Environment Minister Alan Kelly T.D., has met with other EU Environment and Climate Ministers as UN negotiations towards a new global climate deal enter their final phase.

Minister Kelly has also met with Environment Commissioner Vella and Climate Commissioner Arias Cañete, in an audience with His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will gather in Paris at the end of November with a view to concluding negotiations on a new legally binding climate agreement aimed at setting the world on a path to avoid dangerous climate change and pursue more sustainable, low-carbon, climate resilient economies and societies.

-- Advertisement --

The Pope's recent second encyclical letter 'Laudato si' - On care for our common home dealt with a wide range of themes linking sustainable development and the fight against poverty, including irresponsible development, environmental degradation and climate change.

Minister Kelly acknowledged the Papal encyclical as a moral call to action by all actors, states and individuals alike according to their abilities in addressing this common threat to humanity and our future wellbeing.

(CD/LM)