* Ten-point appeal follows pope's encyclical on environment
* Latest example of firm Church stand on climate change
* Says excessive reliance on fossil fuels must end
(Recasts, adds more from appeal, quotes from news conference)
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Roman Catholic leaders from
around the world made an unprecedented joint appeal on Monday to
a forthcoming U.N. conference on climate change to produce "a
truly transformational" agreement to stem global warming.
The Catholic cardinals, patriarchs and bishops signed the
appeal in the Vatican, saying climate change had to address
social justice and that any agreement must be fair and ensure
the poor and most vulnerable were not sold short.
Their 10-point document was based on Pope Francis's landmark
encyclical last June, called "Laudato Si", which demanded urgent
action to save the planet from environmental ruin. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N0Z42K4
It again put the 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church in the
front line of the debate over the causes of climate change, an
active role that some Catholic conservatives, including U.S.
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, have criticised.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N0Z21XL
The document said "reliable scientific evidence" suggests
global warming is the result of "unrestrained human activity",
current models of progress and development, and excessive
reliance on fossil fuels. Climate change sceptics argue that
man's role in global warming has not been conclusively proved.
"The pope and Catholic Bishops from five continents,
sensitive to the damage caused, appeal for a drastic reduction
in the emission of carbon dioxide and other toxic gases," said
the appeal to the conference, which meets in Paris from Nov. 30
to Dec. 11.
A SHARED INHERITANCE
Noting that Francis had addressed his encyclical on the
environment "to every person living on this planet", the appeal
said: "Whether believers or not, we are agreed today that the
earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are
meant to benefit everyone".
Disputes over financing for poor nations have hampered
negotiations among almost 200 countries, which are racing
against the clock to seal an accord on combating global warming
at the Paris summit. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12N3TO.
Monday's document was signed by Church leaders from India,
Europe, Colombia, Lebanon, Angola, the United States, Canada and
Papua New Guinea.
The signatories represent all national or regional bishops'
conferences, making it the first time in living memory that a
Catholic appeal to world leaders was totally global, Cardinal
Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India told a news conference.
"It is important that there be a variety of non-state
activists in (the climate talks) and the Church can be a very
important player," said Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, a
former vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.
The appeal called for the Paris conference to keep in mind
not only the technical aspects of climate change, but
"particularly the ethical and moral dimensions".
The leaders asked delegates to the conference, known as
COP21, to "strongly limit" global temperature increase and set a
goal for complete decarbonisation by mid-century and to "ensure
inclusion and participation of the poorest, most vulnerable and
impacted at all levels of the decision-making process".