--- title: Pope Leo Demands Climate Action description: In his first official remarks on climate change, Pope Leo says society "must put pressure on governments" to act. canonical: https://time.com/7322353/pope-leo-climate-action/ author: Simmone Shah article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-01T16:43:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T08:11:39.894Z article:section: Climate og:title: Pope Leo Demands Climate Action og:description: In his first official remarks on climate change, Pope Leo says society "must put pressure on governments" to act. og:url: https://time.com/7322353/pope-leo-climate-action/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85b7781929127993/6998ca5083ec371116c7afcb/pope-leo.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: ITALY-VATICAN-CLIMATE-CONFERENCE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pope Leo Demands Climate Action twitter:description: In his first official remarks on climate change, Pope Leo says society "must put pressure on governments" to act. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85b7781929127993/6998ca5083ec371116c7afcb/pope-leo.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pope Leo Demands Climate Action > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=e9e4f1ae-251a-44bc-9731-ea66699c2d14&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Pope Leo and Arnold Schwarzenegger Demand Climate Action [Watch (HLS stream): Pope Leo and Arnold Schwarzenegger Demand Climate Action](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gg6j2qTd.m3u8) (3:15)  _Published 2025-10-01. Pope Leo XIV gave his first major address on climate change on Wednesday, during a conference marking the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si', a landmark papal document written by his predecessor Pope Francis. In it, he spoke to the importance of the document, known as an encyclical, which called for the care of our environment and specifically addressed climate change. And he urged society to demand more from governments around the world to tackle the challenge. Arnold Schwarzenegger headlined the three-day climate conference that included an estimated 1,000 representatives from environmental and indigenous groups._  by [Simmone Shah](https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/)  ## Simmone Shah Reporter Oct 1, 2025 4:43 PM UTC Pope Leo XIV gave his first major address on climate change on Wednesday, during a conference marking the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si', a landmark papal document written by his predecessor Pope Francis. In it, he spoke to the importance of the document, known as an encyclical, which called for the care of our environment and specifically addressed climate change. And he urged society to demand more from governments around the world to tackle the challenge. Arnold Schwarzenegger headlined the three-day climate conference that included an estimated 1,000 representatives from environmental and indigenous groups.  by [Simmone Shah](https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/)  ## Simmone Shah Reporter Oct 1, 2025 4:43 PM UTC Pope Leo XIV gave his first major address on climate change on Wednesday, during a conference marking the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si', a landmark papal document written by his predecessor Pope Francis. In it, he spoke to the importance of the document, known as an encyclical, which called for the care of our environment and specifically addressed climate change. And he urged society to demand more from governments around the world to tackle the challenge. “From the very beginning, this encyclical has greatly inspired the Catholic Church and many people of goodwill,” he said. “In the process, its impact has even extended to international summits, ecumenical and inter religious dialog, economic and business circles, as well as theological and bio-ethical studies.” The document was a call to action, published ahead of the landmark Paris Agreement adopted in December 2015\. [At least 10 world leaders](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/04/world/europe/pope-francis-letter-climate-change.html) referenced Francis’s words during their addresses to the United Nations climate conference that year. **_Read More:_**[_The Climate Pope: Francis and His Environmental Legacy_](https://time.com/7278986/pope-francis-environment-climate-legacy/) Today’s speech marked Leo’s first major address on climate change, but the Pope has spoken briefly on the subject before. At the start of September, he [touched](https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/creation/documents/20250630-messaggio-giornata-curacreato.html) on the climate crisis during a speech for World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. “On all sides, injustice, violations of international law and the rights of peoples, grave inequalities and the greed that fuels them are spawning deforestation, pollution and the loss of biodiversity,” he said. “Extreme natural phenomena caused by climate changes provoked by human activity are growing in intensity and frequency, to say nothing of the medium and long-term effects of the human and ecological devastation being wrought by armed conflicts.” Earlier this summer, Leo approved a solar farm deal that will make the Vatican the world’s first carbon-neutral state. Last month, he welcomed a new ecological training center in the gardens of Castel Gandolfo that will focus on sustainable farming, ecological stewardship, and other teachings of Laudato Si. **_Read More_**_:_ [_Where Pope Leo Stands on Specific Issues_](https://time.com/7283887/pope-leo-lgbtq-women-migrants-rights/) During his Wednesday speech, Leo noted that the challenges identified in Laudato Si are, “even more relevant today than they were 10 years ago.” He said that the responsibility to protect the planet falls on us all, and urged individuals to push for political change in their own communities. “Everyone in society, through non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups must put pressure on governments to develop and implement more rigorous regulations, procedures, and controls,” he said. “Citizens need to take an active role in political decision making at national, regional, and local levels. Only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to the environment.” His speech was another signal that the new pope, whose views on [many issues remain unclear](https://time.com/7283887/pope-leo-lgbtq-women-migrants-rights/), is likely to take the same hardline stance on climate change as his predecessor. “We inhabit the same planet,” he said, “and we must care for it together.” ## Transcript [00:00] The Catholic Church has 1.4 billion members. [00:07] 1.4 billion Catholics out there. [00:11] 400,000 priests. [00:16] 600,000 nuns. [00:21] 200,000 churches. [00:26] Now think about that. That power. [00:31] And for that to be involved in our movement, [00:37] in our environmental movement. [00:39] To terminate pollution. [00:44] To terminate pollution. And of course, [00:49] I'm very honored to be here because I'm next to an action hero. [01:05] No. You're laughing because he doesn't look maybe like one. [01:09] Like you see in the movies, [01:10] with the muscles and with the guns and all that stuff. [01:12] No, but the reason why I call him [01:15] an action hero is because as soon as he became the pope, [01:19] he ordered the Vatican to put solar panels on top of the buildings. [01:24] What must be done now to ensure that caring for our common home and listening to [01:28] the cry of the earth and the poor do not appear as mere passing trends, [01:34] or worse still, that they be seen and felt as divisive issues in line with Laudato Si. [01:43] The apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, [01:47] published two years ago, [01:49] noted that some have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, [01:57] to ridicule those who speak of global warming, [02:00] and even to blame the poor for the very thing that affects them the most. [02:06] Besides spreading the message of the encyclical, [02:11] it is now more important than ever to return to the heart. [02:16] Pope Francis emphasized that [02:18] the most effective solutions will not come from individual efforts alone, [02:23] but above all, from major political decisions on the national and international levels. [02:30] Everyone in society, through non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups, [02:36] must put pressure on governments to develop and implement [02:40] more rigorous regulations, procedures and controls. [02:44] Citizens need to take an action, [02:47] an active role in political decision making at national, [02:51] regional and local levels. [02:54] Only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to the environment. [03:00] Local legislation will also be more effective if [03:04] neighboring communities support the same environmental policies. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7322353/pope-leo-climate-action/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7322353/pope-leo-climate-action/"},"headline":"Pope Leo Demands Climate Action","datePublished":"2025-10-01T16:43:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T08:11:39.894Z","description":"In his first official remarks on climate change, Pope Leo says society \"must put pressure on governments\" to act.","url":"https://time.com/7322353/pope-leo-climate-action/","keywords":["activism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85b7781929127993/6998ca5083ec371116c7afcb/pope-leo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simmone Shah","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85b7781929127993/6998ca5083ec371116c7afcb/pope-leo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ITALY-VATICAN-CLIMATE-CONFERENCE","caption":"ITALY-VATICAN-CLIMATE-CONFERENCE","creditText":"Photo by Tiziana Fabi—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/activism/","name":"activism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7322353/pope-leo-climate-action/","name":"Pope Leo Demands Climate Action"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Pope Leo and Arnold Schwarzenegger Demand Climate Action","description":"Pope Leo XIV gave his first major address on climate change on Wednesday, during a conference marking the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si', a landmark papal document written by his predecessor Pope Francis. 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