Casina Pio IV, Vatican City - The Blue Chip Foundation, represented by founder Jennifer Stengaard Gross, participated in the Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity Summit at Casina Pio IV, Vatican City, April 28 to explore the moral dimensions of climate change and sustainable development.
“Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment is incredibly important in our time. His reach extends far beyond Catholicism, and his statements have the potential to create a global impact,” says Gross.
Several Vatican officials and a mix of scientists, business professionals, diplomats, religious leaders, and academicians came together at the summit. Several climate change-deniers, including some members of the U.S. Congress, snuck into the building and were immediately escorted out, but their presence didn’t stop the group from issuing a joint statement on the moral and religious imperative of sustainable development.
The joint statement reads, in part, “Human-induced climate change is a scientific reality, and its decisive mitigation is a moral and religious imperative for humanity; in this core moral space, the world’s religions play a very vital role. These traditions all affirm the inherent dignity of every individual linked to the common good of all humanity. They affirm the beauty, wonder, and inherent goodness of the natural world, and appreciate that it is a precious gift entrusted to our common care, making it our moral duty to respect rather than ravage the garden that is our home.” (You can read the entire statement here.)
“We have the ability to mitigate climate change,” says Gross, “and at the same time, we can end extreme poverty. If the world can apply sustainable development solutions, it’s really within our grasp. The climate summit in Paris is right around the corner, and that may be our last opportunity to keep human-caused climate change below 2 degrees C and avoid the devastating effects that are coming if we reach the projected 4 degree C threshold that experts expect.”
New incentives for transitioning to low-carbon energy may be able to serve as a springboard. Those at the summit also called for the “relentless pursuit of peace,” which could result in a major shift from military spending to sustainable development.
“Everyone who signed the statement committed to do everything we can—and to ask other people to help, as well,” says Gross. “It’s about the connection between respect for the environment and respect for the dignity in each being, particularly the poor and those who have been pushed to the fringes of their societies. It’s our moral responsibility to look out for the victims of human trafficking and modern slavery, and to protect the future for children.”
