The Vatican aims to eliminate more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions it produces over the next decade, according to plans it has submitted to the United Nations. Source: NCR Online.
The Holy See filed the climate commitment in September as part of its obligation as a party to the Paris Agreement. The 2015 international deal requires countries to take steps to reduce heat-trapping emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane gases, which are primarily released from burning fossil fuels and are the main cause of climate change.
The Paris climate accord requires countries to submit new emissions-reduction plans – called “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) – every five years toward meeting its chief goal of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Surpassing that threshold, scientists say, will expose millions more people to dangerous climate impacts like more extreme heat waves, storms, and increased flooding and wildfires. The latest updated targets were due ahead of COP30, the UN climate summit in November in Belem, Brazil, near the gateway to the Amazon rainforest.
Under its new pledge, the Holy See said it will cut its emissions within the Vatican City State by at least 28 per cent by 2035 compared to 2011 levels. A key aspect of the plan is the development of a four-square-kilometre solar farm north of Rome, positioned to fully meet the Vatican’s electricity needs and make it the world’s first carbon-neutral state. Currently, the Vatican relies almost exclusively on imports for its energy needs.
Along with reducing emissions, the Holy See said it will continue education efforts about integral ecology to foster an ecological conversion that both popes Francis and Leo XIV described as essential to fully addressing threats posed by climate change.
The world’s smallest country at just 44.1 hectares and a population of 887 people, the Vatican contributes a fractional percentage – well under 100th of a per cent – of cumulative global emissions.
In comparison, China accounts for the largest share (25 per cent) of present-day emissions, while the United States, the largest historical emitter, is responsible for 11 per cent of current emissions.
“Although the Vatican City State’s contribution to global emissions is negligible,” the Holy See said in its climate plan, “it considers it essential to invest in quality emission-reduction projects as well as in initiatives promoting education in integral ecology, which, in addition to the mitigation of greenhouse gases, also lead to ethical and social benefits.”
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Vatican pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 28 per cent (By Brian Rowe, NCR Online)
