Pope Francis and other religious leaders issued a joint appeal today to the organizers and participants of next month's UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). They called on forum participants to propose concrete solutions to save the planet from "an unprecedented environmental crisis," Reuters reported.

The pope and religious leaders from around the world called for a meeting entitled "Faith and Science: Towards COP26". It was attended by Christian leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, as well as representatives of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and Jainism.

"The COP26 conference in Glasgow is an urgent meeting that must offer an effective response to the unprecedented environmental crisis and the crisis of values ​​we are currently experiencing, and in this context give concrete hope to future generations," the pope said.

The joint call by religious leaders, which described climate change as a "major threat", was passed on to Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Mayo and Britain's Alok Sharma, who will chair the COP26.

"The climate crisis is great and is caused by us," Sharma said today.

The Anglican spiritual leader around the world, Welby, today called for a global financial architecture that includes changes to tax rules to promote a green economy.

/BTA