Vatican delegation to join UN climate change conference
04-12-2009
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican's delegation to the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, was being headed by an experienced diplomat and included experts on the environment. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, was to lead the five-person Vatican delegation at the Copenhagen conference, Vatican Radio reported.
Archbishop Migliore was scheduled to speak to the UN during the Dec. 7-18 conference. The delegation included climate expert Marcus Wandinger, who has published numerous articles on environmental issues, and an official of the Vatican Secretariat of State, Paolo Conversi, who teaches human ecology at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University.
Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella organization for more than 150 Catholic charities, also will be represented at the climate summit.
Caritas and the Catholic International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity have called for a "fair, effective and binding agreement in Copenhagen" that is based on several essential criteria including public financing for developing countries to adapt to climate change and reductions of green house gas emissions.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20091203.htm