April 19, 2015
Pope Francis is convening a landmark climate change conference April 28 in Vatican City. Entitled "Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity: The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development," the meeting will feature an opening address by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (shown with the pope in 2013) as well as statements and panel discussions involving 60 world religious leaders and scientists. The day-long event is sponsored by the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, the UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and Religions for Peace, a non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered at the United Nations in New York City.
Bishop Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, told the Catholic aid agencyCAFOD that the pope hopes to influence the UN's climate change talks scheduled to begin this November in Paris. "The idea is to convene a meeting with leaders of the main religions to make all people aware of the state of our climate and the tragedy of social exclusion," Sorondo explained.
Apparently, social exclusion ceases to be a tragedy when applied to the tens of thousands of prestigious scientists worldwide who reject the notion that humans are disrupting Earth's climate and destroying the global environment. None of them are slated for the pope's conference. Instead, the speakers list is limited to eco-cheerleaders such as American economist Jeffrey Sachs, who directs the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and University of California professor Veerabhadran Ramanathan, who has called global warming "the most important environmental issue facing the world today."
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