By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters), – A meeting at which world leaders of religion will adopt a united stand on environment could “raise ambitious goals” about what can be achieved next month at U.N. Its foreign minister said that the Climate Change Conference would be held.

About 40 religious leaders and scientists from around 20 countries will be attending Monday’s event. It is being organized by Vatican, UK and Italy.

Pope Francis and the leaders will sign a collective appeal that they’ll give to Luigi Di Maio (Italian Foreign Minister) and Alok Sharma (Britain’s President of U.N. meeting COP26 at Glasgow.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher stated, “It’s our hope that Monday’s meeting will have an impact on opinion not only within faith communities and faith families but also within the political community in order to increase ambitions regarding what can be accomplished by COP26.”

Gallagher, speaking to Reuters over the phone on Sunday, said the Vatican hoped the appeal made directly to COP26 heads would be as effective as the landmark Pope’s 2015 environmental encyclical “Laudato Si.”

The event attracted huge attention to the issue of climate change and encouraged activism by faith groups.

Gallagher stated that most religions, regardless of their holy scriptures, their traditions, or the spirituality they represent, can be used to help us renew our relationship with the earth and the environment.

It is known as “Faith and Science Towards”

“COP26” The conference brings together Christian leaders such as Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Bartholomew the Orthodox ecumenical patriarch, along with representatives from Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

The pope, Welby and Bartholomew issued a joint appeal https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/worlds-top-three-christian-leaders-climate-appeal-ahead-un-summit-2021-09-07 to members of their Churches last month to “listen to the cry of the earth”.

POPE AIMED TO ATTEND COP26 OPENING

The bishops of Scotland announced in July that, health permitting, the pope would attend the opening ceremony for COP26. In the coming days, a decision will be made.

Francis strongly supports https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/you-are-making-future-today-pope-tells-youth-climate-activists-2021-09-29 the goals of the 2015 U.N. Paris accord to reduce global warming. He spoke to young people over the weekend about how their generation was perhaps the most important in saving the planet.

Gallagher is British and said that it was a “sign of great hope” for the United States President Joe Biden to return the United States back to the Paris agreements after Donald Trump’s withdrawal. Biden and Pope will meet in October at the Vatican.

He said, “Translating engagement into action is a great problem. All of us know that our political leaders can be very convincing and talk well but we urgently need to take action. It is huge.”

The Vatican was hopeful Monday’s conference would highlight the need to “an ecological transformation in the way that we relate to our planet”, and it would require lifestyle changes, but they would not be easy.

Gallagher explained that “most aspects of life have an political dimension” and that faith must be included in every aspect of one’s life.

He stated that the Dalai Lama was an exiled spiritual head of Tibet’s Buddhists who wasn’t recognised by China, and that organisers didn’t consider it.

He said, “His Holiness The Dalai Lama is aware of how respected he here by the Holy See but also understands that our relations with China are complex and difficult. We appreciate that very much so the dialogue continues with Buddhism on many different levels.”