Catholic church calls on UN climate change conference to set goals

Officials from five continents follow Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment with demand for complete decarbonisation

The Catholic church has called on UN negotiators convening in Paris at the end of November to agree a goal for "complete decarbonisation" by 2050, and set a legally binding agreement to limit global temperature increase.

The statement, which was announced by the Vatican on Monday and signed by Catholic officials from five continents, represents a sweeping attempt to link climate change to social justice and the exclusion of poor people who stand to lose the most from global warming.