Research from the Department of Land Economy has featured in a Washington Post article about Pope Francis's speech on climate.
The research by Professor Shaun Larcom, and co-authored with Dr Luca Panzone and Dr Po-Wen She, was conducted to understand the impact of meatless Fridays for UK Catholics on consumption behaviour, climate change mitigation, and religiosity.
The research was mentioned as follows:
In the new document, Francis focused on what he described as a broken multilateral system for global decision-making and avoided calling on Catholics to take specific steps to combat climate change.
Some observers suggest he has missed an opportunity. For instance, a study led by Cambridge University found that a call by Catholic bishops in England and Wales to reinstate the old practice of not eating meat on Fridays had a significant impact on behavior and saved the equivalent of 55,000 metric tons of carbon emissions over a year.
Catholic views are mixed on Francis’s climate efforts. Some conservatives criticize the pope for his environmental focus, saying he is pushing the faith beyond its religious boundaries.
