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1.5. Regulatory Concepts in Environmental Codifications The World Peace Day message on rethinking the economic system contains the following teaching: "It must also be said that the proper ecological balance will not be found without directly addressing the structural forms of poverty that exist throughout the world. Rural poverty and unjust land distribution in many countries, for example, have led to subsistence farming and to the exhaustion of the soil. Once their land yields no more, many farmers move on to clear new land, thus accelerating uncontrolled deforestation, or they settle in urban centres which lack the infrastructure to receive them. Likewise, some heavily indebted countries are destroying their natural heritage, at the price of irreparable ecological imbalances, in order to develop new products for export. In the face of such situations it would be wrong to assign responsibility to the poor alone for the negative environmental consequences of their actions. Rather, the poor, to whom the earth is entrusted no less than to others, must be enabled to find a way out of their poverty. This will require a courageous reform of structures, as well as new ways of relating among peoples and States." His Holiness highlighted the global nature of ecological problems and human responsibility with the following. “Today the ecological crisis has assumed such proportions as to be the responsibility of everyone. As I have pointed out, its various aspects demonstrate the need for concerted efforts aimed at establishing the duties and obligations that belong to individuals, peoples, States and the international community. This not only goes hand in hand with efforts to build true peace, but also confirms and reinforces those efforts in a concrete way. When the ecological crisis is set within the broader context of the search for peace within society, we can understand better the importance of giving attention to what the Earth and its atmosphere are telling us: namely, that there is an order in the universe which must be respected, and that the human person, endowed with the capability of choosing freely, has a grave responsibility to preserve this order for the well-being of future generations. I wish to repeat that che ecological crisis is a moral issue.” The fact that the ecological crisis is also a moral crisis is emphasized by numerous other documents, as did the encyclicals Laudato Si” and apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum.” Pope Leo XIV also called for moral renewal, 6 Tbid., §11. ®% John Paul II: Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation, §15, January 1, 1990, https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_ mes_19891208_xxiii-world-day-for-peace.html 7” Francis: 2015. Laudato si’, 887-945. 7! Francis: Laudate Deum. 31
