John Gibbons: Pope Francis takes the gloves off in climate change fight

The pontiff's new encyclical, 'Laudate Deum' is an unapologetic attempt to influence the COP28 climate negotiations being hosted by the United Arab Emirates

Pope Francis’s new encyclical, ‘Laudate Deum’ pulls no punches in setting out the scale of the existential crisis we now face, while ripping into those who have stymied decisive action on the climate emergency, putting humanity in grave danger. Picture: Pavel Golovkin

In his youth, Pope Francis was an accomplished amateur boxer. And, with a master’s degree in chemistry, the science-literate pontiff has brains as well as brawn.

The first-ever pope from the global south, Francis also brings the perspective of the colonised and the dispossessed to the job, something that had been notably missing from the corridors of power.