This week, Pope Francis used his Twitter platform to emphasize the significance and urgency of climate change and its effects and encourage world leaders to take action, reiterating his prior appeals on the platform and elsewhere.

Pope Francis has consistently advocated for tackling climate change and expressed the need to address its impacts. His tweet this week read, "Many countries are experiencing extreme climatic events. I reiterate my appeal to the leaders of Nations, that something more tangible be done to limit polluting emissions: it is an urgent challenge and affects everyone. Let us protect our common home!"

The pope has addressed his concerns about climate change offline as well. Last year, the Vatican's Casino Pio IV held a two-day conference centered around the theme "Resilience of People and Ecosystems under Climate Stress," hosted by The Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The conference shed light on the challenges of climate change. The pope encouraged discussion centered on environmental crises and argued that two issues are central to climate change discussion: “lessening climate risks by reducing emissions” and “assisting and enabling people to adapt to progressively worsening changes to the climate," Inside the Vatican reported.

During this year's Laudato Si' Week, which ran May 21st to May 28th, the world commemorated the 8th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home," released in 2015. The encyclical has a significant environmental focus, building on the Church's long-standing teachings on creation. Within the pages of "Laudato Si'," Pope Francis passionately calls upon the Church and every individual across the globe to recognize and act against climate change in stewardship and compassion for the planet and each other. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reported on the pope's emphasis on the collective endeavor to protect our planet, encouraging everyone to take active steps toward its preservation.

According to Reuters, during his address at St. Peter's Square on Sunday, the pope mentioned recent heat waves affecting regions worldwide, including the South in the U.S., Southern Europe, and parts of China. He also mentioned the devastating floods in countries like South Korea. He emphasized the urgency of taking action in response to these climate-related events.

"Please, I renew my appeal to world leaders to do something more concrete to limit polluting emissions," said the pope in his message, according to Reuters. "It is an urgent challenge, it cannot be postponed, it concerns everyone. Let us protect our common home."

In the encyclical "Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home," the pope wrote, "The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all." He mentions the complexity of our climate and planet and how vital its functioning is for human life. The pope mentions scientific consensus that we are witnessing warming, more extreme climate events and sea level rise. He says, "Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it." 

As Inside the Vatican reported on Pope Francis' remarks, in his discussions, he returns to community, connection, and his hope that we may "protect the human family and God’s gift of creation from climate extremes, and foster the goods of justice and peace."