Here is the Vatican-provided working English translation of Pope Francis’ video-message on the occasion of the Seminary on the promotion of sustainable education in the context of Youth 4 Climate, organized by Italy in the framework of the British-Italian co-presidency of COP26, taking place in Milan, Sept. 29, 2021:
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Dear young people,
I would like to thank you for your dreams and good projects, and for the fact that you are as
concerned about human relations as you are about caring for the environment. Thank you. It is a concern that is good for everyone. This vision is capable of challenging the adult world, for it reveals that you are prepared not only for action, but also for patient listening, constructive dialogue and mutual understanding.
Therefore, I encourage you to combine your efforts through an extensive educational alliance to
form decent, mature generations, capable of overcoming fragmentation and rebuilding the fabric of
relationships so that we can achieve a more fraternal humanity. It is said that you are the future, but in these matters, you are the present, you are those who are making the future today, in the present. The Global Compact on Education – which was launched in 2019 – goes in this direction and aims to provide shared responses to the historical change that humanity is experiencing and that has been made even more evident by the pandemic. Technical and political solutions are not enough if they are not supported by the responsibility of each member and by an educational process that favours a cultural model of development and sustainability centred on fraternity and on the alliance between human beings and the environment. There must be harmony between people, men and women, and the environment. We are not enemies: we are not indifferent. We are part of this cosmic harmony.
Through common ideas and projects, solutions can be found to overcome energy poverty and to
place the care of the common assets at the centre of national and international policy, promoting sustainable production, the circular economy, and the pooling of appropriate technologies. It is time to take wise decisions so that we can make use of the many experiences gained in recent years, in order to make possible a culture of care, a culture of responsible sharing.
I accompany your journey and I encourage you to develop your work for the good of humanity. God
bless you all. Thank you.
