Pope Leo condemns climate change critics 13 hours ago Share Save Matt McGrath Environment correspondent Share Save Getty Images Pope Leo XIV speaking at the Raising Hope climate conference near Rome Pope Leo XIV has hit out at those who minimise the "increasingly evident" impact of rising temperatures in his first major statement on climate change. Reiterating the words of his predecessor Pope Francis, the new pontiff lambasted critics who "ridicule those who speak of global warming".

The Pope's remarks, at a speech in Castel Gondolfo near Rome, will be seen as an implied criticism of US President Donald Trump, who last month called climate change a "con".

Pope Leo also called for greater action from citizens the world over on climate change, saying there was no room for indifference or resignation.

The Pope was speaking at a conference to mark 10 years since the publication of Laudato Si'.

That landmark document, written by his predecessor Pope Francis, made the issue of climate a central part of the church's concerns.

Many credit it for helping set the tone that led to the Paris climate agreement in 2015.

But the new Pope, who was elected in May, was worried that the question of climate change was now becoming more divisive.

Referring to his predecessor's writings, he said: "Some have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak of global warming, and even to blame the poor for the very thing that affects them the most. " Just two weeks ago at the UN General Assembly in New York, US President Donald Trump criticised the climate movement as the "greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world", and rebuffed the use of renewable energy. "The carbon footprint is a hoax made up by people with evil intentions, and they're heading down a path of total destruction," he said. Pope Leo, the first pontiff born in the US, has previously clashed with Trump's White House on issues including migration and national security. Getty Images Pope Leo told the meeting that citizens needed to put more pressure on politicians over climate change

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