Pope Francis, leader of the Roman Catholic Church, recently released a groundbreaking encyclical urging other world leaders to take action on climate change. IBES Fellow Timmons Roberts praised the move as "a major piece of work, and an ardent call from one of our world's major leaders for us to work together to address this existential problem" in his commentary, originally published as a blog post for public policy think tank Brookings.

In the piece, later picked up by Newsweek, Roberts reflects on the strategic timing and potent influence of the Pope's statement, released just weeks after the climate talks in Bonn and only a few months before U.N. member nations are expected to formally commit to strict personal limitations on their carbon emissions.

Read more about the papal letter in Roberts' full article.