Vatican pledges 28 per cent greenhouse gas emissions cut

By CathNews New Zealand

October 21st, 2025

Solar panels on the roof of the Paul VI audience hall at the Vatican in a 2010 photo. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The Vatican aims to eliminate more than a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions it produces over the next decade. Source: National Catholic Reporter.

The Holy See filed the climate commitment in September as part of its obligation as a party to the Paris Agreement. The Paris climate accord requires countries to submit new emissions-reduction plans every five years. The accord’s chief goal is limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The latest updated targets were due ahead of COP30, the UN climate summit in November in Belem, Brazil, near the gateway to the Amazon rainforest.

Under its new pledge, the Holy See said it will cut its emissions within the Vatican City State by at least 28 per cent by 2035 compared to 2011 levels.

A key aspect of the plan is the development of a solar farm north of Rome to fully meet the Vatican’s electricity needs and make it the world’s first carbon-neutral state. Currently, the Vatican relies almost exclusively on imports for its energy needs.

Along with reducing emissions, the Holy See said it will continue education efforts about integral ecology to foster an ecological conversion that both Popes Francis and Leo XIV described as essential to fully addressing threats posed by climate change.

The world’s smallest country at just 109 acres and a population of 887 people, the Vatican contributes a fractional percentage — well under 100th of 1 per cent — of cumulative global emissions.

“Although the Vatican City State’s contribution to global emissions is negligible,” the Holy See said in its climate plan, “it considers it essential to invest in quality emission-reduction projects as well as in initiatives promoting education in integral ecology, which, in addition to the mitigation of greenhouse gases, also lead to ethical and social benefits.”

In 2020, Pope Francis committed the Vatican City State to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

In addition to the solar farm, the Vatican has improved energy efficiency in buildings, increased its use of electric vehicles and constructed a green entrance to the Vatican Museums powered by solar panels. In its climate plan, the Holy See said it will pursue additional programmes related to energy efficiency, waste disposal and reforestation.

FULL STORY

Vatican pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 28% (By Brian Roewe/NCR)