Indian cardinal laments ecological degradation
April 25, 2016
As representatives of 174 nations and the European Union gathered to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change, a leading Indian cardinal lamented the state of the environment in his nation.
“Step outside in India, and often you will be breathing some of the dirtiest city air on the planet,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai wrote in an op-ed piece published by the Hindustan Times. “Talk a walk through our towns and villages, and you will see the foulness of our rivers.”
Cardinal Gracias, a member of Pope Francis’s advisory Council of Cardinals, added:
Immorally, it is of course the poor who have contributed least to these problems that are worst impacted. For their sakes, the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, coupled with unabated and unplanned urbanization, must cease soon as possible. Twenty-one countries have already proven that it is possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while keeping the economy growing — India could be among them, but is not.
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Further information:
- Earth day: Faiths groups take climate change seriously (Hindustan Times)
- World Earth Day: 175 countries sign Paris climate deal at UN (International Business Times)
- Paris Agreement (United Nations)
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