UN's top court says healthy environment is human right — the church agrees

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July 25, 2025

Lake Albano is seen from Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 1, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

I opened LinkedIn Thursday morning to a video of former U.N. Climate Change Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres dancing at the top of my newsfeed.

The occasion for her elation?

One day earlier the International Court of Justice — the top court established by the United Nations known also as "the world court" — delivered an advisory opinion saying that nations have an obligation under international law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, while also affirming a healthy environment is a human right.

The video clip is from a recording of the weekly podcast "Outrage + Optimism," where Figueres, her co-hosts and guests discuss the complexities of the climate crisis and solutions for a better future. This week's episode was all about the landmark ICJ ruling and its implications for the world. Figueres' co-host Tom Rivett-Carnac said he has seen her "very happy on various occasions" and this "ranks right up there" with moments like the gaveling of the Paris Agreement — the 2015 climate accord she helped orchestrate — and when her grandson was born.

Indeed, it was a momentous day for many in the climate movement.

Figueres wrote a guest column for NCR published on the day of Pope Francis' death in which she said the late pontiff had the moral courage to stand up for the Earth and its people. During his papacy, Francis supported the right to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment, as did the Vatican under Pope Benedict XIV. In its advisory opinion, the U.N.'s top court confirmed that right as part of international law.

If there's a moral choice to be made when it comes to the environment, then there's also an alternative immoral choice — what the church calls sin, and in this case, "ecological sin" specifically.

In the final document of the 2019 Synod of Bishops on the pan-Amazon region, the church defines ecological sin "as an action or omission against God, against one's neighbor, the community and the environment. It is sin against future generations, and it is committed in acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment. These are transgressions against the principles of interdependence, and they destroy networks of solidarity among creatures and violate the virtue of justice."

Before that, in 2015, Francis in Laudato Si' quoted a 1997 speech by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew that makes clear ecological sin refers not just to how human actions affect humanity's ability to rely on the natural world, but also nature's ability to exist in and of itself:

"It follows that to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin. For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God's creation, for humans to degrade the integrity of Earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the Earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands, for humans to injure other humans with disease, for humans to contaminate the Earth's waters, its land, its air and its life with poisonous substances — these are sins."

What might that look like in reality? NCR columnist Dan Horan thinks one of the most egregious instances of ecological sin today is the Trump administration's ongoing dismantling of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And he wonders why there has not been a louder outcry and more public response from faith leaders, especially within the Catholic community.

What else is new on EarthBeat:

Scopes Monkey Trial leaves mixed legacy 100 years later

by George P. Matysek Jr., Catholic Review, OSV News

Catholic intellectuals of the time were already engaging with evolutionary theory in a more open-minded way. That willingness to dialogue with modern science had roots in the thought of Pope Leo XIII.

Sisters work to build learning environment in drought-afflicted border community

by Mourine Achieng

In a small border town between Kenya and Tanzania sits Savelberg Mixed Day and Boarding Primary School, founded in 2012 by the Little Sisters of St. Joseph to provide the community with a learning institution.

US to withdraw, again, from UNESCO over Palestine and UN development goals

by Kate Scanlon, OSV News

The Trump administration on July 22 said the United States would withdraw from the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO, a group that has partnered with the Holy See on human development and cultural heritage projects.

What's happening in other climate news:

UN's top court says failing to protect planet from climate change could violate international law —Molly Quell and Mike Corder for the Associated Press

Volkswagen kept a dark secret in the Amazon. Then a priest made a call. —Terrence McCoy and Marina Dias, photos and videos by Rafael Vilela for the Washington Post

E.P.A. is said to draft a plan to end its ability to fight climate change —Lisa Friedman for The New York Times

Texas flood protest goes to Washington: 'No more kids lost to climate disasters' —David Smith for the Guardian

Women have long fought to protect the Florida Everglades, the site of 'Alligator Alcatraz' —Grace Panetta for The 19th*

'Total infiltration': How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks —Damian Carrington for the Guardian

How reducing the US military budget would also reduce emissions —Matt Simon for Grist

Weather extremes caused by climate change are driving up food prices, a new report says —Georgina Gustin for Inside Climate News

Final Beat:

Dan Horan's July 10 column explained why while he thinks the new Mass "for the care of creation" is good, it doesn't quite live up to his expectations given the foundation laid by Laudato Si' and prior church tradition.

NCR reader Roger, from the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn in Australia, wrote to EarthBeat suggesting Horan's concerns about the Mass setting's limitations regarding anthropocentrism and Franciscan and First Nations kinship models could be overcome by some carefully crafted Prayers of the Faithful.

"Also, when celebrating the Mass for the first time, Pope Leo’s prayer intentions were so wise – to pray for those both inside our faith and beyond who do not yet understand the urgency of the need to care for our common home. Pope Leo is taking forward the teaching with such wisdom and catholicity," he said.

Thanks for sharing, Roger!

Has your community celebrated a Mass of Creation in a special way? Let us know at earthbeat@ncronline.org.

Thanks for reading EarthBeat.

Stephanie Clary
Environment Editor
National Catholic Reporter
sclary@ncronline.org