Climate Change: When Lawyers Prepare, Beware!
COP28, Pope Francis, and the Aim of Laudate Deum
International lawyers specialising in property law are currently considering the challenges that climate change poses to the right to property. One of the pressing questions is whether governments, citing climate change, have the right to proactively seize land from citizens when they are at risk due to sea-level rise. And if so, should these citizens be compensated? What if the government does this to protect human lives? Should they be able to obtain land elsewhere as compensation? And what if all the land has already been allocated? These are not theoretical problems, especially for the Netherlands, where large parts of the country are below sea level. The Netherlands are not unique. In the Pacific, islands with villages and towns are already slowly becoming uninhabitable due to rising waters. In England and France, some villages are also disappearing into the sea due to erosion, rising water, and more extreme weather. During my career as a legal professional, I learned that when lawyers start to prepare, it is serious.
A Climate Change Conundrum
And what do we do? We complain about protesters of groups like Extinction Rebellion blocking the motorway, order online products that must come from all over the world, and book our next flight holiday to destinations where summer still seems "normal." It appears that many of us follow the motto "after us, the deluge," without recognising that this deluge has no biblical origin but rather is the result of our own behaviour, albeit no less devastating. Fortunately, there are those who understand the gravity of the situation. One of the most influential voices in this global debate is that of Pope Francis.
The Pope Updates Laudato ‘Si
On the day the Synod on Synodality started in Rome, Pope Francis published an update of his encyclical Laudato Si, entitled "Laudate Deum" - "Praise the Lord." This choice of October 4, the feast day of St. Francis, is no coincidence. This saint has long been known for his concern for the environment. But there is more to it. By publishing this document at the start of the synod, the Pope is showing that the Church is not otherworldly. The conversation on synodality is taking place in a concrete time with global concerns. The church may not be of this world, but it is in the world. Laudate Deum also appears just before an important meeting in Dubai, where countries will discuss joint commitments on climate change. This underscores that the church has a role to play in the world, namely to speak prophetically, just when voters, politicians, and policymakers prefer to look away.
“Praise God” is the title of this letter. For when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies.
Pope Francis
Laudate Deum has been called a strikingly 'political' document by many commentators, and that is generally not a positive characterisation of a papal document. Yet, this is a misunderstanding. Catholic social teaching is always 'political' because CST seeks to contribute to the social discussion on how we can live well together. Laudate Deum is, therefore, no more or less political than the encyclicals Rerum Novarum (Leo XIII, 1891) on the workers' struggle, Pacem in Terris (John XXIII, 1963) following the near nuclear war at the time of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, or John Paul II’s 1991 intervention, Centesimus Annus, after the collapse of Communism. Social teaching is the foundation for the Church's civil mission, the responsibility that all believers take as fellow citizens for their society.
A Call to Action
Strikingly, Pope Francis not only criticises politicians but also looks inward to the church. The Pope is critical of believers (priests, laity) who ignore climate change or spread fake news to discredit scientists and politicians and sow distrust. The real problem, the reason why the Pope is now coming out with an update, lies deeper. He notes that we live in a time when many people, while convinced of the problems climate change is causing worldwide, seem paralysed when it comes to changing their own behaviour. We all know that action needs to be taken soon, but we are not doing it. However, the Pope warns us that it will not be long before we face massive and irreversible ecological, political, and social dislocations if we do not act urgently. It is time to take responsibility for our own behaviour and the future of our planet.
Picture: thanks to Brigitte Werner (Pixabay.Com)