Pope hosts Jewish leaders at climate symposium

In the wake of the Manchester terrorist attack, many religious leaders shared their heartfelt sympathies and pain for the UK and global Jewish community, she said.

Naomi Verber (third from right) at the Raising Hope conference[Missing Credit]

Organised by the Laudato Si’ Movement, GreenFaith, and the Women, Faith, and Climate Network (WFCN), the event took place to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the landmark Laudato Si’ encyclical publication on climate change, the first time a Pope had called for urgent, global climate action.

Key speakers included Brazil’s minister for environment and climate change, Marina Silva, and the former Irish president Mary Robinson.

Actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger opened the conference in front an audience of more than 1,500 people and introduced Pope Leo XVI, whom he warmly referred to as his “action hero”.

“Stop whining and get the job done,” Schwarzenegger said, urging governments to adopt responsible climate policy.

He called on NGOs present to “be practical, not ideological” when convincing everyday people to embrace climate action.

Arnold Schwarzenegger[Missing Credit]

In his keynote speech, Pope Leo reaffirmed the Vatican’s environmental commitment and embraced Pope Francis’ ecological agenda.

The pontiff called out climate change denial and critics who “ridicule” global warming, which was taken by some as an implied criticism of US President Donald Trump, who, days earlier, had called climate change a “con job”.

The Pope performed a symbolic blessing over ice from a melting Greenland glacier and urged all faiths to nurture environmental responsibility.

Verber said it had been a “privilege” to represent the Jewish people – “Am Yisrael” – in the global effort to tackle the climate crisis and that it had been “particularly poignant” to be hosted by the Vatican in the wake of the Manchester attack.

“On one hand, I felt an overwhelming sense of grief and isolation, being so far from the community, but also uplifted by the genuine love and support from brothers and sisters of other faiths,” she said.

“The faith climate movement is an increasingly rare space of love, respect and common purpose. Too often, the secular climate movement supplants the climate mission with political ideology, isolating people of faith.”

Rabbi Neril added: “Jewish tradition teaches that humanity is responsible for guarding the Earth... Moral voices must lead the way in confronting the climate emergency.”

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