Vatican to become 8th country to achieve 100% green energy

• The Vatican will be 100% solar-powered, joining an elite group of leaders in green energy.
• Pope Francis emphasizes the ethical and social imperative of fighting climate change.
• The Vatican’s solar power plant project underlines the Vatican’s commitment to climate neutrality and sustainable development.

The Vatican is set to join an elite group of countries that generate all of its electricity from renewable sources, following the announcement by Pope Francis of a new solar power project. The initiative makes the Vatican the eighth country in the world to reach that milestone.

In his apostolic letter Brother of the Sole (Brother Sun), Pope Francis has detailed a plan to build a solar power plant on 424 hectares of Vatican land near Rome. The project will complement the city-state’s existing solar installations, providing complete energy independence.

“We need to move towards a sustainable development model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, with the goal of climate neutrality,“Pope Francis said.Humanity has the technological means to address this environmental change and its dire ethical, social, economic and political consequences, and solar energy plays a fundamental role in this.”

Once completed, the Vatican will join Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Ethiopia, Iceland and Congo, which generate more than 99.7 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. According to Stanford University professor Mark Z. Jacobson, 40 other countries generate at least 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, such as geothermal, hydro, solar or wind.

“We don’t need miraculous technologies,“Professor Jacobson said Independent in April. “We need to stop emissions by electrifying everything and providing electricity from wind, water and solar (WWS), which includes onshore wind, photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, geothermal, small hydro and large hydro.”

Environmental protection has been a cornerstone of Pope Francis’ papacy. In 2015, he declared human-induced climate change a serious problem for the planet’s future. The Vatican’s commitment to sustainability was further strengthened in 2022 when it joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which aims to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system.”

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In May, Pope Francis stressed the urgency of the climate crisis, describing it as having reached a “point of no return.” He warned that “global warming is alarming” during an interview with CBS News, emphasizing the need for sustained global action that goes beyond agreements and signatures at climate conferences.

This ambitious solar project not only increases the Vatican’s energy independence, but also serves as a powerful symbol of its commitment to leading by example in the global fight against climate change.