supervision, and in the end, a sort of increased “democratisation”.

Essentially, Laudate Deum is a call to take our own responsibility for the planet, but to be focused, do it quickly, do it at whatever level we can be effective, and do it democratically.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 287 November 2023: 12-13