UN General Assembly
2022

Our common home continues to be gravely affected by the adverse impacts of climate change. Indeed, we have grown so used to hearing of extreme weather events, and yet those phenomena are clear signs of our failure to address climate change. Moreover, multilateral environmental agreements have already laid out obligations for States parties that would prove effective in tackling the threat posed by climate change. In that regard, when the international community gathers at the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El Sheikh, it is to be hoped that there will be the political will to take more decisive and transformative decisions to protect the environment by accelerating global climate action through stronger mitigation measures, scaled-up adaptation efforts and enhanced flows of appropriate finance. On this issue, I am pleased to note that the Holy See, acting in the name and on behalf of the Vatican City State, recently deposited its instruments of accession both to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, to contribute to the efforts of all States to work together to respond effectively to challenges posed by climate change.