(UCAN): Catholic bishops in Asia supported an ongoing campaign that calls for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty that seeks to battle climate change.
Bishop Allwyn D’Silva, chairperson of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences [FABC] Office of Human Development and Climate Change Desk, said such a treaty “is a vital player in tackling the impending climate crisis.”
Bishop D’Silva told a learning session on the treaty: “The FABC is with you, and we are trying our best and will try our best” to have the treaty at the next COP [Conference of the Parties, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] meeting.
The study session was organised online by the global Catholic climate action forum, Laudato Si’ Movement.
Bishop D’Silva said he was at the study session “to show support” for the campaign seeking to battle climate change. “We all realise the dangers of climate change,” he said in a video message released by the Laudato Si’ Movement.
Climate activists say most international treaties on climate change have ignored the challenges from fossil fuels.
The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted by 196 parties at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference [COP21] in Paris, failed to mention fossil fuels.
The latest climate conference, COP 27 held in Egypt last year, also did not mention the challenges coming from the use of oil and gas.
A bloc of Pacific Nations began a call for a treaty against fossil fuel proliferation saying such an international agreement is necessary to complement other agreements and treaties, and to create affordable clean energy for all.
Bishop D’Silva urged “all to join this bloc of Pacific Nations in their call for a treaty…to accelerating an equitable shift away from fossil fuels to affordable, abundant, clean energy for all.”
The bishop said that all should join hands to show “our solidarity in trying to persuade governments and other important people who are responsible for this climate change, for this climate emergency.”
Only “few governments have promised” to adopt the treaty and called on businesses, communities, and policymakers to unite in the campaign to bring the treaty to fruition, Bishop D’Silva noted.
“We [need] the businesspeople. We also require communities. We want people who influence the policies and the decision-making in our countries,” the bishop added.
