“That the ‘ecological conversion’ Pope Benedict XVI speaks about may take shape “at all levels” and be translated into “suitable policies” in the “post-Copenhagen period”. This is the first hope expressed by the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, Mgr. Celestino Migliore, after the UN conference on climate change (Copenhagen 7-18 December).
Mgr. Migliore, head of the Holy See delegation at the Copenhagen Summit, took stock of the UN Conference in an interview with the SIR (online at Agensir.it). “It is like the case of the mountain which gives birth to a mouse. Mountains of human and logistic resources, of time, meetings, debates and negotiations for such a poor result”, he said. “A political commitment to holding further negotiations on some parameters for the reduction of greenhouse gases; the pledge made by the United States and other countries to allocate 100 billion dollars to developing countries; a couple of conventions on desertification, deforestation and biodiversity which have been agreed upon but not yet adopted”.
The archbishop said he hoped the Conference “had served to stimulate the responsibility of managers and policymakers and to raise public awareness about the issue. This result, however, will be visible only in the long-term”.