VATICAN CITY (CNS) — World leaders are running out of time and must address the challenges of climate change before it’s too late, Pope Francis said.

In a letter to Catholics in Scotland signed Nov. 9, where the U.N. Climate Change Conference is being held, the pope said he hoped leaders attending the summit would “meet this grave challenge with concrete decisions inspired by responsibility toward present and future generations.”

“Time is running out; this occasion must not be wasted, lest we have to face God’s judgment for our failure to be faithful stewards of the world he has entrusted to our care,” he wrote.

“Time is running out; this occasion must not be wasted, lest we have to face God’s judgment for our failure to be faithful stewards of the world he has entrusted to our care,” he wrote.

The pope’s message came as the conference in Glasgow, also known as COP26, is set to conclude Nov. 12.

At the summit, the United States and China announced Nov. 10 that a joint agreement was signed between the two countries in an effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions. However, according to BBC News, neither country signed a pledge that would phase out the use of coal by 2030.

The pope’s message came as the conference in Glasgow, also known as COP26, is set to conclude Nov. 12.

In his letter, which was released by the Vatican Nov. 11, the pope said that while he regretted not being able to attend the summit, he thanked Catholics in Scotland for joining him in praying for the conference, which is “meant to address one of the great moral issues of our time: the preservation of God’s creation, given to us as a garden to be cultivated and as a common home for our human family.”

Pope Francis also said he was moved by the fidelity of Scottish Catholics to the church and assured the faithful of his prayers, especially “for the young, the elderly, the sick and those who in any way are suffering the effects of the pandemic.”

“In these challenging times, may all Christ’s followers in Scotland renew their commitment to be convincing witnesses to the joy of the Gospel and its power to bring light and hope to every effort to build a future of justice, fraternity and prosperity, both material and spiritual,” the pope said.

God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, sanctifying this day, and setting it apart from all others as holy to Himself, to be observed by His people throughout their generations. But the man of sin, exalting himself above God, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself to be God, thought to change times and laws. This power, thinking to prove that it was not only equal to God, but above God, changed the rest day, placing the first day of the week where the seventh should be. And the Protestant world has taken this child of the papacy to be regarded as sacred. In the Word of God this is called her fornication [Revelation 14:8].–7BC 979 (1900). {LDE 123.2}

God’s judgments: “fire and flood and earthquake.” “More and more, as the days go by, it is becoming apparent that God’s judgments are in the world. In fire and flood and earthquake He is warning the inhabitants of this earth of His near approach. The time is nearing when the great crisis in the history of the world will have come, when every movement in the government of God will be watched with intense interest and inexpressible apprehension. In quick succession the judgments of God will follow one another–fire and flood and earthquake, with war and bloodshed” (Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, p. 97.)
Thousands of cities soon to be destroyed: “O that God’s people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry” (Evangelism, p. 29)