On June 18, Pope Francis issued a world-wide encyclical on ecology, environmental destruction, and climate change. The highly anticipated document, intended to spur reflection and action among the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, brings up numerous issues that are at the heart of Santa Clara University's mission to create a more just, humane, and sustainable world.
Santa Clara University is responding to the encyclical in a number of ways: reducing its own environmental impact; teaching sustainability on campus; working with worldwide entrepreneurs grappling with the impacts of climate change; and exploring the ways in which care for the environment is an ethical issue.
A number of associated events are planned throughout the 2015–16 year, including a November forum addressing the moral, ethical, economic, and personal dimensions of climate change.