Pope, Schwarzenegger to rally Catholics to ‘terminate’ climate change

POPE Leo XIV was expected to join environmental experts and campaigners from around the world for a climate conference near Rome yesterday featuring Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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The three-day event marks the 10th anniversary of late Pope Francis’s landmark climate manifesto “Laudato Si’, an appeal for action on human-caused global warming.

US-born Pope Leo, elected in May following Francis’s death, has taken up his predecessor's rallying cry, insisting it is time to swap words for “decisive and coordinated climate action”.

Time is of the essence. The emissions which drive climate change have been rising around the world, but need to almost halve by the end of the decade to limit global warming to the safer levels agreed under the 2015 Paris deal.

How to achieve that will be the focus of the upcoming UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil in November.

In light of that, “Raising Hope for Climate Justice” - which will be held in Castel Gandolfo, where the pope has a summer residence — will look at progress made and “urgent steps” now needed, organisers said.