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A guide produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Holy See's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si’. It outlines the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and social injustice, advocating for a fundamental transformation of economic and social systems away from fossil fuel dependency and over-consumption toward stewardship and care.

• The global climate crisis is primarily driven by economic and social systems dependent on fossil fuels, with greenhouse gas emissions from coal, oil, and gas powering industry, transport, and buildings. To prevent the most dangerous outcomes, the guide emphasizes the need to rapidly eliminate these emissions, halt deforestation, and shift to clean energy.
• Biodiversity is in severe decline, with global wildlife populations dropping by two-thirds since 1970 and freshwater plant and animal life falling by 84 percent. The Amazon rainforest faces a potential collapse into a dry landscape within 50 years without action on deforestation and climate change.
• Water scarcity and sanitation are critical global challenges; approximately 4 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month annually. By 2025, two-thirds of the global population could face water shortages, while 3.6 billion people currently lack safely managed sanitation.
• Air pollution causes millions of deaths annually, with over 4 million deaths attributed to outdoor pollution and at least 3 million deaths caused by indoor air pollution from burning charcoal, wood, and dung for cooking and heating.
• Industrial agriculture is described as unsustainable, contributing to approximately one-third of greenhouse gas emissions and the loss of fertile soil and biodiversity. The guide notes that acute hunger is rising in more than 50 countries despite one-third of all food being wasted.
• Current global consumption patterns are unsustainable, with 20 percent of the population using 80 percent of the world's resources. If current lifestyles continue, three planets would be needed to support humanity by 2050. Plastic pollution is a major symptom, with 12 million tonnes of plastic entering oceans annually.
• Environmental crises disproportionately affect the poor and marginalized. By 2050, over 140 million people in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America could be forced to migrate due to the climate crisis.

APA

-1 (n.d.). -1. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/vatican-sei-v10-20231205.pdf

Chicago

-1. -1. Stockholm Environment Institute, n.d. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/vatican-sei-v10-20231205.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=-1 |title=-1 |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/vatican-sei-v10-20231205.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{1nd, author = {-1}, title = {{-1}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/vatican-sei-v10-20231205.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }