The Urgency of education for sustainable development: Concerns about climate change in the Laudate Deum

The paper sets out to analyse the apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, published on 4 October 2023, in which Pope Francis returns to the subject of ‘caring for our common home’ by drawing attention to the effects of climate change, which is causing a global crisis with a range of consequences that were not even imaginable a century ago. There is an urgent need to go beyond a ‘purely ecological approach’ and consider the global social problem: what happens in one part of the world affects the whole planet. It is also important to recognise that there can be no lasting change without cultural change: we must overcome the logic of appearing sensitive to the problem and have the courage to radically change the human experience. If there is a cost to taking action now, it will be greater the longer we wait. We must take responsibility for the legacy we leave in this world: it is a matter of social justice. Alt hough the irresponsibility of political sectors and the indifference of the ‘powerful’ are there for all to see, efforts to change personal habits, efforts to pollute less