Vatican: Ecological credit should offset developing nations’ debt

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development published Jubilee 2025: Remission of the Ecological Debt on June 23. Described as a “thematic note”, the document has three sections: “Financial debt and ecological debt: ‘two sides of the same coin’”; “Understanding the meaning of the ecological debt: a perspective of justice, responsibility and solidarity”; and “Pastoral Orientations”.

“Throughout history, on the one hand, the most industrialised countries have been responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, which has contributed to the well-known phenomenon of global warming, and on the other hand, they have also built their prosperity through the intensive exploitation of natural resources in developing countries, often to the detriment of local communities and ecosystems,” the dicastery stated.

“It is precisely this imbalance that has led many to believe that developing countries are owed a real and specific ecological credit by the more industrialised countries, which should at least partially offset the financial debt they are burdened with.”

The dicastery continued, “in this perspective, the forgiveness of the financial debt burdening the poorest countries should not be seen as a gesture of solidarity and generosity, but as a gesture of restorative justice”.

“Such an initiative would not be an act of punishment, but a viaticum for building a new alliance between peoples, which has social justice and the care of creation at heart.”

The dicastery called upon the world’s dioceses to “position themselves prophetically” in debates on the issue.

“The intertwining of financial debt and ecological debt acquires pastoral importance, committing the local Churches of the most industrialised and developing countries to grow in awareness, to consolidate bonds of reciprocity and mutual aid, and to position themselves prophetically in the public debate. . . . ,“ the dicastery stated.

“The paradigm of integral ecology, fraternity and social friendship demands the application of the Social Doctrine of the Church in diverse contexts and real challenges to which people are exposed at every latitude in this historical conjuncture.”

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Vatican dicastery publishes document on ecological debt | Catholic Culture (Catholic World News)

‘Jubilee 2025: remission of the ecological debt’ (Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development)

Jubilee 2025: remission of the ecological debt (Text of Thematic Note)