Pope says climate change is mostly man-made

In his clearest declaration yet about his beliefs on climate change, Pope Francis said humans are primarily responsible for the changing climate.

He also said he has nearly finished writing an encyclical on climate change and hopes to publish it in June, so world leaders have time to digest it by the time the United Nations meets in December to finalize a global agreement to fight climate change, according to Reuters.

{mosads}“I don’t know if it is all [man’s fault] but the majority is, for the most part, it is man who continuously slaps down nature,” Francis told reporters aboard his plane on his way to the Philippines.

“I think man has gone too far,” he continued. “Thank God that today there are voices that are speaking out about this.”

Vatican officials said last month that Francis was working on a climate change declaration, imploring Catholics worldwide to fight climate change.

Francis also plans to use his declaration to encourage the 190 countries meeting in Paris in December to take strong steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help poorer countries adjust to the effects of a changing climate.

Those countries’ representatives met in Peru last month as part of the process of coming to an agreement.

But the pontiff criticized those leaders for not going far enough.

“The Peru meeting was nothing much, it disappointed me,” he said, according to Reuters.

“I think there was a lack of courage. They stopped at a certain point. Let’s hope the delegates in Paris will be more courageous and move forward with this.”