Pope Francis shared a special message for BBC listeners and world leaders ahead of the COP26 climate summit last week.

In a reflection shared on BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day programme, Pope Francis challenged individuals and communities to work together to offer a radical new outlook on how to tackle climate change. Speaking during the broadcast the Pope said:

"Every crisis calls for vision, the ability to formulate plans and put them rapidly into action, to rethink the future of the world, our common home, and to reassess our common purpose.

"These crises present us with the need to take decisions, radical decisions that are not always easy.  At the same time, moments of difficulty like these also present opportunities, opportunities that we must not waste.

"We can confront these crises by retreating into isolationism, protectionism and exploitation.  Or we can see in them a real chance for change, a genuine moment of conversion, and not simply in a spiritual sense."

You can listen to the Pope's reflection on the BBC Sounds website.