Pope Francis speaks on Climate Change

Source: The New York Times and Economic Times

Pope Francis forcefully urges action to combat climate change, criticizing the sale of "carbon credits".

Confronting the climate crisis will require a deeper, spiritual transformation of society, replacing consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing."

The central idea in all these programs-from Emission Trading System in Europe to carbon tax adopted in the Canadian province of British Columbia-is to put a price on Carbon,so that all businesses and consumers are charged for the environmental consequences of their actions.

Pope Francis agrees that "the economic resources and social costs of using up shared environmental resources" must be fully borne by those who incur them".

Pope Francis endorses the principle of "polluter pays".

For countries that rely on nuclear power,like France ,or burn very little coal,reducing green house gas emissions is enormously costly.By contrast,China can achieve reductions at a small fraction of cost.

    PM of India, Narendra Modi wants to assert green credentials of India ahead of key global summit on climate change in Paris later this year.The French will be lending strong support.

Modi will co-launch a book on the urgent need for protecting the environment with French President Francois Holland's to make the point.

The aim of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, in which 196 countries are participating, is to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, in order to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.

Modi govt. is emphasizing India's commitment to the cause by initiatives on solar and wind power, environment friendly life style choices. It also pointed out that developed nations cannot escape their responsibility.