Pope Francis was a pioneering voice for climate justice. In this article we take a closer look at the impact of his climate action and what we can learn about effective climate change communications based on his legacy.

Pope Francis’ Climate Action, Teachings, and Leadership

Pope Francis is the first Catholic leader to make climate action a core part of the Church’s work. Indeed, he spoke about human-caused global warming from burning fossil fuels often. And more importantly, he encouraged world leaders to do something about it.

Pope Francis led the Catholic Church for 12 years, and during that time, his stance on climate change grew increasingly urgent. 

Early on in his papacy, he signaled his position on climate action. He selected his name after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. From the start, he talked about respect for the environment and caring for nature.

In 2015, Pope Francis released his “climate” encyclical, which is official global guidance for Catholics. The was timing was carefully considered. This was a critical period in the lead up to the groundbreaking UN Climate Summit COP21 in Paris.

His global encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, focused solely on the environment – emphasizing the significance of climate change with dire consequences for the poorest globally. He positioned the climate crisis as a matter of justice, equality, and human dignity.

Pope Francis’ climate change messaging was bold. And blunt.

Pope Francis was bold in criticizing richer nations – like the US and China – for emitting the most planet warming gasses and for cultures of “waste” e.g. “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth”.

Pope Francis was a scientist by training. Consequentially, his supporters credit him with bringing together science, morality, and faith in new ways for the church (Citation). He emphasized scientific consensus that human activity is driving climate change, i.e. citing overconsumption as a leading factor driving climate change.

He criticized heads of the world’s top energy companies for continued pursuit of fossil fuels, and he was generally not shy about delivering blunt messages about the urgency and scale of the climate crisis.

In 2017, he hand delivered his groundbreaking “climate action” encyclical to Donald Trump. Later in 2023, he released Laudate Deum focused directly on climate change.

This quote made me LOL.

Pope Francis’ climate action influenced the global climate agenda

He called for richer nations to support sustainable development policies and programs that help poorer countries. Notably, poorer countries have contributed least to climate pollution.

The Paris Agreement included a provision for financial aid for emerging markets intended to help emerging markets transition away from fossil fuels to more “green” energy sources. Pope Francis specifically called for this in this groundbreaking encyclical.

Pope Francis’ “climate action” encyclical inspired The Global Catholic Climate Movement, which has worked in 140 countries and trained 20,000 community leaders to educate and mobilize for better climate policies.

He led Catholics in 2023 to successfully campaign for a referendum in Ecuador blocking oil drilling in Yasuní National Park in the Amazon, which is designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Pope Francis practiced what he preached

As the leader of Vatican City, Pope Francis promised to transition the Vatican vehicle fleet to emissions free by 2030. He introduced a one of a kind electric “popemobile”. To achieve the Vatican City’s plans to reach net-zero by 2050, he planned large scale solar plants outside of Rome.

He led a simple and humble lifestyle.

Understanding the ‘Francis effect’: Did Pope Francis change people’s minds about the need for urgent climate action?

Pope Francis was perceived as a trustworthy communicator. People usually have confidence that religious leaders act in the public’ best interest (Pew Research, 2016).

Yet, he had his fair share of skeptics and critics.

Some critics said he was not qualified to weigh in on climate change. They criticized him for “preaching politics from the pulpit”. Other critics said he did not do enough. For example, the Church owns ~177 million acres of land globally, but he limited his solar plant commitments to Rome.

What does the research say? Let’s take a look in the U.S. political context

Unfortunately, Francis’ climate actions, teachings, and leadership appear to have largely failed to change people’s minds about climate change in the U.S.

Researchers assessed whether U.S. conservatives (and conservative Catholics in particular) showed greater concern about the negative effects of climate change based on the Pope’s messages.

Data show a show small, temporary increase in climate change concern, and viewed global climate change as a moral issue following the Pope’s environment encyclical release. However, these changes in perception on climate change in the U.S. were short-lived and affected by a person’s political views.

The Public Religion Research Institute conducted a national survey on climate action in August 2015, after the release of the papal encyclical. They found 66% of the general public and 73% of Catholics agreed “the U.S. government should do more to address the issue of global climate change”.

Republicans responded quite differently from Democrats. Democrats tended to “completely agree” with that statement, while Republicans “mostly disagreed”.

In the U.S. where climate change is highly polarized, people view scientific findings through the lens of their political identities.

The reality is — people’s preconceived notions and values influence how they interpret new information.

Trump remained undeterred in pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, despite meeting the Pope.

Lessons on Climate Change Communications: Know your audience, speak to their values.

The Pope leveraged his moral authority over 1.4 billion Catholics to frame climate action around “care and justice for humanity”.

Climate conversations usually center around politics and science. Pope Francis primarily discussed climate action in terms of care versus harm: care for the poor, care for the environment, and harm to future generations.

Researchers expected that, beyond presenting “the facts,” his moral framing would sway climate skeptics. However, it did not.

Here is why.

Pope Francis fell into common climate change communications challenges & pitfalls

Firstly, facts < persuasive framing techniques

We know that simply providing people with more facts does not change their views. In the case of global climate change, more education or knowledge often results in greater polarization.

Understanding how people think about climate change and their motivations for action is crucial for designing effective communication strategies. 

Secondly, top down messaging

Scientists often approach information dissemination through one-way channels, aimed at filling the knowledge gap between scientific knowledge and the public’s. In the U.S., the strongest predictor of global climate change attitudes is political ideology, not knowledge.

Pope Francis communicated his message in a traditional, top-down format. This one-way communication style aims to inform and educate. Those who question climate change are resistant to top-down messages because it is perceived as manipulative.

Finally, mixed messaging and value signals

Lastly, Pope Francis mixed discussion of climate change with criticism of wealthy countries. In his “climate action” encyclical, he criticized core conservative values, chiefly free-market capitalism.

He called for a reduction in consumerism, individualism, capitalism, and encouraged a move toward a collective, social, simplistic way of life that creates a sustainable (read: not destructive) relationship with nature.

Significantly, U.S. audiences viewed this as a “progressive” frame.

Rabbitfish & Co Verdict: Pope Francis built a strong foundation and claims a positive, influential legacy for climate action

In summary, we were personally thrilled to see Catholic church leadership directly address the global climate crisis and advocate for climate action to through a justice lens. We believe the moral framing for climate action powerful and persuasive, because it aligns with our core values.

Pope Francis did a lot for raising voices from the Global South and indigenous leaders in the climate fight. In addition, his global legacy continues through the work of the global climate action Laudato Si’ movement.

Overall, it was insightful to unpack where his messaging resonated and why, and where it failed to garner support. Undeniably, some of the challenges and pitfalls we talked about provide an important reminder to climate activists for effective climate change communications.

• Know your audience
• Speak to their values
• Do not mix messaging and frames that reduce the impact of your message.

Moving forward, do you think Pope Leo continue his successor’s legacy of making climate action a core part of the Catholic Church’s work? And if so, how successful might he be?

Additional resources and references

The Letter (documentary) (~90 min watch): The film is available with subtitles in English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and French, and automatic subtitles in all other languages. There were a few moments where I worried this was veering into “cringe” territory with neocolonial tropes – shots of “poverty” in Africa, selecting one person to be the “voice” of an entire group of people. The film is visually impactful, providing a poignant and inspiring reminder that we collectively inhabit earth. 

The Climate Question Podcast (26 min listen): Will the new Pope be a climate campaigner? This podcast is an engaging review of Pope Francis’ influence in the climate conversation with some brief speculation about how his legacy will live on in the Church.