Franciscan ties bring UN chief's dire climate message to Siena College

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October 11, 2024

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres says "our world is in trouble" due to climate change in a video message at Siena College's symposium on integral ecology Oct. 10. (Courtesy of Siena College)

The head of the United Nations made an appearance this week at the campus of Siena College, the Franciscan school in upstate New York.

While not physically present (he was in Laos), António Guterres, the ninth U.N. secretary-general, appeared via video message Thursday evening at the Catholic college's two-day symposium on integral ecology, where climate change and justice were front and center, both in the panels and in Guterres' ominous message.

"Today, floods and droughts are fueling instability, driving conflict and forcing people from their homes," he said. "And though climate chaos is everywhere, it doesn't affect everyone equally. The very people most at risk are those who did the least to cause the crisis: small island states, developing countries, the poor and the vulnerable. This is breathtaking injustice, and it is just the beginning."

Guterres offered his assessment of the state of global environmental issues — "our world is in trouble" — and made pleas for nations to ramp up actions to substantially slash greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). He also pressed developed nations like the U.S. to fulfill financing pledges to help other nations mitigate climate change and adapt to and recover from its impacts today.

The themes were similar to past speeches by Guterres on the dire situation climate change presents the planet, but what made this talk unique is how he connected it to Catholic and Franciscan values, particularly the 13th-century Italian saint's pursuit of peace and closeness with the poor and vulnerable.

Of the intensifying heatwaves, droughts, floods and extreme storms — "All this puts peace and justice in peril, as St Francis would have understood," he said.

And the U.N. leader freely quoted Pope Francis, whether the pope's warnings about exploiting creation in Laudato Si', or humanity's role as custodians not masters of creation, to endorsing his call for everyone to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.

It was Franciscan ties that led Guterres to Siena in the first place.

Br. Michael Perry, former head of the global Franciscan order, is now director of the college's Laudato Si' Center for Integral Ecology, and was part of the group who approached Guterres about partaking in the symposium.

As it turns out, Guterres has a personal fondness for Franciscan values, as a Franciscan priest and friend presided at both his wedding ceremonies, his children's baptisms and family Masses at his home.

"And as an António from Lisbon, I have a strong connection with Santo António, one of the first Franciscans," he told the Siena audience.

Read more: Climate change puts peace, justice in peril, UN chief tells Franciscan college

What else is new on EarthBeat:

What's happening in other climate news:

What is making Hurricane Milton so ferocious — Kasha Patel, Harry Stevens and Niko Kommenda for the Washington Post

Helene spotlights Harris and Trump differences on disaster relief —David Sherfinski for Thomson Reuters Foundation

Supreme Court confronts NEPA, water permits, agency power —Pamela King, Niina H. Farah, Lesley Clark for E&E News

Tribes celebrate the end of the largest dam removal project in US history —Hallie Golden For the Associated Press

Wildlife populations decline by 73% in 50 years: Study —Emma Ogao for ABC News

Ukraine's vast forests devastated in hellscape of war —Max Hunder for Reuters

Final Beat:

There was more happening at the Siena College ecology symposium beyond the U.N. secretary-general's address, though that was certainly a newsworthy moment.

A panel discussion reacting to Guterres' remarks included New York state health commissioner James McDonald; the Rev. Kathryn Beilke, the faith liaison for the advocacy organization Beyond Plastics; and Medha Palnati, a medical student and Siena alumna.

Together, the three brought climate change from the political to the personal, highlighting the ways stronger storms and more extreme heat are harming people today.

McDonald described the state's efforts to secure supplies of intravenous fluids ahead of Hurricane Milton after flooding from Hurricane Helene shut down a factory in western North Carolina that produces up to 60% of the nation's IV fluids supply. Beilke talked about how plastics — beyond polluting oceans, land and even our bodies — are becoming "the new coal," as the industry's emissions are soaring and fossil fuel companies have ramped up plastic production plans.

On the topic of plastic pollution, Palnati described her grandmother in India, an incredible cook who could prepare a large meal while producing minimal waste, and no plastic. Yet outside her home were mounds and mounds of discarded plastics piling up on the streets — a result of plastic waste imported by India from countries like the U.S.

As she offered actions that students can take — from reducing their personal plastic use to advocating for the Franciscan school to reconsider its contracts with major plastic-producing companies — Palnati encouraged them to think of people like her grandmother and others who are bearing the brunt of climate change and pollution.

"When we act," she said, "we should act for them."

Thanks for reading EarthBeat. 

Brian Roewe
Environment Correspondent
National Catholic Reporter
broewe@ncronline.org
Instagram: @broewe_ncr

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