A nossa casa comum

A guide produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Holy See's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, inspired by Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato si’. The document outlines the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and social injustice, advocating for a radical shift from an exploitative relationship with nature to one of stewardship and care.

• The climate crisis is driven by economic and social systems reliant on fossil fuels, with greenhouse gas emissions from energy, transport, heating, intensive agriculture, and deforestation causing more frequent and severe droughts, storms, and floods. Approximately 150 million people currently live on land that will be below the high-tide line by the middle of the century.
• Industrialization, mass consumption, and agricultural changes have led to a permanent mass extinction of species. Freshwater plant and animal life has decreased by 84%, and the Amazon rainforest could become a dry, stunted landscape within 50 years if climate change and deforestation continue.
• Water scarcity is increasing due to over-use, pollution, and climate change, with approximately 4 billion people experiencing severe water shortages for at least one month per year, primarily in rural areas and poor countries. Additionally, 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation, and 1.7 billion lack basic sanitation.
• Air pollution is a global health crisis where 9 out of 10 people breathe air with high pollutant levels. Outdoor pollution is driven by fossil fuel combustion and waste burning, while indoor pollution—caused by burning coal, wood, and dung for cooking—results in at least 3 million deaths annually, disproportionately affecting women and children.
• Industrial agriculture is deemed unsustainable due to its reliance on fossil fuels, contribution to roughly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, and role in deforestation. While hunger is increasing in over 50 countries, one-third of all food is wasted.
• Current consumption patterns, particularly among the wealthiest 20% who use 80% of global resources, are unsustainable. Plastic waste is a critical symptom, with over 5 billion pieces of plastic floating in the oceans; half of all plastics were produced in the last 15 years.
• Environmental issues are inextricably linked to social justice, as the poorest populations suffer the most despite contributing the least to the damage. By 2050, over 140 million people in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America may be forced to migrate due to the climate crisis.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2023). A nossa casa comum. https://www.sei.org/publications/anossacasacomum/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. A nossa casa comum. 2023. https://www.sei.org/publications/anossacasacomum/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=A nossa casa comum |date=14 February 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/anossacasacomum/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2023nossa, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{A nossa casa comum}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/anossacasacomum/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }