By Vijay Jayaraj

When I began my graduate studies in Environmental Sciences (in 2009), climate change was not a religion. Yes, it was a popular issue and Al Gore’s 2007 documentary brought awareness to many who did not know what climate change was.

However, it would take a decade of global effort to slowly convert the issue of climate change into a religion. A religion where there are a set of sacred beliefs which no peasant is allowed to question, and any dissenters within the scientific community are punished and ostracized.

Today the religion has a very diverse group of ambassadors. From the Royals in the UK to the billionaires in Hollywood, everyone is a spokesperson for this religion. Interestingly, even the Pope and Archbishops have become its patrons.

How ironic to have literal priests promoting a new religion that governs and dictates every aspect of the economy and our lives, all based on unproven predictions about future state of climate.

Pope Francis has been outspoken about the need for climate action. In 2019, he declared a “global climate emergency” even as parts of the world were experiencing historic lows and heaviest snowfalls. He said, “today’s ecological crisis, especially climate change, threatens the very future of the human family.”

“Threatening the future of human family.” Is that a prophecy? Because the United Nation says the impact of climate change on the global economy would be less than 5% of the global GDP even in the worst-case scenario.

On Earth Day in 2021, Pope Francis made another major blunder by equating climate and Covid: “Both the global catastrophes, Covid and climate change, prove that we do not have time to wait …. This is the moment to act. We are at the edge.”

Yes, the world experienced Covid and a significant number of people lost their lives just as we lose lives from many other common diseases. But with vaccinations and the natural epidemiological cycle, the virus is less virulent now and even becoming endemic in some parts of the world.

But even if the Pope wants Covid to be categorized as a catastrophe, how can one relate it to climate? How many people has climate killed? And what aspect of climate is he referring to?

In the real world, climate related deaths have plummeted in the last few decades, thanks to advancement in technology and growth in GDPs. Climate-related deaths have dropped 96-98% over the past century. We are now more efficient than ever in managing climate-related and weather-related deaths.

Of course, we encounter extreme floods in new settlements, excessive floods and fires due to improper land management, but it has nothing to do with climate. There has been no significant relationship between extreme weather events and the change in climate, as per the UN’s official documents.

And certainly, we are not “on the edge” as the pope claims. Almost every metric that determines livability has improved in the past 100 years. We have better access to clean water, life expectancy is at an all-time high, more people have come out of poverty, agricultural production is at the highest levels, polar bear populations are stable, Bengal tiger populations are increasing, and hundreds of other factors have improved tremendously. Life on edge? Which century is the Pope is from?

Even worse, the Pope is now calling for a global energy disruption. Last week, major religious leaders gathered for the “Faith and Science: Towards COP26” meeting. The promotional event was attended by Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and other leaders from Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and Jainism.

In his speech to promote the COP26 UN climate conference (in Glasgow next month), the Pope said, “COP26 in Glasgow represents an urgent summons to provide effective responses to the unprecedented ecological crisis and the crisis of values that we are presently experiencing, and in this way to offer concrete hope to future generations.”

Again, where is the ecological crisis from climate change? If anything, the increase in temperature and the increase in atmospheric CO2 content both helped the greening of the planet since the 18th century. Today, Europe’s and India’s forest areas are increasing. The area of forest in the EU increased by almost 10% in 1990–2020.

An unprecedented crisis will be in the cards only if the world follows the anti-human radical political ideologies that will be proposed at COP26. For those new to the subject, COP26 will call for a drastic reduction in fossil fuel consumption, which currently accounts for over 80% of the world’s primary energy needs.

A compromise on fossil fuel consumption would result in worldwide power blackouts, cascading into every sector. In fact, China is currently experiencing this due to its callous attitude towards fossil fuels, impact of which is being felt worldwide.

The Pope and other leaders at the meeting espouse an ideology that many have categorized as “radical environmentalism.” It seeks to undermine human development, calls humans an evil cancer of the earth, believes naturally occurring fossil fuels in the earth are poison, and obsessively promotes energy technology that cannot reliably power a single city on its own.

Their perspective is best summarized by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has called for a “global financial architecture which repents of its past sins” and promotes green technology. He also said, “We have in the past 100 years declared war on creation,” effectively excluding humanity from creation and undermining the development of humanity. A perfect mix of religion, philosophy, and pseudo-science that makes no sense.

Martin Luther nailed his thesis on the door of a church that was controlled by the Pope. Today, it is the responsibility of people to nail the truth on the doors of the political houses that practice the climate religion.

Vijay Jayaraj (M.Sc., Environmental Science, University of East Anglia, England) is a Research Contributor for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation and resides in Bengaluru, India.