“The climate crisis is complex and demands the discernment and cooperation of the entire human family,” two USCCB committee chairmen and the president of Catholic Relief Services wrote on the eve of COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. “We appreciate the Biden Administration’s recent commitments in anticipation of COP26 to reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions within our own borders and to increase climate finance contributions for adaptation and mitigation in low-income countries.”

“We unite with the Holy Father in upholding the Church’s teaching that creation is a precious gift of God intended to be shared by all,” they continued. “To protect this gift, as the world races towards a sustainable future, we must not forget those who suffer the greatest from ecological degradation. Climate leadership requires finding common ground in the pursuit of the common good, for the entire planet is our one ‘common home.’”