Pope Francis announced on Wednesday, November 1 his intention to participate in the significant COP28 climate conference scheduled to commence in Dubai on November 30. He also showed his support for a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Pope Francis said on Wednesday that he would attend the crucial COP28 climate talks that will start in Dubai on November 30.
“I will go to Dubai. I think that I will leave on December 1 through the 3rd. I’ll spend three days there,” the pontiff told Italy’s Rai 1 television.
It will mark the first time that a pope will attend a COP summit, since they began in 1995.
Since becoming pontiff in 2013, the 86-year-old Francis made the environment one of the main themes of his papacy.
In early October, Pope Francis published an update on his landmark thesis, which he released eight years ago, about the devastation of man-made climate change.
The new papal text, “Laudate Deum” (Praise to God) was a follow-up to the 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si” (“Praise Be To You”).
“Laudato Si” ran almost 200 pages and was aimed not just at the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, but at everyone on the planet. It is a call to global solidarity to act together to protect “our common home.”
According to the Jerusalem Post, Pope Francis stated that a two-state solution is needed to solve the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Israel has relentlessly pounded Gaza in retribution for the worst attack in its history, when Hamas gunmen stormed across the border, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Reporters saw more tanks pour into northern Gaza, as Israel stepped up its ground incursion launched late last week. The Israeli bombing campaign has killed more than 8,800 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
