Policy & Advocacy
Ecology Policy Summary
Ecology Policy Summary
Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home Hill Briefing, June 19, 2015
Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ is a moral teaching letter addressed to every person that links care for the earth with care for people, especially the poor. It frames environmental degradation and social injustice as a single, interconnected crisis and calls for an urgent global and personal conversion grounded in responsibility, solidarity, and hope.
Integral Ecology
- Environmental and social problems form one complex crisis requiring integrated solutions that combat poverty, restore dignity, and protect nature.
- The encyclical emphasizes interdependence: human dignity, biodiversity, and ecosystems are mutually connected.
- Intergenerational justice requires stewardship of the planet so future generations inherit a livable world.
Core moral themes
- Care for creation as a moral duty and expression of Christian spirituality.
- The common good and human dignity must guide economic and political choices.
- Preferential concern for the poor: those least responsible for pollution suffer its worst impacts and need assistance.
- Work and economic life must enable dignified employment and productive diversity to support just transition.
Critique of contemporary structures
- Technological and economic advances outpace development in responsibility, values, and conscience.
- The market alone cannot guarantee integral human development; profit-driven logic often neglects social and environmental costs.
- Blaming population growth or elevating nonhuman interests over human dignity are rejected; true solutions confront excessive consumerism and inequality.
Calls to change
- Personal conversion: adopt simpler, less consumerist lifestyles and a contemplative, sober way of living.
- Political and systemic action: rapidly phase out high-polluting fossil fuels, advance accessible renewable energy, and pursue policies that reduce greenhouse gases with fairness.
- International solidarity: wealthy, high-emitting countries bear special responsibility to lead, assist poorer nations, and support climate finance and technological transfer.
Practical and prophetic change
- The encyclical urges inclusive dialogue across science, politics, business, and civil society to protect the climate as a common good.
- Leaders must show courage to prioritize long‑term common good over short‑term gains; citizens are called to engage morally and politically to build a sustainable, equitable future.