Expo City, Dubai, 2 December 2023 I am with you because the destruction of the environment is an offense against God, a sin that is not only personal but also structural, one that greatly endangers all human beings, especially the most vulnerable in our midst and threatens to unleash a conflict between generations. I am with you because climate change is “a global social issue and one intimately related to the dignity of human life” Are we working for a culture of life or a culture of death? Let us choose life! Let us choose the future! May we be attentive to the cry of the earth, may we hear the plea of the poor, may we be sensitive to the hopes of the young and the dreams of children! We have a grave responsibility: to ensure that they not be denied their future. Let us once more recognize our limits, with humility and courage, as the sole path to a life of authentic fulfillment. What stands in the way of this? The divisions that presently exist among us. Particularly striking in this regard are the attempts to shift the blame onto the poor. These are falsehoods that must be firmly dispelled. It is not the fault of the poor, since the almost half of our world that is more needy is responsible for scarcely 10% of toxic emissions, while the gap between the opulent few and the masses of the poor has never been so abysmal. The poor are the real victims of what is happening: we need only think of the plight of indigenous peoples, deforestation, the tragedies of hunger, water and food insecurity, and forced migration. Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to speak to you as brothers and sisters, in the name of the common home in which we live, and to ask this question: What is the way out of this? the way of togetherness, multilateralism. “With the money spent on weapons and other military expenditures, let us establish a global fund that can finally put an end to hunger” and carry out works for the sustainable development of the poorer countries and for combating climate change. It is up to this generation to heed the cry of peoples, the young and children, and to lay the foundations of a new multilateralism…. May this COP prove to be a turning point, demonstrating a clear and tangible political will that can lead to a decisive acceleration of ecological transition through means that meet three requirements: they must be “efficient, obligatory, and readily monitored” And achieved in four sectors: energy efficiency; renewable sources; the elimination of fossil fuels; and education in lifestyles less dependent on fossil fuels. Please, let us move forward and not turn back…. In the end, the purpose of power is to serve. It is useless to cling to an authority that will one day be remembered for its inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so And with God’s help, let us emerge from the dark night of wars and environmental devastation in order to turn our common future into the dawn of a new and radiant day. Thank you.