Climate, Conflict, and Catholic Social Thought
By Brendan Stelmach
Last week, Georgetown community members gathered in Gaston Hall to attend “The Ambassadors Summit: Climate and Conflict,” a discussion sponsored by the Caravel Initiative for Diplomatic Engagement and the Walsh School of Foreign Service. The event featured a keynote address from Gen. James L. Jones, a Georgetown alumnus, and a panel consisting of Ambassador Lars Gert Lose of Denmark, Ambassador Selwin Hart of Barbados, and Ambassador Peter Wittig of Germany.
This event focused primarily on the grave security and humanitarian risks that climate change introduces. Both the keynote speaker and the panel acknowledged the danger that global climate change poses to every nation, and most especially to the world’s poor. The sentiments of Amb. Hart of Barbados was especially powerful, as his nation and many of its small island counterparts face eradication beneath the waves if ocean levels continue to rise. Amb. Wittig and Amb. Lose also spoke personally about the challenge of increased refugee movements due to climate change since their nations have already experienced large amounts of immigrant inflow in recent years. Notably, in the face off all these issues, the speakers channeled the Catholic Social Thought (CST) principle “care for creation” in their comments and outlook.
Similar to the approach taken by Pope Francis in his own teachings on climate, the speakers spoke frankly, but not dejectedly. They demonstrated that there is very little utility in defeatism when dealing with such a global issue. Cooperation becomes impossible when any party becomes resigned. Amb. Hart pointed out that nations such as Barbados and Kiribati are leading the fight against climate change, even if it may be too late to preserve their current ways of life.
Pope Francis reminds us that we can never give up on the things that are right just because they are difficult. This is especially true for climate change, due to the exponential damage that inaction causes. CST has always pushed us to correct the ills in our world, often in challenging, sometimes unpopular ways. The enormous economic and institutional momentum possessed by the factors that precipitate climate change are daunting, but that is no excuse not to fight.
This event was a heartening experience because of the dedication the ambassadors displayed to the cause. These individuals possess a real ability to influence the world that we will leave behind, and even in the face of adversity, they are not backing down. However, it is not enough to let them fight for us. The fight to lift up “care for creation” is alive in our world, but we all must do our part to make it a reality.
I close with a quote which Pope Francis gave to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of New Evangelization in 2014: “We do not have a ‘magic wand’ for everything, but we do have our trust in the Lord Who accompanies us and never abandons us…Words without example are of no use! Our witness is that brings and gives validity to our words.”
Brendan Stelmach (SFS'19) is an undergraduate studying international politics at Georgetown.