A puff of white smoke, a procession of Swiss Guards, and Habemus Papus: we have Pope Leo XIV.
Most people knew little about Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost before he became head of the Catholic Church yesterday, but his views are now the subject of intense speculation and analysis.
What does the first US-born Pope’s appointment mean for climate change and environmental issues? Will he be a strong successor to Pope Francis, who was credited with being an “unflinching global champion of climate action”?
Time will tell, but there are reasons to be hopeful that the 69-year-old Pontiff will take up his predecessor’s mantle on this vital global front.
What has Pope Leo said about climate change?
New Pope Leo "is outspoken about the need for urgent action on climate change", according to the College of Cardinals Report, an initiative from an international team of Catholic journalists and researchers which profiles would-be Popes to help the cardinals make an informed choice.
Last November, during a seminar in Rome dedicated to discussing climate change, then-Cardinal Prevost stressed it is time to move “from words to action.” He said the answer to this challenge must be based on the Social Doctrine of the Church.
“Dominion over nature” - the task which God gave humanity - should not become “tyrannical,” he said. It must be a “relationship of reciprocity” with the environment.
Prevost - who was president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops - cautioned against the “harmful” consequences of technological development.
He reiterated the Holy See’s commitment to protecting the environment, pointing to a simpler embrace of existing green technology, such as the Vatican installing solar panels and shifting to electric vehicles.
According to the College of Cardinals Report, "He aligns closely with Pope Francis’ environmental priorities."
Prevost spent many years working as a missionary in Peru, where he also holds citizenship. Christine Allen, director and chief executive of Catholic aid agency CAFOD, says this means he “brings with him the vital perspective of the Global South, elevating voices from the margins to centre stage.”
Could this put Pope Leo on a collision course with Trump?
Pope Leo takes the top job at a critical moment in human history.
Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are now 50 per cent higher than during pre-industrial times - largely due to burning fossil fuels. This has raised global temperatures by 1.3°c, unleashing a slew of increasing climate disasters - from heatwaves to droughts, floods and wildfires.
These are realities that US President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to suppress and avoid. As just the latest example in a litany of climate action cutbacks, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will no longer track the cost of climate change-fueled weather disasters.
The Cardinals will no doubt have considered Trump’s outsized geopolitical influence when deciding to elect a Pope from the US.
And Leo has already shown that he is not afraid to stand up to the self-styled US strongman, and call out the perceived moral failings of his administration.
In February, his X account shared a post which was critical of the administration's deportation of a US resident to El Salvador, and then a critical comment piece written about a TV interview given by Vice-President JD Vance to Fox News.
"JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others," read the first post, repeating the headline from the commentary on the National Catholic Reporter website.
How much difference can a climate-conscious Pope make?
As spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the Pope has a significant potential role to play in getting people to prioritise climate action and rallying the conscience of other world leaders.
During his pontificate, Pope Francis wrote two encyclicals - pastoral letters addressed to the whole world - on climate change.
Published ahead of the UN climate conference in 2015, his first, Laudato si’: On Care For Our Common Home “provided a clear moral imperative for taking climate action, supporting the Paris Climate Change Agreement,” according to Christiana Figueres, an architect for that landmark deal to limit global heating to 1.5C.
Pope Francis continually used his position to highlight issues of inequality in the consequences of climate change.
“Now more than ever, the world needs a strong and steadfast moral voice,” CAFOD chief Christine Allen wrote in a statement yesterday.
“Saint Pope John Paul II, and Popes Benedict and Francis, all spoke powerfully on climate change and the debt crisis as two of the most pressing issues of their time, and we look forward to working with the Vatican and Pope Leo XIV, to continue and strengthen this work in response to today’s challenges.”
The Pope, she adds, “is an important player on the global stage. He is one of the few people who can bridge political divides and bring world leaders together for the common good.”
