The recent heat wave that hit Pakistan has claimed more than 700 lives. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case as we expect heat waves with more global warming as scientists tell us how climate change seems to be contributing to droughts, though the empirical evidence is weak. The link is logical and makes us conclude that as the incidence of higher temperatures speeds up evaporation as it automatically reduces soil moisture and eventually leads to drought.

It goes without saying that global warming is a phenomenon that has caused scientists to conduct further studies in a bid to check whether increases of drought are the result of higher carbon content or partly caused by human influence, such as population growth and water consumption - these do contribute to risks of drought. Studies on global warming show that any potential weakening in solar activity would only have a small effect on the rise in temperatures worldwide, and would only partially offset the warming caused by the gas emissions from cars, factories and power plants. Heavy industrial plants in a number of countries have long abused our planet, as studies show that they may be one of the causes that have driven us to the brink of environmental and social catastrophe.

But why all the fuss now since, for over a decade, we have been promised that measures are being taken at various world meetings to establish benchmarks for a tangible reduction of the carbon footprint to restore the balance of life on earth, implementing renewable community energy solutions and cutting dirty energy. One interesting study by the National Climatic Data Centre of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed that the winter of December 2014 through February 2015 was the warmest on record for the globe as a whole. We have been given many reasons to fear climate change and political leaders have made various promises to start reducing carbon footprint and cut emissions but regrettably little has been done - the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Only last week, Pope Francis made the news headlines worldwide. In his encyclical Laudato Si, he called on the rich nations to begin paying their "grave social debt" to the poor and take concrete steps on climate change, saying failure to do so presents an undeniable risk to humanity. What makes this unusual is the forceful exhortation to the faithful which the media is branding as the Jesus factor. In the past, there was never any direct intervention by Church leaders exhorting developed countries to help pay this debt by significantly limiting their consumption of non-renewable energy and assisting poorer countries to support policies and programmes of sustainable development.

One can attribute the entry of Pope Francis into the political fray on such a controversial subject as intriguing, albeit unique. Few stopped to read his 180-page encyclical on the environment but news on its content was publicized by Italian magazine L'Espresso last week. It was a moral call for action on phasing out the use of fossil fuels. The document also, however, lays the blame for climate change at the feet of the powerful and indifferent. Yes it is unusual for the religious leader of Catholics to assert Church opinion on such a secular yet important subject when he wrote, "The foreign debt of poor countries has become a way of controlling them, yet this is not the case where ecological debt is concerned." Non-believers are intrigued when Pope Francis extols the dangers of what he terms as an "ecological crisis" when he  argues that, not only is climate change a "global problem with serious implications", but it is one whose impact is being disproportionately felt by the poorest in the world. World Bank president Jim Yong Kim commented on the encyclical saying: "Today's release...should serve as a stark reminder to all of us on the intrinsic link between climate change and poverty." He concurs with the undue suffering of the people living in extreme poverty saying that such extreme weather events have taken the lives of more than 2.5 million people and resulted in $4 trillion in damages.

Kim believes that we must now seize this narrow window of opportunity and embark on ambitious actions and policies to help protect people and the environment. He concurs with Pope Francis who unashamedly blamed human selfishness for global warming in his non-controversial yet long-awaited encyclical calling for action on climate change. His rallying of global public opinion on suffering by the poor is not new but it comes not a moment too soon as it exposes the unfair distribution of wealth and abuses of high green gas emissions in rich and developed countries to the detriment of all mankind, but of course this hits the poor and disenfranchised much harder. It is a rallying call for political leaders to stop tinkering around the edges and pledge to embark on a definitive plan to combat climate change - something which needs a collective effort.

Pope Francis writes: "Those who possess more resources and economic or political power seem mostly to be concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms." The failure to respond, he says, points to the loss of a "sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded". One can applaud his foray in the public arena on a delicate yet controversial subject which world religious leaders such as Moslems or other major religious sects have hardly commented. Reactions to his intervention were mixed and in Malta the Friends of the Earth issued a positive statement saying: "The Pope has shown impressive and inspiring leadership where many elected leaders have failed. He is both a friend of the earth and of the millions of people in poorer, vulnerable nations whose lives are already being shattered by extreme weather."

Addressing climate change is a matter of justice: those who have contributed least to causing the crisis are suffering the greatest consequences. But Catholics in the US have divided views. The Guardian reports that a recent survey by Pew Research revealed that Catholic Republicans view the nearly universally accepted scientific facts about global warming with deep scepticism; a majority of 71 per cent believe the earth is warming and about half (47 per cent) believe humans are the cause and that it is a serious problem. However, while eight in 10 Catholic Democrats say that there is solid evidence that global warming is real, only about half of Catholic Republicans agree. Far less - just one quarter of Catholic Republicans - believe that global warming is caused by humans.

The positive side of the Jesus factor is that it asserts basic facts about the need to start doing something now and in particular how the poor are suffering because they are being deprived of basics such as drinking water. Pope Francis extols the virtues of charities and foundations which help by providing basic amenities to those suffering from climate change. He calls access to safe drinkable water a "basic and universal human right" and that depriving the poor of access to water is akin to "denying the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity". Other reactions to the encyclical came from Naidoo, the international executive director at Greenpeace, said: "Greenpeace welcomes the valuable intervention of Pope Francis in humanity's common struggle to prevent catastrophic climate change."

To conclude on the Jesus factor, one notes that everyone, whether religious or secular, can and must respond to this clarion call for bold urgent action. Pope Francis highlights the loss of biodiversity in the Amazonian rainforests and the melting of polar glaciers, reminding us all that there is still time to stop the damage and calling for an end to consumerism and greed.

 

The writer is a partner at PKF an audit and business advisory firm

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